The North is a very old nation. Older than Equestria. An origin drenched in blood, but it has come to Equestria offering a hand of kinship. However, Celestia's personal experience with the wolves of the North may not give the two nations a chance.
Over three thousand years ago, an ancient conflict lead to the creation of the Kingdom of the north from the Wolf tribes of the Susi. That nation is now reaching out to Equestria. However, Celestia's wrath is all that meets the King of the wolves. It may be up to an un-involved Princesses to resolve this conflict before war erupts.
(Anthro tag is ONLY for the wolves, no anthro ponies)
The winds blew rocking the long ship as it drifted through the waters in eerie silence save for the soft lapping waves against the dense wooden hull and iron nails. No noise but the icy wind and the icy waters touched few ears present to hear it until the bow plowed into the sandy banks and a single figure veiled by his heavy cloak landed in the soft wet sand. Splashing into the inch deep water receding back until another icy wave pushed back up the nearly lifeless beach, the figure stood tall on his hind legs, upright and firm. He waved at the long ship before slowly turning and continuing his voyage south.
A little uncomfortable with how fast the frozen tundra yielded to sunny fields as the magic of the crystal heart pushed back the ancient frozen cold much like his own home once did. He said nothing and acted no differently as he continued forward with a soft limp. His seemingly endless forward momentum didn't stop at the gasps and concerned shuffling of Crystal ponies ducking away from his path, or from the silent onlookers staring in fright as he walked the paved streets. He only slowed to a stop when spears levied at him as crystal ponies clad in polished silver armor stared at him with uncertain eyes.
His lips parted from under his hood and he uttered in a low calm tone. "Lähettiläs... Calm... I am here to speak to leader of Empire." Reaching out he watched as the guards flinched, noticing the heavy claws pinching the scroll delicately, the wax seal was one that they did not recognize but they didn't know much else to do. He had not broken any rules and if he was a foreign diplomat, they had to let him in due to their standing orders. They just didn't quite know where he could have possibly been from.
Escorted firmly by two guards who twitched and sweated as this creature strode between them. Despite his relatively thin figure he clearly towered over them and the claws drove fear into them, as did the soft clank of his left leg on the crystal floors as he slowly made his way forward. The awkward aura didn't stop until they stepped back in unison as Princess Candace stared down at the lone figure from her throne.
She blinked and sat upright to address the creature before her. "I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza... I welcome you in these halls stranger, might I inquire of your name, nation, and goals."
He raised his chin to look up at her from his lowly spot below the lofty throne. "I am Odger, I am of the deep North, and...." He breathed deep as if he weighed something heavy on his mind, as if he disapproved of the message he was ordered to relay. "... I have been sent by my king to establish trade relations with the Crystal Empire and request further diplomatic connections deeper south into the land of Equestria."
Cadence blinked looking him over as he unslung his bags and placed a series of items before him on the floors of the throne room. A few small ingots of metal, a few scrolls, a heavy thickly bound book and a small item wrapped in cloth. "These are gifts from the North. Iron, gold, copper, and silver for trade, scrolls containing the king's requests and expectations for a treaty, books retaining the knowledge and history of the north." He paused and unwrapped the cloth to display oddly beautiful hairpins. "And finally, a gift from the king himself, as he has forged from his own efforts a gift to you the leader of the Crystal Empire."
Cadence watched as he stepped back and didn't so much as flinch even as the items lifted from the floor to her. She inspected them all, the ingots were the purest metal she had ever seen, she was no expert but it looked like they had been borderline magically grown. The hair pin was of extremely fine quality all the way to the point where she was certain that even the most capable pony smiths and jewelers could not make something like it. The book she set aside, and the scroll she unraveled and gawked at. It was very neatly written in a very formal and proper way, but the scroll had to have miles of writing in it. Just peeking over it she couldn't find a single objection to anything mentioned in the scroll, if anything it almost looked like an overly favorable request that more resembled a cultural exchange and obscenely high level of gift giving which greatly favored the Empire.
She rolled the scroll up and blinked, looking down at the figure she raised just one more question she hoped would not be offensive, but considering the extremely generous propositions of this king she hadn't heard of before she felt a little too curious. "Um... This all looks rather flattering, but I do hope I can pose just one question... what are you?"
There was an odd silence and the clawed fingertips raised the hood and pulled back, letting the thick robes hit the floor and revealing the pitch black fur, scars and runed armor.
The ice covered castle crumbed and creaked as the winds of the massive storm renewed in strength. The blood leading into the heavy stone building froze instantly upon the ground. The honor guards lasted mere seconds against the single figure that stepped through the shattered door he had just pulverized with the latest honor guard's dead body. The last of the honor guard stood with his spear leveled at the new threat. He lunged at his foe as was his duty, but a hand with three fingers extended firmly slipped past the spear as a powerful arm waited for the shaft of the weapon to enter within range before it closed around the weapon at an awkward angle crushing the wood and snapping the spear like a twig. The three clawed fingertips punched through the fur, skin, and muscle, forcefully tearing out the fourth cervical vertebra from the wolf's neck. The last of the Honor guard fell to the ground limp as a wet rag, dead as the others. The invader looked up at the twelve foot tall hulking mass of fur claws fangs and muscles waiting calmly with predator eyes cast down from the throne of bones and pelts.
"You no doubt have gone to challenge me, coming when you think I am at my weakest, coming thinking that the storms, the result of my hunt has crippled my nation and left me as but fodder, but never the less you came only to die..." The massive wolf rose from his throne carved from bones and decorated with the hides of those who had defied him as the seven foot tall invader looked up at him with no discernible fear, only regret and sorrow.
The lone wolf looked up at the massive overlord of the north. "Fennir.... you have sinned. You have thrown this world out of balance. You could not rule your own world and you have done nothing but fail to rule this world... Now the Susi damned by your actions... the damage you have done with your great hunt is irreversible... all for your petty desire to rule..."
Fennir bellowed in a deep guttural roar as he leaped off of his throne cracking the stone beneath his paws as he stood tall. Bringing his weapon to bare. The handle carved from the bones of the elder Elementals and the blade melted down from the holy shrines erected in honor of the Othin, the father of all, he hefted the hundred pound weapon with a single hand. Growling and grunting in anger he looked at the much smaller foe before finally speaking. "What right have you to challenge me? I am power itself... the physical manifestation of strength and battle, it is my blood right to rule... I a-"
Fennir's voice was cut off as his mouth filled with blood and he lurched back from the impact. He could feel the clawed fingers wrapping around his heart from the open hand that had just plunged into his chest. "Your birthright is death. Power alone can never truly rule. All your mindless actions have done is cost this land of its true rulers and damned the lives of every soul within... The Kaar are loose, the Elementals have been slain leaving the entire nation to a frozen doom, the all prey have been driven out, the children of this land are in chains and I am never to return to my home. It was decided that your actions will be my responsibility to repair, even though the infinite damage you caused cannot be repaired. It still falls to me to do the impossible and to undo what you have done at least until balance has been restored."
Blood oozed steadily in a stream out of Fennir's chest and mouth as his massive hands tried in vain to pry the smaller wolf away from his heart. "You... can't... w...what... who are you?"
"Not who, but what... I am now Susien Kuningas.... I am the king of wolves.... ruler of the North, and you... are a mistake of the past... a mistake who will be remembered as a vile stain upon the North." His grip over Fennir's heart tightened and with one swift motion he tore out the giant wolf's heart letting the once powerful mass of muscle and fur fall to the ground. Staring at the heart in the palm of his hand still slowly pulsing as it tried desperately to supply the life blood to the body of creature it was just removed from. The now lone wolf breathed deeply looking in sorrow at the body before him just past the organ in his hand and to the cold frozen stone, the steaming puddle of blood slowly freezing in the endless winter. "Fennir... Fennir the tyrant, Fennir the heretic, Fennir the world eater.... you are no more... and this world is lesser for your mere existence..."
The King of wolves looked up at the crumbling castle as he held Fennir's heart high. Opening his mouth he closed his eyes and dropped the heart within his gaping maw and swallowed it whole.
"This land bleeds, I have much to do..." His eyes glared out the door he had just came in through before turning about and heading down into the dungeons.
2000 years later
"And so this wolf king guy just fixed everything?" The cyan blue pegasus gave a skeptical look at Twilight.
"Of course not, according to this book he did his best to undo the damage done by Fennir's great hunt." She smiled eagerly plunging back into the ancient book that Cadence had just sent her the day before.
"So the great hunt was when Fennir killed all the Elementals who controlled all the weather?... Why couldn't they just get a few pegasi to do it for them?" Rainbow smirked imagining the fun of leading a hardened weather team to plow through an uncontrolled storm to save the kingdom of the north and getting some illustrious medal for the heroic deed. Her fantasy was interrupted by Twilight's voice, which at this point she was very used to.
"No, there were no pegasi within a thousand miles. And at the time the only pegasi there were in existence, was the pegasi tribe and they were not really on speaking terms with anypony. Plus controlling the weather was not the ONLY thing that the Elementals did. They kept the peace, those Kaar things I mentioned are vegetarian dragons. They eat the iron trees to keep the iron forest from invading and overrunning the rest of the north. The Kaar, despite being vegetarians are non sentient, very violently territorial, and breed like rabbits... they sound terrible."
"Soooo.... these Elementals kept them from fighting and over breeding and stuff?" Rainbow Dash then proceeded to imagine a fight against an army of dragons. This process was not too uncommon for her. Twilight was her friend but sometimes she was just a little too boring. It did them both good to half listen and enjoy what could be enjoyed, even if Twilight caught Rainbow lost in her own imagination from time to time instead of listening to what Twilight considered to be extremely interesting and exciting content.
"Yes. The Elementals kept EVERYTHING in order, from the weather to public relations to even the crops. In fact there are hints in this book that suggest that they even had some part in moving the sun and moon or perhaps even more back in the ancient times. But the point here is that when the tyrant Fennir came in he was jealous of the position of power and enslaved the Susi clans to hunt down the Elementals then he forced the Susi to eat the dead Elementals so that they would gain their power and hence make stronger soldiers before he moved to take over other nations." Twilight squee'd with glee as she flipped a few more pages and showed Rainbow Dash the picture of a wolf holding chains that lead to the necks of other wolves then another picture of a smaller but still pretty big wolf standing atop those same chains now broken and each group of wolves that were once chained now had some sort of glow about them, not to mention very happy faces. "I mean he was not exactly a good guy what with some of the stuff he did AFTER that... but he still freed the Susi from enslavement and did all he could to undo what that evil Fennir did."
"So king wolf guy saves the day and then what?..."
"Susien Kuningas was his name... or.. um.. title I think... and yeah he saved the Kingdom of the North, or as the book says 'The Kingdom of the Great North'. Then he took all the tribes who ate the Elementals and taught them how to use the magic they gained from eating the immortal Elementals. This turned them all into three tribes of magic users, druids, shamans, and oracles. They created a whole new types of magic which they used and even still to this day use to control the weather, keep the peace, and foresee future incidents. There was even one in here about them foreseeing an age of darkness and they had to try and warn some foreign leader named... um... Aurinko Pylly... I have no idea who or what that is... but basically it didn't work whoever he was, Aurinko Pylly misunderstood or just didn't trust the wolves and there was some sort of war that lead into an age of darkness. But all in all this is just fascinating. I had no idea that such an amazing culture and history was beyond the frozen north.... hay, its hundreds and hundreds of miles beyond even Yakyakistan , beyond the great northern sea even! Heck, its got to be somewhere close to or right smack dab in the middle of the North pole, its just amazing..."
"Um... Twilight?... exactly why did all this come up? you just starting going on and on and on about how amazing it all was... where did you get the book and why exactly did all this come about?" Rainbow hovered in her spot with the odd silence with only the sound of Rainbow's softly flapping wings to note as Twilight stopped in thought.
"Oh.. yeah... I totally forgot about that... Cadence and Shining just received an emissary from Kingdom of the Wolves asking for an alliance and trade. Cadence was even gifted with this book as well as a few other really cool gifts. But one of the requests made by the Emissary was apparently to continue southward with the Crystal Empire's help to talk to Equestria, There's a lot of stuff in the air right now but Cadence sent this all to me thinking that as long as they want to make friends she might as well call up the Princess of Friendship try and make new friends for all of Equestria?"
Rainbow blinked and settled down into a spot next to Twilight trying to get another look into the book. "So we could see one of these legendary wolf things someday soon? Will it be this... um.. susun kunugs?"
"Susien Kuningas! And no, most likely not, he was just a Susi, its what they call their race, he was a bipedal wolf... a VERY powerful wolf but not many beings live that long, not even Princess Celestia is that old. Its probably his great great great great great great great great.... um.. you get it. One of his descendants, but still expect them to be very proud of their warrior heritage. Even before Fennir came along all they did was battle among their own clans. Fennir just made them wage war against the Elementals, and Susien Kuningas makes them fight the out of control Kaar so they can both regulate their population and... um...." She paused to look closer at the book eyes going wide. "Um... feed his people with the flesh of the Kaar.... Ew, they eat dragons?"
"Whoa... hard core Twilight... I'm not sure whether to be happy sad or frightened... Do you really think Equestria will so quickly warm up to... um, well... meat eaters? I mean, think about Fluttershy. She'd probably faint on the spot even looking into a toothy maw of some giant wolf."
"We've accomplished dozens of inter species relations, Dragons, Griffons, Hippogriffs, even Yaks and more... a few of those eat meat from time to time... its nothing we can't handle.... I think." She poked her nose back into the book trying to find more. "I am excited none the less, this is amazing and I cant wait to see what kind of friends these Susi tribes of the North will be..."
The landing craft rocked in the rough frozen seas as the wolves sat in grave silence checking and rechecking their weapons. Axes, spears, swords, and finally the standard issue single shot trap door infantry rifle. Each soldier carefully guarded the leather pouch at their waist filled with two dozen rounds. Every last wolf within the landing craft had already loaded the first round into the weapon and waited patiently for the Druid in command to address them. The veterans sat up front and the newer recruits tried their best to sit in the far back. shivering and whimpering at the sounds of the battle on the shores of lake Seppa just outside the iron forest.
"Sons of the cursed blood... wake up and ready up... you young pups who are new... stick close to the veterans and clan wolves. Remember to shoot for the eyes and stay out of the way of the Shamans and Druids, if you are injured stay put... When the beasties think you are dead they will move on." The Druid overseer looked over the grim faces of the scrawny and young Susi about to engage in the battle. The vessel bumped against the shore cracking the ice and triggering the Druid's reaction. "And... GO!"
The front of the landing craft gave way and out poured the veterans followed hesitantly by the new troops who instantly grew cold in shock at the sight of the Susi who took their place within the boat. Scarred brutalized injured even souless looking empty eyes staring back at them. The only two uninjured Veterans pulled the ramp back up and the Druid on board flared his magic forcing the waters to surge and pull the vessel back out to the waters to return to the capital. The war cries and roars drowning out the calls to and from the long ships and landing craft, veterans charged forward followed by the young and inexperienced. Few looked back to see the Citadel which still poked up in the far distance as if taunting those who wished to escape the frozen battlefield.
One such desperate young pup stared back the way he had come whimpering before his eyes shot forward wondering where his squad had gone just in time to see the pale sickly white skin stretched over a powerful skull and powerful thick muscles, six beady eyes leveling on him. A cold panic shot up inside of him as the fumbled with his rifle trying to bring it to bear at the massive Kaar that stood up ten meters out of the snow it had tunneled in from. Its mouth opened releasing its signature guttural roar and massive claws rose to crush down on the lone youth. However, fate favored the pup as bolts of fire and lightning struck the side of the Kaar's head and a Shaman lept up its body. Plunging her axes into the dragon's head. Tearing through the skin and cracking the impossibly thick and dense skull she flooded the interior of the Kaar's cranium with torrents of lightning. The massive beast fell, stunned long enough for the Shaman step in and to slash open its throat allowing it to bleed to death, she stepped down glaring at the wolf pup shaking so badly that he couldn't stand.
"You are one of the cursed blood yes? What are you doing away from your company?"
"Y...Yes ma'am...I... I just I just...g.." She swatted him upside the head interrupting his fearful stammering.
"Oathblood!" She barked and a nearby Clanwolf strode up with heavy muscle bound steps. "Find this pup's company and tell them not to expect him back." A heavier wolf he did not notice nodded and took off as the young wolf shivered staring up at the Shaman.
"W...wait! I... I.. I'll do better!" He noticeably cowered and his hands raised to shield his face.
She swatted him again. "Shut up... my personal aid got stepped on last four days ago. You are obviously not one for fighting on the front lines so shut up, you are coming with me as my new aid."
"But... I'm of cursed blood? do you really want me?" He stared up at her confused and still shaking.
Again she swatted him over the head. "Don't question me, out here in the iron forest no one cares if you are descended from the Tyrant... I have to write a report for the King's Shaman and YOU are going to deliver it, and if you return, I will decide on whether to send you back to the front lines or keep you as my new aide. Now come on little pup, we have a report to write, let the butchers and your brothers take care of the Kaar." She started in one directly only to pause and look back at the young wolf. "Pup! What is your name?"
He stopped and looked back very grateful that he managed to be pulled from battle but still very frightened at the possibility of his heritage coming back to bite him in the furry tush. It was very common for the descendants of Fennir's two hundred sons to be treated ill, even when the old king had ordered them to be treated the same as everyone else so long as they hunted the Kaar with the military when they became of age.
"I am Jalm... Jalm of house Kynnen"
"Hrmm... ok then pup..." She grinned taking note of his name despite her intention to never use it until he consistently stopped cowering at everything that moved.
Her stride slowed as she looked up. "I wonder if the Shaman is right, will Equestria actually want a treaty after all this time?" She stared up at the Citadel from the great distance with a smirk before walking off to file her report Jalm reluctantly and fearfully in tow.
The air crackled and churned before spitting out a young wolf and sputtering shut. Jalm nearly puked as he stumbled forward. His mind was jumbled and his stomach twisted into a violent knot, not only was it his first time being teleported but his new Shaman master was still rather young and inexperienced in teleporting or portal magic. Proof of this was in how badly his fur was singed and his current status. "Bleh...goodness, well… this is the Citadel I think."
His first steps were slow, his balance was just coming back and his nearly frail body teetered to and fro as he fought for equilibrium. Though, even when he had recovered his every step was unsure. This was the Citadel of the North. The King's home and office of government, just about every single living breathing being in this building had the authority to put him to death for so much as looking at them wrong, he had never witnessed it himself but he grew up hearing what the clan wolves and various tribes would do to the Crused Blood. His cursed lineage combined wallowed about inside his head with his awkward fears and his mind began screaming about his nearly non existant chances of leaving the Citadel alive or at the very least unharmed. The scrawny pup almost preferred going toe to toe with the Kaar back with his brothers.
The trip down the long halls and winding staircases went rather slowly, even slower when his mind burned in agony and pain of the possibilities. He was so busy panicking that he did not notice he was being followed. "Oh goodness, why did the Shaman send me out here? Couldn't she have sent me literally ANYWHERE else?"
"Dunno... could she have?"
"Of course she could have, she’s just really mean. Maybe she’s just testing me or something." He continued walking for a moment before his mind started to wonder where the other voice just came from. When it clicked, he whipped about in fear only to see an empty hallway. Gasping and clutching at his now racing heart his eyes whipped back and forth. He knew he heard an answer to his question. It was a female voice, it even sounded a little too young to be in the Citadel. Turning back, hoping to just get going and deliver the message he came face to face with a very young Susi. A wolf pup about half his age but he could plainly feel the air bubbling with power about her. Despite her age, she was exceedingly powerful in magic.
"Hullo! What'chu doing?" She smiled warmly nosing up close to him. "You look funny, and you sweat too much." She poked his nose and giggled as she stepped back one single step back in front of him only to end two steps behind him.
Panic set in again, with magic this powerful and her age, she was very likely someone's daughter, someone VERY powerful and VERY important. He was about to speak, humbly ask for assistance. However, he did not get the chance in time as when she playfully hopped about she suddenly uprooted and hung gently swaying back and forth from one leg as a very large Susi had snagged her.
"Got you little one! Now, you are going back to your father." The Susi present with the young pup looked old, his fur was a dull gray, the same color as most of the older wolves but he seemed to be only just into his late forties. Other than that and his taller than normal height, he looked completely unremarkable.
"But I don't wanna! He just wants me to train to replace Mama... I'm powerful enough. Lemme go, or at least best out of three."
"Nope! Its back you go! Come on now..." He paused looking over at Jalm as he slung her over his shoulder as she pouted. "Oh... you don't look like you belong here. What are you up to? Do you need any help?"
Jalm stuttered and sputtered in fear quickly holding up the report. "Ah! I have… a ... um.. a thingy... the ... the field report thingy... for the King's Shaman..."
"The King's Shaman you say?... If I remember correctly, he’s in the hall of memories... it’s down two floors at the center of the Citadel... hard to miss."
He gave a soft bow feeling relief of such a helpful and calm figure. "Th...thank you... It's kinda intimidating in here for the first time, it’s good to see another servant... I'm just kinda freaking out." The old wolf gave Jalm an odd look before he stopped closing his mouth firmly in worry. "Oh... I.. I'm sorry... are you not a servant? I just noticed you were chasing after her, I thought it was your job." Again he started to fret and panic.
"Oh don't worry about it, we are all servants are we not? We all live to serve the Great North." He smiled warmly which gave a great amount of comfort to the poor Jalm. "Come to think about it I think the Skull is down there too... I need to get this pup back to him. We can go together if you like?"
"The skull?... as in the ONE EYED SKULL?.... She is the daughter of the King's most trusted General?... Goodness...I... I..."
The old wolf swatted him over the head, as did the young pup even from her place over his shoulder. "Calm down, you have nothing to worry about. I am sure you've heard stories, but you shouldn't base your opinion on anything until you've experienced it."
"He’s just silly... and he smells like sweat...." The young pup chimed in still looking as if she was waiting for a chance to bolt off the old wolf's shoulder.
"Come on now Rosie, be nice. Now would you be so kind as to show us that amazing talent and teleport us all would you?" He chuckled nudging and bouncing her on his shoulder. She let out a soft 'harumph!' but nodded and with a snap of her fingers the surrounding air shimmered, tasting of ozone, Jalm looked about and they were within the hall of memories minus the urge to puke. The room was dark, other than the soft burning incense and the coals in the iron pots on their pedestals. The room itself was covered from top to bottom with the Susi's entire known history carved into the wooden floors, walls, and ceiling through advanced artistic depictions.
The first thing Jalm noticed was the very deep voice of an 8 foot tall Susi speaking to a tall and menacing dark furred wolf adorned with a mass of bones and ceremonial jewelry sewn into his robes with antlers poking through his hood. His mind churned taking in that he if anyone could only be the King's Shaman it would be that single wolf. The massive Susi turned to inspect those who had just teleported only for Jalm to see the skull mask at his waist and the leather eyepatch sewn into place over his left eye. This big one absolutely had to be the One Eye'd Skull and the other was more than likely the King's shaman.
"There you are Rosie, you can't keep running off." The Skull glared down at the little pup whose ears lowered in sadness avoiding eye contact with her father.
The other Wolf let out a chuckle as he set the little pup on the ground feet first where she sniffled and began to complain about how boring whatever it was he was trying to get her to do was. Jalm snapped to attention and quickly approached the hooded figure, swallowing his fear he kneeled and held out the report before the Shaman. The Shaman hardly noticed him as he peered into a crystal he had turned to as if in a half trance. Jalm was simply getting more and more uneasy. Was the Shaman ignoring him on purpose? Was he not bowing hard enough or was the Shaman literally just too busy to notice. The tension built and built before suddenly it vanished. There was an unrelenting calm that washed over him. It took him a moment to realize it was magic, someone was casting a spell on him.
"Beloved, be nice. You can plainly see the poor pup is practically choking on his own fear." The voice was as soothing as the magic, nearly playful but it burned with a noble tone.
The Shaman's eyes snapped into a focused stare, which drifted away from the crystal, over Jalm, and up at what had to be the most beautiful wolfess that Jalm had ever seen. Pure white fur with soft blue eyes like precious gemstones. She looked like a legend or Goddess of beauty. But what she had said instantly sparked up a strain in his throat. She called the Shaman 'beloved', he hadn't ever been involved with politics but he knew that someone, likely the king's daughter was marrying the Royal Shaman soon. There was lots of talk about it despite how little he paid attention to it, it was rather difficult to avoid. Still it made him choke up even more as the room seemed to be filling with more and more important figures as time passed.
"He was doing it to himself. You don't have to ruin all the fun." The Shaman chuckled swiping the scroll from Jalm's hands and reading it quickly. "Oh goodness, the Kaar REALLLLY went at it this year. We have roughly a 30% larger problem than we thought. Oh hell that means we are actually going to have to try aren't we?" The beautiful wolf chuckled softly gesturing to him. Though the motion was not clear visually, it was complimented by a mother like voice that spoke into his mind for him to stand and step to the side, as such he obeyed.
"Well. it looks like one of us is going to have to stay behind and deal with all that. Maybe even muster the generals." The Susi from before stepped up between the two. Rosie on his shoulders and the One Eye'd Skull just behind him. "And that is going to be you my old friend." He patted the one Eye'ed skull on the back. "You and little Rosie here." He tickled the pup and she giggled happily, as the hulking general bowed low with a fist clenched against his chest.
"As you wish Susien Kuningas." The General, the giant wolf known as the One Eye'ed Skull who had earned his status on the battlefields killing dozens of Kaar with ease was bowing to this old wolf.
No amount of magic in the world could keep Jalm's heart from borderline exploding. This old wolf was the king? The very same wolf he had just mistaken for and called a servant. His mind nearly went blank in fear and panic. He was almost certain he hit the ground before his eyes opened again vaguely seeing the pure white fur of the beautiful wolf again. The Shaman and the King were both just a little ways away laughing. He could only just barely hear them.
"Make sure he gets back to the front. His master may need him, just wait for him to actually recover, and put a good meal into him before you send him back. Skull, Muster the generals, take the army to reinforce the cursed blood in the iron forest. I want the Kaar problem resolved with overwhelming force this time. Oh, and make sure this little one gets back her studies. Shaman, Oracle! We are heading to the Crystal Empire. The Princess there has agreed to open trade and has promised to set up council with an Equestrian Princess directly. We have a lot to do... let’s get to it..."
"Yes Susien..." The Shaman muttered loyally.
"Yes Father..." The beautiful Susi kindly spoke.
The voices blurred and Jalm could only feel the beautiful white furred wolf lay him down and stand beside the king and the Shaman then finally four black wolves flanked them all. The last thing he saw after the trio vanished with a snap of the Shaman's fingers was Rosie pop up in front of him with a happy grin and poke his nose playfully.
"Aww darn... he passed out."
The guards stood outside the throne room nearly sweating buckets as the voices inside chattered on. The report of wolves just suddenly popping into existence in the city had been passed about, news had just barely began to trickle in and now the wolves were here speaking to the princess in the throne room. The guards watched but kept their cool as best as possible as their leader was massive and simply radiated power and authority, rather surprising for how simple he looked. He didn't appear to be very threatening other than his aura. He was armed with a large axe and something that looked like a mask hanging from his belt. But at the moment, the guards were staring almost fearfully at the near motionless black wolves before them. They had come with the King but had not entered the throne room with him, these wolves all had very noticeable long since healed injuries, some even looked blatantly crippled much like the first wolf who had come nearly a week before. The one legged black wolf named Odger.
The Crystal Pony guards stood firm and stared at the wolves but nearly jumped when the throne room doors burst open. First out the door was Cadence with a happy smile on her face, then came the wolf king side by side with Shining Armor talking in a soft tone. Shining Armor's face betrayed slight suspicion, it was his job to ensure the safety of the Crystal Empire after all, both as it's prince and as the captain of the guard.
Shining's words were carefully shaped and chosen to try and scoop some sort of malicious intent from the wolves, though despite his every attempt to discover some hidden plot the Wolf King seemed to catch him in it and turn the question around. Despite this word game, the wolves did not seem to show that they were offended, but they did enjoy flipping the conversation about in this game, to a point that Shining almost felt like he was being downright disrespectful. His every word was unraveled by this wolf and he found himself following instead of leading through most of of the conversation despite his efforts.
"And that is why its dangerous to promote sheerly out of skill or power alone. The key factor must be loyalty. Loyalty, is a sign of a good soul but mind you that you do not mistake blind faith for adherence. Loyalty and cleverness tempered by power, these things will usually lead to great commanders Just be very careful. A being can have all of these and still not have what it takes. As it is said in the north, there is an exception to EVERY rule." The big wolf smiled happily, his clawed digits were very expressive as he spoke, very interesting for a creature with only hooves to witness.
Shining chuckled looking up at the massive bipedal being. "What about that rule, the rule that there is an exception to every rule?"
"Think about it, what is the ONLY exception there could be? that there is no exception." Both laughed mildly not looking at the guards who stole a suspicious glance at the wolf only snapping to a panicked upright position when a clawed fingertip ran up his back and a voice whispered in his ear.
"Is it not disrespectful to cast such suspicion on your guests?"
The guards snapped to whipping about but they saw nothing. Not a single soul was present.
"Oh be nice I'm sure they are just doing their job, different customs and such." They whipped back at the female voice that had again showed up behind them but again saw nothing. They watched the black wolves calmly turn and leave with the king, the voices did not return but in their wake two guards simply started to have a panic attack.
"It has been a very long time since we have seen the Crystal empire. You two keep it very organized....Very happy, we are very glad to see such joy among a people. I do hope a good cultural exchange will benefit both peoples involved. We have a substantial stockpile of good iron and the finest lumber you will ever lay your eyes upon, I am sure you and your people will have good use for it." The wolf king seemed to be simple overjoyed, his face expressed quite a pleasant status, it was oddly entrancing. It was like he was always genuinely happy. The proposed trade was heavily in favor of the Crystal empire though Cadence had a feeling that had he wanted to this wolf king could have convinced anypony to start up a trade heavily in his own favor. It ate away at her a little, she knew that not all nations had the same forward trusting happiness that most ponies had. But it felt like there was some sort of hidden agenda, as if they were being lead into a position. The north did not appear to actually NEED anything from the Crystal empire, yet here they were practically giving away a fortune of lumber and iron for various crystals and being lent crystal carvers so that they could learn the art. It seemed more to her that he was simply trying to make sure they were trading and developing a relationship as allies. There was a dozen things that ran through her mind but it was interrupted as the King's Oracle popped up and kept stride with them.
"If you do not mind Princess Cadence, how do you get your hair to stay like that? I have been trying for ages to get something similar." Cadence smiled at the wolf and cleared her throat, after all she was a bit proud of the current hair style. She had just gotten it done a little ways back trying out the old Crystal Empire styles in preparation for this very event.
"Oh... the spas here are wonderful, and while Ponies don't have opposable thumbs like you, their magic is quite capable, they can make your mane any way you want."
The wolf's eyes lit up happily before she turned to the king. "Father, may I?"
The King stood in thought for a bit and nodded. " I do desire to see to this Equestrian Princess you spoke of earlier. You can catch up with us later Oracle. I will leave the Hird with you, I know they don't like relaxing but try and get them at least some entertainment." He dismissed her with a smile and a gesture of his left hand. Instantly The Shaman appeared from within the King's shadow as if he had literally popped up from out of nothing, kneeling calmly awaiting orders just as the King panned over to Shining. "I believe you said it was your sister yes?... the Princess... you can travel with us, we get around pretty fast."
Shining Armor looked about a little concerned, Cadence gave him an approving nod as she trotted off with the Oracle of the North to a spa. Shining's mind buzzed for a bit before he shrugged "I guess, yeah. I haven't seen Twilight in a while..."
The king gave a warm smile as he nodded to the Shaman who stood and pulled a small scroll out and placed it upon the floor. Unraveled the scroll revealed itself to be a very detailed map. "Well then Prince Armor, where exactly is this princess? please be as precise as possible." The Shaman gestured to Shining letting him peer over the map. Doing his best to point with his hoof at the exact location of ponyville the Shaman appeared to understand rather well and quickly pressed a claw against the exact spot. His focus blurred for a moment and the shaman shuttered as blood seeped from his claws onto the map into a quick circle before the map caught fire and he leaned over breathing in the smoke deeply.
The king stood and gave a nod to the Shaman who nodded back and looked over at Shining. "Alright here we go."
"Wait now? Its almost ni-" He was cut off with the magic released from the Shaman's power at the sound of his finger's snapping. The trio vanished into nothing from the long distance teleportation ritual. Shining was about to explain that it was already late into the evening and as such Twilight was probably about to go to sleep. Though the thought wondered through Shining's mind if these wolves understood the idea of giving somepony time to prepare. After all, within an hour of Cadence making up her mind and sending the approval for council to the north by her magic they had simply poofed into existence right there in the throne room. He only hoped that Twilight was not doing anything important at the moment.
The hulking form slashed low with a wide swing and the prey barely whipped out of reach. His keen eye could not be deceived despite his target being so fast and so very skilled in evasion. He had not spent all those years on the hunt and on the warpath for nothing, even if this cat and mouse game was annoying he was patient enough to see it to the end. His claws twitched as his eye darted back and forth reading the motions before he whipped about and snatched the pup up by the scruff.
"WHAAAAA!... No! I don't wanna!!" Rosie squirmed and flailed angrily despite her father's iron like grip. She thought about trying to teleport, but that could potentially cause real harm to herself and her father.
He grumbled and turned about, dragging her along. "I don't care... you are going back to study... The King himself requested it, and you know how much Oracle will be grumpy if you don't listen to her dad."
The little pup grumbled as her heels slid across the cold stone floors, her father's grip pulling her scruff. The temple that served as their home was the home of all the Druids. In the Sanguine tree dominating the northern half of the capital, it had been grown to increase the life giving energies in the north to keep the cold from drowning everything out. The life energies and magic flowing off the ancient tree was a perfect place for any young Druid to practice their art, hence why the temple had been crafted there. A Druid could only hide within the energies of another living being, just as the Oracles could only hide in the light, and the Shamans could only hide in the shadows. This was why the pup always managed to escape, the giant blood red tree was such a powerful source of living energy that even inexperienced Druids could slip easily feel and manipulate it.
Despite it being the biggest source of his troubles with his daughter, the magic filled temple was the best place for her to study. All Susi temples were well suited for the power of those who trained there, he just wished that it could be turned off every once and a while, or at the very least they had taught his daughter all of the vanishing and hiding stuff AFTER she had grown up.
He grumbled and set her down in a chair in the room as she huffed and grumbled. Her books and texts were still out and open to the necessary pages. The moment the clawed grip left her scruff she felt like coiled spring, ready to blast off and go adventuring once more. But the same claws landed atop her head, he wasn't going to let her go anywhere. Her grumbles increased until a presence was felt which made her shrink back and stick to her seat.
From the Shrine a pair of pure focused green tinged white eyes opened calmly set with a soft black pupil like the gem in the center of a master crafted ring. The eyes glanced down accompanied with a smile. "Rose... my precious little Rosie... why do you always give your father so much trouble?" The soft voice was calm and kind. The sort of voice one would expect to hear in a library. Her hand calmly touched Rosie's ears caressing her in a calm pet.
"But, I don't wanna replace you... You are the head Druid, you are more powerful than Shaman himself, and you're not even a combatant, like him. You can't just stop being Druid." She half mumbled the complaints, not daring to look up at her infinitely more powerful mother.
The wolfess smiled and gave Rosie's nose a quick poke. "I can, and I will. I may be the most powerful magical Susi in the North that we know of, but I have other ambitions in life, such as you. Now... " She gracefully and slowly almost as if she was a spiritual entity pointed with a finger at the open book carefully set at the ground. "Study!"
Rosie grumbled and sat down peering over the book as her mother looked back up to her father. An extended hand commanded magic with a calmness and guided the skull mask from his belt to rest over Rose's head. She smiled and slid it over her face reading through the single eye hole as her mother Druid, took the One Eye'd Skull's hand and stepped back. Teleporting them a short distance and throwing a dampening field up so their daughter could not listen in. "You know she keeps running off because you turn it into a game. You have to be a little more stern with her or she will see everything as a game."
He grumbled. "I know, I just..." He looked over his hands and shook his head. "My hands are meant for war, trained to be skilled in violence. I don't want to hurt something so precious to me."
She snuggled up into his neck hugging onto him. "I know... But you need to remember that such power comes in levels, you don't have to be soft, just make sure our daughter takes the world seriously..." She paused and her jaw tightened. It took a moment for him to notice, then slowly she sighed and spoke. "While you were gone... the first of the generals showed up. And you know who is here, it's best you go see him before your brother shows up as well. Still no response from the South or the East."
The big Wolf's eyes lit up in concern. "It is good to hear my brother is returning, but Why did the cursed blood have to get here first?"
A low growl came from her throat and the Skull flinched. "He was chosen by our king, it is not your judgement that determines his worth. We will respect the wisdom of our king, no matter the actions of the Guardian." The Druid gave a slow wave and the magical field around her husband contracted as it teleported him to the barracks . She gave a sigh and slowly she sank into her pillow, keeping a soft tether on the aura of her daughter to keep her from wandering off. But finally, her eyes closed taking her mind back into the ethereal realm, back to the infinite storm.
The magic cleared still leaving the tingling feeling in his scarred fingertips. However, the first thing he noticed with his single eye was the heavy scar across the other wolf's back. He knew that scar well. The four long painful marks of the flaming claws that had carved the younger general's flesh from shoulder to hip. The scar almost covered by a shield and sword, both made from ironwood and enchanted to the point that they were both more durable than even the most powerful of northern steel. "Hello Dagfinn, I did not expect for you to answer the call so quickly." He grumbled the words refusing to use the general's chosen name.
The other Susi turned calmly and two eyes met one. A calm and happy voice sounded out. "I will always answer the call, The King of Wolves is the King of Wolves after all... None of the Susi can refuse. It would be a sin against our blood." Despite the tension in the room the younger wolf smiled happily and wore a calm and relaxed stance.
Skull hated his voice, it was the same voice in every last scenario, he was unshakable, it was the same even when he lay bleeding at the king's feet looking up with the same calm smile, barely able to hold the blade that he had just yanked from another Susi's chest. Though the young cursed blood had a record and accomplishments that would make any Susi warrior look on in pride.
But the scar across his fellow general's back was always a constant reminder of how much He hated the smaller wolf, and how much more His brother hated him. For once he was thankful that Viha was not present, he did not choose the title of the King's Wrath for no reason. "You are correct Dagfinn... we ALL follow the call, even my brother. And I know we are sworn to treat you with the respect and honor demanded by the title granted to you by our king, but you also know why he took up the outpost three hundred miles from yours. Let us be done quickly, I will hold my oath, but you know as well as I, it is unwise to test the temperament of Kuninkaan Viha..."
The 'Guardian' Stood tall. "I will not dishonor the trust Susien Kuningas has placed in me, nor will I act foolishly. Your brother should be able to contain himself, but as always, I understand. I will take up the rest of house Lempo and we will meet you in the iron forest..." The Cursed Blood general gave a solid bow and smiled. His eyes twitched slightly before he chuckled. "Your little one escaped again... I smell her magic nearby, she is getting very good."
The One Eye'd Skull let out a muffled curse as he dismissed the Guardian with a wave of his hand and followed his nose to try and locate his daughter, wondering how she got away from her mother.
"My mother?.....um....th...that is kinda..."
Cadence instantly shot a hoof up apologetically. "I am so sorry, I was just curious I did not mean to drag any bad memories up. I just want to learn as much as possible about your culture and all of you in general. It's just fascinating, I do hope I didn't offend."
"Oh, oh! its not like that. She is just not spoken of... for.. um... other reasons. Namely because I have not met her, she was... well... very different." Cadence looked at the pure white wolf struggling to fit into the pony sized chair. They had been talking for hours, but there was still so much she could learn, from one princess to another. She had already learned so much just by spending time with the young Susi.
The Oracle tried a smile to comfort the pony, but remembered how much Susi teeth seemed to scare ponies and she tried to keep the smile small. "Suffice to say, my mother wasn't a Susi, at least so I am told. It's kinda a legend in the north, flattering and kinda aggravating. But yes, my father by blood and heritage really is the king of the North. We have many traditions that could be misleading but indeed I am of direct blood to my father. My mother is just... um... a special case."
Cadence nodded relaxing in her chair as the ponies worked her hair and struggled with the Oracle's hair, but she seemed ok with it. Feeling another question, Cadence nibbled at her lip and tried her luck. "I see... fascinating. Now, this one might be a sensitive case as well but I feel kinda awkward not knowing. Why does your father call you 'Oracle'?... Oracle sounds like a title."
She smile calmly even chuckled a little, looking over at the Crystal ponies who carefully tended to her long soft silky hair. "It is a title, by tradition ALL members of the magical castes of the north have three names, their given name, their chosen name, and their clan name. This tradition has an extra level carried by those closest to my father, his generals especially. Though the traditional spots of the king's personal Shaman, Druid, and Oracle are known mostly by their title as their main name. Which in this case is also my chosen name. Only my father and a select few know my real name. It was once believed that if you knew a magic user's name you could use the power of his or her name to enslave him or her to your will. However, my father dispelled that myth quickly. He has some other reason for the tradition, and though its a little odd, I quite enjoy the title."
Cadence blinked, the wolves were a bit odd but at least it was interesting. "I see, I can't imagine what it would be like to not ever meet my own mother. Do you know anything about her?" She looked on with honest concern.
"I ... well I know a lot about her, but it would not make sense even if I were to explain it. Her name, well in Ponish means faith, or to have faith. The stories say that my father fought and killed an exceedingly powerful monster alone, he did not wish to allow his people to be harmed, so he refused to take any of his guards or military with him to face down the beast. But he was badly wounded in the battle. She came to him having seen his love for his people and how greatly he desired to protect them, that he would be willing to sacrifice his own life just to keep them safe. The story goes that she fell in love with him through his selfless dedication and came to him in the night as he slept in the frozen wilderness to heal his wounds. As she healed him, he woke to see her, and for some reason, she fled. He followed and despite her power and ability, she could not escape my father's eyes. When finally, she stopped running, he thanked her for her kindness. When he offered to take her back to his kingdom, she refused but he was determined to repay the debt of to her. The stories get a little unclear seeing they were only put together by second, third, even fourth hand accounts afterwards. Some say that he gave her a child to thank her, some say that he married her, and others say he stuck around more or less because he found her so beautiful. Regardless two years after he returned the infinite storm above the capital halted for ten hours and an infant pup was deposited within the throne room. That of course being me." She chuckled and closed her eyes, clearly enjoying the hair treatments.
Cadence's eyes lit up at the story. She was a sucker for a good love story, despite it being a little hard to follow she quite enjoyed it. "Well, I must say, that is more than I can say for myself and my origins."
Oracle chuckled and waved a hand dismissively. "Nonsense, you are an Alicorn. There are still Susi who think all Alicorn princesses are Goddesses of one type or another."
"Really?" Cadence's eyes widened as her voice sounded out in a fair amount of surprise.
"Oh yes, especially those two sisters, Luna and Celestia. I never bought into it but we have a festival in the winter to honor the moon, and one in the summer to honor the sun. If they learn you exist surely they will make another in the spring to honor the love we all have for one another." She smiled warmly and Cadence happily smiled back. She was a little put off being made out to be a Goddess of some sort in another country but it was not like she could do much about it.
"The North sounds very nice..."
"It is... well.. culturally, but we have a very fair share of problems, and every now and again something terrible and powerful comes along to kill everyone." She sighed and Cadence chuckled a little.
"Yeah, I know what that is like" Cadence let out a nervous laugh.
The scent of blood touched the air, the wolves looked up and the streets respectfully fell quiet and cleared. Lean and heavily scarred, twin axes at his hips and a spear on his back the general of the far north and hero of the Halla garden stepped into the city. Kuninkaan Viha, the One eye'd skull's brother, the king of Berserkers, his eyes were cold and distant as his body seemed tired yet coiled and ready to strike. Though he was a hero in this nation, none praised his arrival. All knew the wolf and all he sacrificed to take his father's place. The greatness of this Susi was simply that he had survived that which no other wolf could have. Behind him strode his warriors of Kaaos. Not known for their patience or politeness the arrival of such Susi meant only that the threat in the iron forest was far greater than usual, or that the king simply had something planned.
"Brother!" The much larger Susi strode up. His mask fitted into place per tradition when the armies met. The two generals clasped hands firmly testing each other's might with a firm muscle bound tug. As per usual Viha lifted firmly but only because he was lighter.
"Good to see you brother... where is he? I brought my Kaaos, please don't tell me he really ordered me down here just to hunt a few annoying Kaas?" The thinner wolf grumpily stood as his soldiers stood firmly behind him, twitching and glaring at their surroundings. All knew that these were his special soldiers. Susi who broke on the battlefield and could not be returned to normal life when their time in the military was over found their place in his ranks due to their mind being reverted to nothing but the savage instinct of war. Berserkers and barbarians, and so to speak Viha was the only who understood the broken mind and had the power enough to tame them.
"We have our orders, it is all I know of his plans, though he is down south with the Equines, I'm not quite sure what he is playing at, but if you can spare the time I have some good mead. Shall we retreat to th...." His eye twitched and his teeth grit, Druid stood in the distance. The look was obvious. Rosie had done something very foolish. "Come brother I have some fathering to do, and I will need the mead after I am done."
He made his way forward but Druid met him halfway. "She's gone, and not hiding playfully, but gone. She was in her room studying, but I left for just a moment to bring her dinner. Every druid in the temple felt it. There was a pulse of power, the Sanguine tree dipped very noticeably in power. I found her travel bags gone, the barrel of Kaar preserves empty... She teleported somewhere. And I do not need the others to tell me where. The amount of power drawn was enough to send her across the sea, she is trying to find Oracle." Druid's teeth made an audible grinding noise as she stressed and throbbed with anger. Rosie was not normally a bad child but she often would make foolish mistakes with good intent. All of the excitement in the north had probably just stirred her up a bit too much.
The Skull growled now wishing he had taken his wife's parenting advice, He could handle her running off and playing, but this was just a bit too much. Their daughter just ran off alone to Equestria.
"The other Generals will be here soon, just be patient." The Cursed blood lined up firmly looking at their hero, Guardian lord of house Lempo. Their rifles slung and ready, He chose to disperse his personal soldiers among the inexperienced to improve their survival chances. An Oracle stood firmly by his side listening to the magic on the wind to relay the progress of the other two generals.
"Guardian! the Skull is moving up sooner than expected, there is some sort of conflicting event that changed his plans. Also, the Kuninkaan Viha is moving into the heart of the forest with his Chaaos. The Skull has ordered his Oracle not to relay some things to us, but he assures me that the Skull is not being malicious. He is just very angry at the moment." The Oracle bowed low as she gave the report. It was never good to see such conflict in the upper ranks, certainly not unheard of but the moral of the soldiers would drop like a rock whenever the generals clashed, mostly because when they clashed, they clashed very violently.
The guardian nodded and gestured for her to fall back in line. "Susien Kuningas has given us orders, and the army of the North is on the move. Let us show the redeemed pride and righteous heart of the Cursed Blood!"
The soldiers looked up to their hero and shouted loudly. "THE TYRANT'S BLOOD BINDS US NO LONGER!!!"
He grinned and shouted firmly. "The king has freed us!"
Again, the soldiers cried out. "ALL HAIL THE WOLF KING!"
Swinging his sword forward he let out the cry. "To battle, we march forward!"
"ONWARD, FOR SUSIEN KUNINGAS, BRAVERY AND HONOR, FOR THE NORTH!"
"We fight on!" He began his charge and flawlessly they responded.
"FEARLESS AND UNBREAKABLE! TO WARRR!"
The Guardian Lord hefted his weapon and stood among the ranks of his own soldiers and the young pups barely old enough to to be present in the ranks as the gates to their fort opened wide. A storm of thunder sounded as a mix of Shaman's lobbing spells, long rifles firing and the Guardian charging abreast with the spears of the melee troops into the heart of the forest against the dozens of Kaar that raged against the protected castle which sprouted from the shores of Lake Seppa.
Even though he was still scared witless, one young Susi stood beside his Shaman master as he stared down the barrel of his long rifle, a bullet between each knuckle as he was taught by the veterans. Jalm was scared spitless but seeing the legend of the Guardian Lord of House Lempo at the side of him and his brothers joining the fray directly flooded his worried heart with hope. He hoped that at the very least, the other legends he met today would be doing as well as he was at the moment. But deep down, he hoped mostly that whatever the king was doing deep in the south was worth risking the unstable sub factions of his people mixing together while he was away.
"Well that explains it..." The Skull stared up through the rank and file his clan wolves, his heavy oathsworn, their shield maidens, and finally the small line of curse blood spears at the front. He had not been ready for this, and his forces certainly weren't.
A massive tail swept through the formation, the cursed blood did not survive, the rest either leaped from the spot or tried to endure the massive sweep attack. The Oathsworn, clad in incredibly heavy armor plating mostly were tossed about but one such unlucky wolf lunged forward and plunged his spear into the oncoming tail. Holding tightly he rode the writhing creature until he took a quick trip with a very sudden stop into the cliff face just a few feet behind the Skull who grumbled and issued the orders to reform ranks and form a halberd phalanx "Send in the cursed blood! Go for the legs, flank the buggers!"
The fully adult alpha bull Kaar roared in the mouth of the massive cave flanked by the other four alpha bull Kaar. This was completely unheard of, especially for the Kaar. The Kaar came together in groups of around ten but generally stayed far away from the adult males. Once the male attained full growth and bull status it would fight for territory until it became alpha of that territory and would only venture out to mate with all the females without a wide swath of his exterior territory. Two alphas would fight to the death the moment they could smell one another. But here they had something keeping not two but five of adult alphas from tearing each other to pieces. The only thing that made sense was outside interference. Which of course explained the extremely powerful magical power felt from within the cave guarded by these monstrous beasts.
The massive dragon firmly swatted the ranks of Cursed blood who charged mindlessly at the massive dragon smashing them to nothing. Just as quickly however, a shape darted from the shadows and plunged it's axes in deep before those who were present realized that the Kuninkaan Viha had just pounced onto one of the alphas and instantly started to tear out its eyes with his bare claws. Bringing his axe to bear, the Skull began his charge followed by his oath sworn, quickly taking note of Viha's Kaas warriors following him and swarming the Kaar like ants tearing apart something much larger than themselves. Only exponentially louder and bloodier.
As the Kaas attacked the alphas from the right side of the cave, the Skull lead his oath sworn from the left as the phalanx pushed up the center of the cave contending with the center alpha.
As his axe weaved to and fro cleaving pale flesh until the pale skin and the ground itself was nothing but a crimson mess, the Skull could hear a greater commotion and let out a groan. The roars of the cursed blood and house Lempo grew closer rapidly. He knew full well that the king wanted them to do this together, he had ordered ALL the generals to gather for the war effort while he personally attended the missions in Equestria. The Skull really did not like Dagfinn, but Vihas utterly loathed the Cursed blood general. The presence of both was going to complicate things.
As if the Gods heard his thoughts and decided to make matters worse he heard the first alpha go down and the next alpha lose its tail to the swarming Kaas berserkers. He barely spotted the Viha coated ears to tail with Kaar blood leaping from the dying alpha to join his warriors on the next. But whether it was reflex or just luck, the Alpha Kaar swatted him through the trees and quickly into the ground before the oncoming banners of house Lempo. Cursing loudly the Skull directed his men to press the Alphas as he quickly retreated after his brother, but it was far too late.
Bathed in blood that matted his fur a soaked hand of the Viha grasped the handle of his axe and his pupils dilated. His wrathful mind set only upon dismembering whatever he came across, wrenching his dislocated shoulder back into place his twitching eyes darted back at the sound of marching. He beheld the house Lempo banners, the scared cursed blood, then finally, Dagfinn the Guardian.
Seeing the seething bloodlust in the eyes of the Viha, Dagfinn gestured and his veterans and officers pushed to the front and formed a shield wall as he approached himself keeping his hands off his blade. "It's been a while." He carefully stepped forward holding his hands out as if to try and calm the seething wrath. "I am here for the same reason as you... our oaths to the Susien Kuningas and the north called us here. Are you going to follow your oath or succumb to wrath?"
He stood bearing and watching the twitching before finally reaching for his shield but not his sword as the feral general circled him. He was far beyond talk, but the Guardian had to try, they were comrades and sworn by blood and honor to fight for the same cause and to defend the North against all enemies. Though all that was left of the Viha's mind at the moment was that same image of that night that Dagfinn became the Guardian Lord of house Lempo , the small cursed blood smiling up at the king as he lay in the puddle of blood barely able to move from the deep cauterized claw marks in his back. The blood he lay in was not his own, rather the blood of one he knew all too well.
The Viha lunged forward savagely but was tackled by Skull and just as quickly Skull was thrown off with a long slice into the thick bone mask adding a long vertical scar to the traditional armor piece. Toppling and rolling back to his feet his open and ready claws only just barely missed his brother's tail and leg trying desperately to stop him from attacking Dagfinn. He could see the duel axes clash against the kite shield. Sparks flew and dragon blood trailed from his weapons as his brother clashed with the Guardian Lord.
Gritting his teeth, the Skull stood to his full height and hefted his axe. His lips parted in prayer, not to the king of wolves, but older. "Tor give me strength, Tiuz give me bravery, Othin make my hands swift, by the blood of our fathers, stay our blades."
He breathed deep and threw himself into the fray to subdue his brother.
Rarity yawned loudly and Applejack chuckled. "Yeah... me too." Rarity raised a luscious eyebrow and Applejack chuckled. "We all love Pinkie, we all love her parties, but there is such thing as too much, and while we all have our own thing we do, it wouldn't hurt her to slow down a touch."
Rarity nodded trying not to slump."Oh indeed darling... Twilight with her studies and preparation, Fluttershy with her animals we all do our things but sometimes I wish I could just tell Pin-"
A loud crackling burst interrupted her and three figures landed in front of her. Rather, two figures landed as a hefty muscle bound arm shot out and grasped Shining Armor's tail snatching him out of the air to prevent him from face planting into the ground. "Are you well prince?"
The massive wolf gently swung Shining into position and let him go so he landed on all four hooves. "Um..y..yes... I'm... I was just not ready for that at all." He cleared his throat and gave a short hoof wave to Rarity and Applejack. "Hello, don't mind us, I'm just taking the king here to see Twily..." He cleared his throat still trying to shake off the shock.
The three made their way along slower than the two Susi would have liked but their guide was still shaky on his hooves. The two mares on the other hoof could not stop staring. Completely unable to decide exactly what they should do or say. They simply stood and stared at the small group moving up towards the castle.
A furry set of knuckles rapped on the door calmly. It was late but not too late. At least according to Susi standards. The door opened and a small purple dragon stared at an odd sight for him. Legs, legs right where a normal pony's face would be his eyes traced up and he went pale seeing what he could only think was some sort of monster Diamond Dog. But just as quickly Shining Armor poked in. "I am sorry Spike, we did not plan on coming this late, but is Twilight home?... This is the King of the north and his.... um... Shaman..."
Just as quickly Twilight came to the door wide eyed and with a bright excited smile. "OH!!.. I did not expect to see you so soon." Twilight put on a slightly awkward smile before opening the door widely. She had only just magically sent the needed messages to the North and she honestly expected a response in a few months. She squirmed a little unsure of herself, but the King's clam smile reassured her a bit. " your majesty, I hope the... ah.. trip was pleasant. Honestly I would have cleaned up a little more if I knew you would be here so fast."
He waved a hand calmly. "It is fine Princess. It may be odd, but I do not enjoy special treatment. I only desire to be treated just as any being who you would come to know." He smile warmly and she smiled back a bit less awkwardly this time.
"Oh.. I ...I can do that... please call me Twilight then. I'm not much one for titles and such..." She rubbed the back of her head nervously as they all stepped in.
Spike nervously stepped back and retreated to another room as the King of wolves glanced about taking in the lack of servants or guards. "And neither am I Twilight... though for me just call me Susien..."
"Susien?" She stopped and thought back on the load of books she had just nearly read herself to sleep with. "That just means wolf right?"
"No.. it means Wolves....it is a part of the title." She shaman's words were almost sharp, not aggressive but almost as if he was annoyed, or just naturally sounded a tad abrasive.
"OH! like Susien Kuningas, the name of your ancestor! The one who fought and killed the Tyrant Fennir." Twilight had thought of trying to redecorate or put something culturally significant up, but she didn't have the chance.
The Shaman gave an odd look and glanced back and forth between Twilight and the king of the north before the king chuckled and spoke. "...Yes... something like that...." He nodded to the Shaman and the Shaman gave a quick nod back before stepping into the King's shadow instantly vanishing. Twilight gawked at first but the king's happy relaxed smile just told her everything was fine. She had read what the magics of the north did and their roles in their society. Quickly picking out the Shaman as a shaman and not one of the other two categories she knew that his magic was mostly combat related and he was likely one of the King's guards in such a situation. His position would be to leap out and save the king if there was any form of trouble. So naturally he would be hiding like that, but she was very confused where his personal guards were. The black furred wolves, dark seers, she forgot the exact name. But from what she could read, they were supposed to be other worldly in power and always within ten paces of the king.
Shining yawned and just laid down on one of the couches. He was more than just tired. Content in letting his sister take it from there he would get some rest and resume his duties in the morning, he had spent enough time with the wolf to be confident that he wouldn't hurt anypony.
"So then, I do hope that I can meet with the other leaders of this nation. I did kind of drop in without much warning, I have succeeded in securing trade and comradery between the north and the Crystal empire. I am eager to meet with all the leaders of this nation, but to my understanding you are one of these rare leaders. Equestria must be quite blessed to have so many powerful monarchs."
Twilight blushed and waved off the compliment sheepishly. "Oh its not that big of a deal... Mostly I just smile and wave." She choked a little feeling his gaze on her and the way she had just painted herself to him. Clearing her throat she started again. "I more or less am still in learning but I have saved Equestria with my friends a few times. We keep busy and do as best as we can."
"Oh yes, I noticed. We have been eager to set foot here for a while. I came close to issuing the order to send in some forces to help with some of Equestria's problems, like with your fight with Tyrek, but the Oracles foretold that Harmony had a different plan. We would stay our hand and Equestria would save itself. This nation has grown so powerful... I am quite pleased and I do hope we can be a powerful ally in both trade and cultural exchange." He smile gesturing with his hand to Twilight.
"I hope so too, its still quite late but I can talk, and you have a few hours before it's day again, we can chat and Spike can show you to a room so you can sleep before we go to meet Celestia in the morning."
"Indeed that is a wonderful plan though I do have a request or two, do you have a balcony? It has been long since I have seen the moon and desire to lay eyes upon it. It makes a wonderful setting for conversation with friends." Twilight happily nodded and gestured for him to follow as she lead him deeper into the castle.
Pinkie happily hummed as she wiped down the tables and put the cupcakes back into the fridge. It had been hours since the party ended and honestly she felt quite tired. But never the less a bright smile spread across her. She had heard something about strangers in ponyville and was still deciding whether these cupcakes would be ok for their welcome to Ponyville party. She hummed in thought before deciding she could easily bake more. Better have fresh cupcakes than some left over from another party. It would just be rude otherwise, plus she had to try out a new blue frosting.
Reaching up and rubbing her eyes she stifled a powerful yawn but suddenly froze. Her tail twitched and wiggled, her neck itched and her knees gave a soft ache. Somepony was watching her. Turning gracefully about she breathed in deep feeling the air about her. No further itches, twitches or anything resounded within her. Whatever it was, she was in no danger. The presence she could feel even gave off a playful aura. "Nopony can hide from Pinkie Pie!!"
Pinkie leaped right where her feeling was the strongest and oddly made contact with something she clearly didn't see. It was like the air within the space she just collided with held something she simply could not see. But this quickly wore off as she bowled it over and found herself sitting over a little furry creature about the same size as her. The pup looked up at her with wide almost fearful eyes.
"I... I wasn't planning anything... I was just trying to find my friend... have... have you see a really pretty wolf with white fur around here?" She flailed about and held up her hands as if expecting some level of punishment.
Pinkie stared, still not quite sure what was going on, but she let her feelings guide her. "Well... um.. no I haven't but.. if you came to find a friend then you came to the right place... WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!!!!" Whipping about Pinkie dropped some balloons and a cupcake into her waiting claws.
"Uh.. um.... ok...." She nearly squeaked out the words "... What is this?" She held out the cupcake, the balloons did not interest her so much. But the cupcake was all sorts of bright, vivid, and very solid colors. She had seen balloons before but this thing was completely alien to her.
"Its a cupcake silly... wait... WAIT.... you have not had cupcakes before?" Pinkie seemed mortified but quickly recovered. "It's.. it's a cupcake.. its food, the best kind of food. Eat it. You wont regret it ever!!! You can trust me, I am Pinkie Pie, and Pinkie Pie does not lie!" The last string of words came out in a nearly crazed proclamation.
The young pup nodded slowly, despite the normal reaction to Pinkie's forwardness being trying to get some distance from her until the initial shock wore off the pup seemed ok with it, even happy to see such a positive attitude. "Good, I am Rosie.... and I don't lie either, Susi are not supposed to lie. It is a sin against the King's will and dishonorable..." She smiled puffing her chest out proudly reciting that part of the Susi's warriors customs.
"Coool.... what's a suzy? Oh!... I have given you the treat of my peoples take it... love it... eat it! And then we can try your stuff!" Pinkie flailed about playfully and Rosie watched closely.
Awkwardly smiling, Rosie eyeballed the small frosted cupcake. Leaning in she sniffed at it rather surprised and encouraged at the scent she leaned forward and nibbled off the side.
Just outside Berry Punch slowly stumbled her way home, she was supposed to be home about an hour ago, but this was more than good enough for her. Slowly and surely, one hoof in front of another, she happily hummed until what almost felt like a shockwave hit her. She fumbled and plopped face first into the ground at the borderline scream she heard coming from sugar cube corner.
"CUPCAKES! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE!!!!!"
Cadence calmly nuzzled into her pillow. She was at peace, a wonderful day with a new friend. Oracle took the room just down one floor, she was so refreshed and very happy. The closest thing they had in the north to a spa was their saunas which had no one to as she said with glee "pamper" them. The white wolfess was so happy at the end of the day, Cadence almost had trouble convincing her that at some point ponies needed to sleep. The future looked promising for the north and the Crystal empire.
With a belly full of delicacies and a royal bed the princess of love floated towards the very fringes of sleep when something tickled her senses, as if she was being pulled deeper into sleep with something whispering sweet nothings into her ear. Something powerful, but not dangerous, like the first time she had heard thunder, or the ocean waves. Something natural but so very powerful.
The whispers like the deep peaceful breath of a sleeping beast, the whispers fluttered at her as if begging to be understood, the potential of danger, greatness, beauty, it was all there. But just barely beyond her ability to understand. But suddenly, it was there. She could see Shining staring in disbelief, the king and his smile, his calm smile despite the blood spattered over his face. A sudden surge of fear shot through her, the burning wrath of Celestia washed over the room like a storm of fire. Pain, fear, regret, sorrow boiled within the heart of Twilight and it reflected on her face. Singing blades marched into Equestria and the balance of everything stood teetering one way and the other. A long, uncertain, and treacherous road to a great future, or the safe known path that lead them all directly in the ocean of blood.
"The future is never set in stone, but it can be very clear, or very muddled. The path you choose rarely changes the destination, but sometimes you can walk that path, and end at the end of cold steel, or with the warmth of love and kinship within your heart."
Cadance's eyes shot open and gasping, she sat up. Her heart thundering in her chest, she shivered sweeping for magic that would have put the images in her head, or perhaps the voice that spoke to her. But not even a single whisper sounded. Even as she made her way into the hall, looking into the darkness, she saw only the guards. Though they were quite surprised to see her up and about, they said nothing.
She sighed and turned back to bed before she caught the faintest sound, something that made her eyes tense and water. Slowly she followed the sound until she got to the balcony overlooking the campsite the king's guard had set up. The black wolves were standing, eyes closed and noses to the air. The noise was coming from them. A soft mournful song. Even late at night, a few ponies had stopped on their way past and stared, shivering and turning to confused tears as the soft foreign words escaped their maws in a sorrowful song.
"The winds of fate spoke to them, I felt it as well. Something is happening..." Cadence didn't have to turn around to see the Oracle.
"I just..." Cadence bit her lip trying to figure it out for herself.
"You have powerful magic, things you might be blind to can still be sensed, especially when it is in abundance around you. Oracles and Seers, we feel the winds of fate as clearly as if it was a raging river flowing through us. That very same river becomes easier to feel when we are present." She sat on the edge of the balcony, what Cadence had confused for painted runes over the Oracle's limbs glowed softly with a pure beautiful cyan blue. "We don't know exactly what will happen, but something has us up..."
"You're still up?!" Twilight struggled to keep her balance. She had gotten so little sleep, just endlessly talking to the king. She had practically fallen asleep mid sentence and woke up in her bed. After returning to the balcony she found that it was mid day and that the king was calmly sitting and reading one of the books from her library. It did not appear he had moved an inch since she passed out. As well he looked just the same, his eyes were fresh and calm as they were when she first saw him.
"Well yes... the storms in the north are very VERY powerful, they blot out the sun and moon most of the time, it's honestly kind of hard to tell if it's day or night. The majority of the north became accustom to 30 hour day cycles. However, I being the king have an important role to play, so I normally go much much longer without sleep. I am just not very used to resting every night." He chuckled as if watching her wheels turning. She was young, and she had a lot in her future, a good test for such was to not lie but to neither tell the full truth, then see how long it took them to become aware. Eventually they would look for hidden meanings and motives in all things. Wisdom was always the most important thing for a leader to develop and sharpen.
But the tired Twilight basically sat and blinked, rolling his statement about in her tired mind. He chuckled and shook his head, he would save his lessons and fun for later. "Well no time like the present my little purple friend... if you have nothing else important to do I would be happy to go to Canterlot and write up an official treaty for an alliance and open up trade between our peoples." He stood and gently put the book down. Twilight seemed oddly entranced at how fluid his movements were, the joints to his fingers moved so gracefully as he closed the book. Book sorting and handling was always a bit rougher without magic but the more she paid attention the more she seemed to notice that this wolf was oddly majestic in even his most simple of movements.
"Ah... yes... we can go to Canterlot at any time, the train is just down the street. It will get us there pretty fast."
The king smiled happily as Shaman came out of his shadow chewing on Kaar preserves. The sudden appearance gave Twilight a small jump but she shrugged it off and offered a smile before coming about to go and wake spike to tell him what that day's plans were and to set what needed to be done in motion.
His gaze settled on the Canterlot castle in the distance. "I hope you have not changed too much... Aurinko Pylly..."
"And... and then my daddy punched him right in the snout! But he threw lighting right back. But then..." The little wolf beamed and nearly squealed in glee as Pinkie pie sat listening to her story with almost equal excitement watching the illusion magic display animation to her story telling "... then Oracle stepped in and with just a wave of her hand the lightning arced away from my daddy and struck the ground!.. The evil Shaman had lost his one and only chance of hurting my daddy or the king."
"What happened to him?" Pinkie leaned in with bright happy eager eyes.
"He stood trial for treason and was forced to take the blood oath! Stripped of his titles and property, he was allowed to not be executed nor his family shamed if he was to go and enter the Iron forest alone and fight against the Kaar until he died." Rosie puffed out her chest beaming with pride. Back at home, story telling was the honor of the elders, but at the moment she was the oldest and most revered Susi present so the honor fell to her. It was a default technicality which made her outright giddy.
"Oh! Goodness, the North sounds awesome and scary at the same time." Pinkie stepped back to take some cupcakes out of the oven as she maintained eye contact. "Oh oh oh oh oh! can you tell me any big stories about you or your family? I know the last few had your dad in it, but never was it actually about your family."
Rosie's smile faded slightly but she looked over at Pinkie with some reservation. "W...well... there is one story... but my daddy doesn't like it being told. The king said it was a story all could learn from, but he says a lot of really strange stuff no one understands. I guess... but its... its not a very happy story."
Pinkie's ears lowered a tad but she did not falter. She could feel the story was important. She just could not shake the feeling of confused pain that filled the room. Clearly, the little Rosie could feel it as well, but her youth and naivety sheltered her from understanding such powerful emotion. Pinkie nodded as to agree for the little wolf to begin.
Her hands lit up and like with the previous stories she told her magic flared to show images of the snowy north and a single Susi appeared. Tall and powerful he held a heavy lance in one hand and a heavy mace in the other. "The failed General... My grand father, Inquisitor. He took the name Inquisitor because as the king taught him, you must question everything you can perceive, otherwise you will only see what others desire you to see... It was a lesson that brought him to a strange conclusion. He took all his soldiers and a large portion of his cursed blood, traveled to the far west, past the iron forest and built a citadel there...." Her hands flared up and the image pushed into the space around them showing a young wolf with two swords standing before the old and powerful wolf.
"Father!... this is madness... you cannot be serious..." His hands twitched, it was clear he was torn in two. His loyalty to the throne and his loyalty to his father.
"He lead me to this himself, question EVERYTHING, like why something like him would even exist... The answer is simple. A test, my child... he took control of the North two thousand years ago to forge us into our own rulers. His mere existence is a test that will forever stand as a challenge. In order for the North to become more, we must overthrow the King. It is the only way my son."
The smaller Susi shivered and looked up at his father. "NO!... its not right, he lead us for thousands of years, he freed us from slavery, taught us who we were, he gave us our culture, he made us who we are."
"Did he really?... I have looked over and over again, we were never freed, we simply swapped masters. The king is a warrior, more than just a warrior, he is like an incarnation of battle. But he is not a true king, he is simply a physical manifestation of who we are, or at least a part of it." His eyes stared down at his youngest son but the young wolf's actions only brought anger to the father's eyes.
"NO!!!" The twin blades drew but instantly the heavy mace splashed down and knocked them from his grip nearly rending his fingers from his hands. He grit and bared his teeth up at his father. "Please father, do not do this..."
Another voice boomed into the long hall along with the sound of the doors shattering. The hulking form and skull mask, symbol of the Skull stepped into the great hall. "FATHER!" The mask came off and two eyes stared up at the old general. Though the image of the skull had two eyes, and was very young. His armor shined, free of scratches just as his hide was free of scars.
The response in the father's voice was rage and disgust. "TRAITORS! Who has betrayed me and my command? Who told you of this place?"
The skull shook his head and raised his axe, pointing at his father with a degree of uncertainty. His voice was shaken, but he knew what he had to do. "It matters not father, I was given the knowledge and as such so has the King of wolves. He is coming, he is coming with his armies. I am here before him for one reason, please father... I beg of you, stop this madness, stop it all. There is hope, he will not destroy you if you turn from your course now."
Inquisitor looked down at his oldest son, then back at his youngest son, he slowly stood to his full height fighting off the pain of his kin betraying him. "I will not. You have both shamed me, shamed me with your actions and forgiveness will not come this day."
As if in slow motion The Skull raised his axe and leaped forward just as the younger son took an arrow from his quiver and lunged as if it were a dagger. Inquisitor shed a single tear as his mace lashed back and sent the younger son through the wall, and with a sudden burst, the lance caught fire and was thrown with great force impacting and almost deflecting from the Skull's head burning and penetrating his eye.
All present stared in horror. The soldiers under Inquisitor's command, and the cursed blood taken with their main forces all stood uncertain. Their loyalty was sworn to both their general and the throne. It was more than planned treachery now, The Inquisitor had just committed treason and proved his dishonor by drawing the blood of his own sons. He had taken the blood of his own kin, a most dire sin in the North.
"Susien Kuningas is a lie. He is not one of us, he never was. I have dedicated my life to understanding the ways of this world and I have seen the truth. A truth that casts the shadow of death upon us all. You will listen and obey... or you will perish beneath my rage." He raised his weapon high as the Skull rose from the floor in pain. Looking up at his father. He opened his mouth but another voice echoed through the halls.
"NO!.... You speak Heresy! Your foolishness costs the North the blood of thousands of it's sons and daughters..."
He whipped about and stared at what appeared to be a single cursed blood who stepped out of the formation. The others stared on in horror, but this young Susi who was barely even of age to stand in the ranks of the army stared up at the Inquisitor, the king's most powerful warrior.
"You?... You, a son of the tyrant? A member of the cursed blood would stand against me? And for the sake of the one who enslaved your bloodline for two thousand years?.... your blind faith and loyalty impresses no one boy." He marched forward with his mace extended like an accusing finger levied at the young scrawny wolf.
"Yes, I have faith in the king, I deny you and your claims... but it is not by blind loyalty. You... the king's inquisitor, named such for your thirst of knowledge, your endless search of lore, in all your pondering and thought you forgot the cost of your actions, you forgot to inquire what it would cost and whether it would be worth it. You forgot to inquire of your own motives. You blinded yourself with an answer you WANT to be right. You found an answer, and you refuse to see it as anything but the correct one." The little wolf looked up at the figure before him, towering both figuratively and literally over the young cursed blood.
Inquisitor was now feet from him. "You are mislead... but your bravery and concern is noted." His cold eyes stared down into the hot blooded eyes of the youth. "I am impressed... but before you die, tell me your name, that you would be remembered... No cursed blood have I ever seen before me unbroken and without fear. Despite your betrayal, you honor your kind with such bravery."
The youth looked up and smiled a warm inviting calm and almost blissful smile. "I am Dagfinn of the house Lempo. We... the cursed blood know in our hearts, Susien Kuningas has done his deeds for the north. We and we alone it seems are the ones who not blind in our loyalty. He has been and always will be the Guardian of our kind, of all of the north. He is the shining example of who we should all be. I strive with every fiber of my being to be like him, but I feel, you are lost in your pondering in inquiring... Your lust for the truth was powerful, but it has blinded you."
"Brave words little one, the Cursed blood will be lesser when you die." Inquisitor's mace rose but the calm smile across the youth's lips did not fade.
"I have nothing to fear, and your inquiring mind has blinded you to more than just who and what Susien Kuningas is..."
The mace reached its peak at the tip of Inquisitor's reach far above his head before it began to sweep down bursting into an inferno of blood red flames as it arced through the air. Though before it reached the young cursed blood, he darted forward, stepping further into Inquisitor's reach and gave a soft whirl. The mace shattered the stone floor beneath their feet and with a swift motion the young Susi Dagfinn plunged a dagger into Inquisitor's wrist. What happened next was nearly too fast to be seen. Claws lit up with magical fire and slashed back and forth as the dagger in the hands of the young Dagfinn danced about. The sound of a cold steel blade punching through ribs echoed in the room in front of the Skull. Just as the younger son struggled up from the rubble the eyes of both sons stared at the mortally wounded Dagfinn tearing the dagger out of the heart of their father. The site mortified them both, sickness and rage built up inside but was forced cold when a heavy hand landed on the Skull's shoulder.
"Stand down... He made his choice, this could not have been avoided." Susien Kuningas stepped forward, past the Skull and right up to the young Dagfinn. "Pup, I heard your words, I have noticed your deeds. You stood against what you new was wrong knowing full well what it would cost you your life, I have recognized your deeds, your honor, but even I am confused why you would act. Surely you had faith that I would come and repair this. You didn't need to spend your life." The king slowly kneeled at the side of the young warrior.
Dagfinn looked up from the puddle of blood, deep cauterized wounds in his back from fiery claws. "I do not need blind faith, What we the cursed blood owe to you is without measure. Your mercy to us when we deserved none cannot be repaid, but just like peace. The impossible should always be strived for. I moved because the truth was being subverted. Inquisitor saw many things others did not, but his mind was tainted with doubt and clouded with desire. I am filled with certainty. I too question everything, but I take the answers and I instill them into who I am... I refuse to allow your grace upon my kind to be answered with treachery fueled by half truths. I may die today, but I die knowing I did what was right. And I know this without any need for blind obedience." He smiled up at the king who smiled back looking into the young one's eyes.
"I am honestly surprised and quite delighted. You are so much more than I expected. You, I feel represent what the North is... you are certainly one of it's guardians, and if you survive, then I will ensure that you are rewarded." His hand gently moved to the back of Dagfinn's head and he tilted him back opening his mouth. Taking the dagger from the hand of the downed pup, he drew the blade across his own wrist and bled into the cursed blood's maw. "Drink, drink and we will see how much the soul of the North values you."
The magic fizzed and faded and Rosie's eyes were cast downwards. "As the King says, even when striving to do what is right, you can do what is wrong. My grandfather did both. He earned death, but is still remembered for his service and bravery from before his betrayal. Even as he moved to betray his king, he still wanted only what was best for the north... The fault was simply in his reasoning. Susien Kuningas says that in order to have a good soul, you must see ALL things, not just what you believe concerns you. Ignore the illusion of sides and you will see the truth..."
Pinkie's eyes were wide but her smile not wholly there. She understood it all and it amazed her but she felt strongly the pain of the two sons and of the king. "Well that was amazing!!... though..." She slathered on more frosting atop the cupcakes before throwing one to Rosie who eagerly gobbled it down. "Its kinda a sad story."
"Yeah... it kinda is...."
"Another?"
"Sure!" The smell of cupcakes and magic filled Sugar cube corner as the two continued their day.
"Shaman... stand by until you are needed." The Shaman nodded, taking a single step he vanished into the shadows without a word. This still was unnerving for Twilight the way he seemed so at ease with all his dark powers. Normally magic involving shadows and darkness was something exclusively related to evil.
Twilight could easily tell his power was not malicious but it was far darker than the magic she was used to. "Ahem... well... this has been like very VERY short notice,but I got us in. I do hope that princess Celestia is not busy."
Her soft hoof falls were accompanied by the long even stride of the king just a few feet behind her. The guards gave him a menacing glare of mistrust. He offered back a warm smile, not blaming mistrust of such creatures to a wolf. Never the less he did not break his stride and they did not stop glaring at him with suspicion. They slowed at the door to the main hall and he breathed deeply. "Well... here goes."
Twilight only looked at him for a moment before the door opened and they entered. There were a few ponies there going over things off a list but both Luna and Celestia were there, just another day in the life of a Canterlot Princess. "Ah! Princess Luna, Princess Celestia! Cadence sent us emissaries from the far north. The king of the North himself decided to come."
Luna looked up and nearly froze. Her eyes wide and her pupils small. She looked like she had seen a ghost. Celestia looked up and smiled at Twilight, the tone of her voice made it plain that she did not quite hear what the young princess had said, but she knew the happy tone well. "Well then come right in we have plenty of time left in the day, let's..." Her eyes grew wide and she stared at the wolf with wide eyes.
"Hello Aurinko Pylly... good to see you are doing well... goodness, last time I saw you, you were still just this tall..." He waved his hand at about his waist level. He seemed very calm despite the air turning hot as it tinged with magical power.
The banner behind Celestia caught fire and her lips turned to a snarl. "YOU!!!" Twilight flinched and quickly broke into a sweat. She was very surprised to hear the king speak to Celestia in such a familiar manner, but more than anything, Celestia's response felt downright alien on Twilight's ears, so full of disgust and wrath. "HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?"
The king of wolves smiled and waved slightly dismissively. "Ponies don't have the same combat prowess as Susi, that could have a thing or two to do with it..." He stepped forward without an ounce of malice. He seemed a just a little disrespectfully dismissive, but he did not look to be in any way shape or form, looking for a fight.
However, Celestia's power lit up like the heart of the sun and she leveled her horn at him. Loosing a blast of magical power that could level half of Canterlot. The King shot forward with an open hand. Palming the powerful beam of magic he still closed the gap quickly grasping her horn with a grip of iron. Wrenching her head to the side his open left palm smashed her in the throat and his leg swept her hooves out from under her, pinning the princess with an open palm in a display of martial prowess.
"After all I did for your nation, you have a funny way of showing your appreciation..." His palm left Celestia's neck as he quickly leaped out of the way as Luna dove in as if to impale him on her horn with a quick soaring path across the room. He glanced once at his singed palm he sighed, his eyes falling back to Luna, standing fiercely before Celestia, guarding her sister.
Celestia struggled to her hooves and coughed in a pained raspy voice. "You killed hundreds of my ponies... and for WHAT?... to give us a message?" The guards began to pour into the room and a few near forcefully pulled the confused and panicking Twilight to the side getting her out of the way.
"We never intended for hostilities, but your kind are as stubborn and as prideful as they come, we saved your lives and by default we saved the lives of every non pony race on your continent." His hands tensed and formed into menacing open fists to claw and smash equally, the look on his face showed that if he fought them, it was purely out of necessity and self preservation. Had he desired, it could have been claws and fangs rather than an open palm and restraining grip in response to her magical assault.
"You declared war on us... we could barely even stand on our own and you marched your army into our back yard bringing death with you." A guard rushed forward and presented a large golden halberd which Celestia hefted quickly and gave a twirl before leveling it at him. "I was a filly then... but you will find that I am a far more capable mare now." She rushed in with her weapon firmly gripped within her golden magic. The moment she came within range there was the clash and ring of cold steel. The air turned deathly cold and the head of Celestia's halberd twirled about and sank into the stone wall on the far side of the throne room.
He held her firmly by the throat pulling her up to his level as he held a large axe up to her face. The weapon seethed with elemental magic more powerful than Twilight had ever felt, which was appropriate considering the weapon seemed to just pop out of nowhere. His eyes opened firmly and the whites clouded up with a pitch black as he glared into the eyes of a struggling and gasping Celestia. "Your foolish kind refused to listen to the prophecies of wolves out of petty ignorance and fear of our race, you refused to form armies against the coming darkness, we had little other choice but to force you to move as lest the whole world be swallowed by your ignorance. I understand you were hurt, I understood your pain, but you went far above and beyond what was your right of vengeance."
Gasping as she struggled her wings flapped and finally a hoof came to his knee relieving a fair amount of pressure applied to her throat, pushing her into a position where she could gasp for air and speak. "We had no choice, you monsters were relentless."
For the first time, a touch of anger spilled over his features. "You deceived Roudan, the last of her kind into attacking us. You had more than a choice there."
"And your assaults stopped. You obviously could not win against an old God."
"You really are blind aren't you?" He pressed the axe against her face and Celestia went noticeably pale, not by the threat of the bladed weapon, but by a realization of the ice infused blade. "Our goal was to force you to create an army, we succeeded. But in your desperation and despair, you sent the last of the elementals to kill me. She much like you refused to listen to reason... I was forced to kill her."
"Imp... impossible! You killed her? How?!" Her face twisted into horror and anger as she came to fully realize the weapon he was holding was made from bones.
"We came in peace, now, just like we did back then. And again, you have to step in and piss all over honorable intent, again all I wanted was to bring happiness and security to your world and my own, but you are dead set on the destruction of your people through your ignorance." He glared at her as she returned his gaze, her eyes filled with hate and anger. "But, tell you what... I am more than fair, some even say merciful. I'll give you one last chance, see if you learn the lesson and can set aside your hate. Who knows, maybe you can get some closure."
His eyes drifted back to Twilight who stared on in horror. His eyes betrayed pain and sorrow but he resolved himself and threw the icy weapon. "Shaman! Jätän sen sinulle kunnes asiat on ratkaistu." The bladed weapon was caught in the hand of the Shaman who appeared to simply pop into existence. With a grimace he nodded and turned to Twilight. The guards raised their weapons as he rushed forward. But the moment they stabbed their spears at his form racing towards them, there was an icy blast and just like that he was gone. They looked to and fro, but as the guards readily twitched, their eyes darting left and right, Twilight gasped and shivered, odd power coursing through her, the sensation was alarming and just a touch too much, she barely managed to mumble something to get the guard's attention before she toppled, falling unconscious to the floor.
The king frowned and breathed deeply before releasing Celestia who staggered back and ignited with fiery magic once more, her wrath flaring up at him. But he stood calm and collected, his lips parting to speak once more. "I will have to teach you the lesson the hard way, you ponies are so damned stubborn." To all their surprise he relaxed his stance and sat firmly on the ground in front of a confused, worried, and still quite angry Celestia. "I surrender, go ahead Aurinko Pylly. Take me to your darkest dungeons. We will see what breaks first... your misplaced desire for vengeance, or your love for your nation."
The air was dull and there was a severe ringing in her ears. She felt hot, far too hot. Aching everywhere she could feel something on the very fringes of her mind. It was like her mother calling her but she didn't want to get up out of bed, but while she was exhausted, sick, injured, and just in general miserable. Then a very unfamiliar voice.
"CONFOUND IT WAKE UP YOU LAZY HORSE!"
Twilight shot upright with fright. She was drenched horn to tail in sweat, which was very odd seeing a large gathering of various ponies present and shivering, their breath clearly visible in the air as if it was the dead of winter.
Her whole body hurt, her flesh itself ached and the familiar buzz of magic filled her body, but she couldn't place the spell or really fully identify the feeling, it was just a mishmash of magical effects being blasted through her. Her eyes fluttering open and she struggled to stand. Despite her dream being so oddly alluring with her mother's voice, she didn't actually expect to actually see her mother. Her mother who eagerly rushed in to embrace her despite a fair amount of odd magic about the air which almost seemed to physically harm her as she forcefully pushed in to hug her daughter.
Several guards near instinctively moved in to stop Twilight Velvet, but a familiar but aggressive and cold voice commanded them.
"BACK AWAY!...." Celestia's burning aura of power was almost as hot and powered as her voice was cold. "The wolves have taken enough, I will not let them take anything more from Equestria... if a mother wants to hold her child you will NOT interfere." She strode up firmly to Twilight and her mother giving vague focuses which slapped small wards over Velvet to protect her from the magic. Twilight physically pained from the princess's magically charged presence looked to her with a level of concern, she had never seen such wrath in her teacher and the magic flowing from her seemed wrathful and aggressive.
To others she appeared to give a welcoming warmth but to Twilight it was an exhausting and painful heat bearing down on her as if she had been in the desert for days and flinched at the unbearable heat pressing down on her. "Wh...What is going on?"
Celestia did not waste time as she quickly took another step forward of which the mere existence of another few inches closer felt like another five hours in the baking sunlight as Celestia stripped away and reapplied a dozen small spells, counter spells and more. "You were cursed... When the king 'surrendered' he threw his weapon and when his Shaman seized it and somehow... they vanished after putting some sort of hex on you. I'm trying to counter it, but I'm having a few difficulties as Northern magic is difficult to understand and invasive."
Velvet moved to one side to let the matriarch of Equestria to help her daughter. There was a sudden flash and Twilight felt something indescribable. The sensation was horrendously painful, and Twilight knew what it was, two very different magics fighting brutally within her, like a cancer being carved out of her body. Her eyes darted up to see her old teacher and silently begged for her to slow down or give her at least a breath. But finally an ice cold chill ran down her back, not a chill of relief, but one of progress.
Celestia's eyes were cold and distant, her loving, understanding, noble teacher and fellow princess was now staring without emotion or empathy, as if Twilight's affliction was just one more distant problem to be snuffed out despite what it would do to her. The cold fear shot through her and she realized that this Celestia was only trying to save a princess, not trying to save her friend.
Twilight's scream told of a fair amount pain but mostly it was fear. This was no longer Celestia. It was something consumed by wrath and hate, she couldn't even imagine what could have driven somepony so loving and kind into such a state.
Cold shock gripped Twilight, like if she was struck in the head. Her vision blurred and darkened around the edges, the urge to vomit boiled up in her. She could feel her head hit the floor and suddenly as if she had dropped out of the warmth of a hot bath and through the thin ice of a frozen lake, she could feel not some new cold, but how horribly cold she was all along. Her mother hugged her tightly and pulled her in. Twilight's eyes opened to see Celestia trotting away solemnly without a word. Quickly guards moved in and practically smothered Twilight with blankets and went to fetch anything more to warm her from the ungodly powerful ice magic flowing through her.
Celestia made her way out without even flinching, it was an image of an angry queen, a true leader, a monarch, a mare who made hard decisions when nopony else could. It didn't feel like Celestia at all, but it was the last thing Twilight saw before everything dimmed out and she drifted off into a fitful sleep. A sleep filled with odd dreams of strange visions of far off foreign lands that seemed downright alien to her.
The dreams were filled with ice and war, she could hear the pained voice of Luna trying to reach her but something was in the way, something fought against the princess, something not malicious, but very stubborn and prideful. The dreams began to gain clarity and soon she couldn't even tell it was a dream, it was properly a reflection of Luna's power and Twilight could not help but to wonder and worry about Luna's dream world.
She was alone, curled up in pain atop an endlessly tall pillar of ice, her whole castle could have fit on top the pillar, but it was so simple, empty and bland. Only the cold welcomed her until the wispy ice and cold formed a familiar ghostly form.
"Twilight?" Luna's voice sounded distant and a little too filled with concern to be comfortable. Her form was certainly Luna's size and shape, but the wispy ghost like appearance was very different from the way she normally appeared in dreams.
"Luna!" She struggled to get her hooves under her and Luna's ghostly visage supported her. Despite the icy appearance, her form was a surprisingly warm and very welcome sensation.
"What happened?" Twilight's body shivered as she took stock of the dreamscape.
Luna grumbled and gestured a hoof outward across the blank expanse of the pillar they stood atop. "He happened..."
His claw tips smoldered like molten iron, his arms were smoke and ash that reached into his image of darkness and incomprehensible ice and frost. And if that was not enough, behind him, a massive form of ice and rage stalked, as if just waiting for the chance to pounce. A figure that seemed almost invisible had a whirling pelting snow not outlined it so perfectly. It's every breath drew in and highlighted more of it with a soft icy blue glow.
"Wh... What is that?" Twilight's sudden awareness instantly drew the attention of the thing behind the ashy figure, but it stayed behind him despite it's predator like stance and stalking in an endless pace.
"Oh... I myself am not sorry, but it would be a violation of my king's standards and kindness if I did not apologize..." The figure bowed low and despite how horribly her mind swam with pain and confusion, Twilight knew the voice despite only having heard it a precious few times.
"You're the Shaman! What happened?!" The shivering pain inside her kept her from sudden movements or gathering her strength.
"My king ordered me to stay safe and to ensure we have our foot in the door..." His burning fingertips waved about and a cloud of ash formed a seat, nearly a throne for him to grace with his figure.
"We don't know how, but he forcefully put himself inside your mind. He's inside you and we can't get him out, he almost killed you..." Luna's words were guarded but full of disgust as she regarded the wolf.
"Hey! That's not entirely fair, I helped save her from the inside just as Aurinko Phylly did from the outside... it's not my fault your queen is so brutal and detached." He flowed the smoke from his fingertips to show a vague image of Celestia filled with rage and tearing through magical barriers with relentless and unrestrained power looking more like she was attacking than trying to heal.
"She would not have had to if you weren't in here!" Luna's counter was almost as cold as Celestia had sounded before Twilight lost consciousness.
"Yeah... sorry about that, pony magic is... strange, very different. But I had it under control, really all she did was make it worse... after all it wasn't MY magic that caused all this.." He shrugged and leaned back in his chair.
"Then.. who's?" Twilight struggled to stand on her own as she looked to the wolf who threw a thumb out at the hulking aggressive shadow behind him.
"The God your queen indirectly killed while trying to wreck a bloody vengeance on my people..." Almost as if his words were the key to the image, a flash of what the creature once was hit her. Twilight could see something she didn't want to, Celestia standing before an entity of power, a weeping mother of winter. Celestia's words could not be heard, but Twilight could feel the pain and anger in them, twisting the truth to enrage the mother of winters and send her against the subject of the young princess's hate.
The image was physically painful to witness, both that it was so unlike the princess she had known and because she felt the pain flowing from the flashing memory.
"Don't be too hard on the Goddess here... She's kinda upset at ponies... has been for a thousand years." The Shaman kicked up his legs and fell silent, slowly bobbing his feet to a rhythm only he seemed to hear. The massive creature behind him stalked back and forth eyeing Luna's image and Twilight.
"I... I don't understand!" Twilight's world felt unstable and uncertain. She could never have even dreamed of such a side to Celestia.
"You're not supposed to, this is a very old grudge formed during a very delicate and fragile time in your Queen's life. We just figured the sunshine and rainbows world of the south was a little more on the side of love and forgiveness, but it seems even we of the ancient frozen north forgive faster than your queen..." The shaman smiled raising a claw and playing with the smoke that drifted from his glowing digits.
Luna in turn scowled. "You be quiet! This is your king's fault! And my sister is a princess not a queen."
"Princesses don't rule countries... kings and queens do, she can hide behind an artificial title if she desires... but she is a queen." He whipped the smoke about and formed a frightening picture which glowed with faint colors creating a frightening image of Celestia filled with rage, a weapon in her magical grasp, dripping blood and pumping smoke from her aura. "It may seem odd, but her story is one that is celebrated in our land. Despite her having sworn to become the eternal enemy of the North... Her tragedy is one that we retell to all our young... a true cautionary tale... Beautiful and tragic..."
Luna scowled at him once again and he smirked leaning in, his odd soft glowing coal like eyes narrowing at Twilight as a ghostly grin spread over his smokey features. "I could... tell you..." He almost seemed to taunt the promise of knowledge.
Twilight was still very much in a state of shock, but she looked to Luna who glared at the Shaman. "I don't trust a wolf to tell the story..."
He frowned. "Maybe that's the problem, you ponies don't trust us. Sure, there is reason behind it, but sometimes it's unwise not to trust those who have no reason to lie..." He leisurely toyed at the smokey image, adding details and shifting it in the air above them, painting a picture of Celestial hefting a golden halberd against the wolf king.
"I... well, I.. I suppose I don't have anything else to do..." Twilight looked up weakly. She knew Luna would disapprove, but it wasn't like Twilight would be going anywhere and she more than wanted to know, but rather NEEDED to know what happened to her friend and teacher to invoke such a powerful and wrathful response.
Luna grumbled and looked at Twilight then at the wolf. "Go ahead then beast... tell your tale, but I WILL intervene if you lie or slander my sister..."
The shaman actually looked offended, but less so angry and more so taken back that she would even insinuate he would lie. "The truth is sacred pony! Sacred things are to be respected... not that your kind would know." He paused as the shadowy God behind him grunted angrily and he continued. "Stories and lore is a sacred duty, one that we would rather die than to fabricate...."
Luna rolled her ghostly eyes of wispy blue white smoke and Twilight, despite the pain and fuzzy state within even her own mind stamped her hooves. "Enough! You are all in MY mind, think of yourselves as guests. No going after each other's throats in my mind!"
Luna grumbled and nodded, the Shaman gave a firm bow and nod, and the Goddess behind him shifted into a laying position as if acknowledging Twilight's authority within her own mind. They were all technically trespassers, but Twilight was very happy they looked to respect the permission they were given by the title of 'guest'.
"Ok... now... Luna, were you there to see it?" Twilight raised a hoof as she sat down. Her senses were still hazy and her mind numb, but she felt she had a good enough grasp of herself.
Luna grit her teeth looking to the side. "Nnnnot... really... But I've seen it in her dreams a few times, and no doubt I'll be seeing it again soon enough."
Twilight nodded and turned to the Shaman. "And you? did you personally see it?"
He shook his head. "I did not, but the King's Oracle at the time recorded it with his permission and as such we have the memory, I can illustrate it well enough. If Kuu Pylly think's I am lying or otherwise has a problem with the tale, she can speak up..."
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Luna's voice sounded very annoyed.
"What?... Luna? What does that mean? Is that like... Aurinko Pylly? What does that mean?" She thought on it, only just now coming to realize the connection in the books and what the wolves called Celestia.
"It's an insult!" Luna nearly spat, but settled for groaning as she pushed her hoof to her face.
"It's not... Is an endearing nickname..." The Shaman chuckled.
"I'm LUNA! and my sister's name is Celestia! PRINCESS Celestia and PRINCESS Luna..." She growled looking out at him as he smiled back at her.
Twilight blinked. "What does it mean?"
"Sunbutt.... and Moonbutt... As you would be called Tähti Pylly... or Starbutt... in the early years, we didn't really know what to make of Equestrian ponies. We came to identify them by the marks on their flanks. In out culture, it's nothing crude or offensive. If you don't know who someone is, just call them by their description in a way that will let others tell."
Twilight almost had to hold in a laugh, but she went dead quiet and her face went serious when she turned to see Luna's ghostly eyes glaring daggers at her. "Ah... yes... I see. Well, I suppose we don't want any hurt feelings, let's just call each other by our actual names."
The Shaman nodded before standing from his throne. "Shall I?" His power seethed at his fingertips.
Twilight looked to Luna who rolled her ghostly eyes and nodded, in turn Twilight too nodded and vague images of the ancient past came into view slowly consuming the existence they sat in as if it was all just coming into focus.
A group of Susi Seers stood around a pit of heated coals, piles of incense piled onto it and as the smoke met their nostrils the wolves shivered and began chanting in odd frightening whispers. One cried out and a young white pup hastily scrawled a message and dashed down the cold stone halls. Twilight did not know the words spoken, but the intent and the meaning was beyond clear. They had just seen something dire and desperately sent out a warning.
The pup carried the message from the cold stone halls into a warm hall of warriors, rambunctiously sparring, feasting, and drinking. Many stood before a great throne made of bones and cold iron, upon it sat a much more frightening looking Susien Kuningas. He somehow looked larger and far more aggressive, but there was no mistaking it, this was the same wolf.
The pup bowed low and held the paper not to the king, but to a beautiful old wolfess beside him who read it then presented it to him. But he turned it away, without a word he implied that he knew what it was. Twilight nearly flinched at the odd almost infinite authority at his very gesture as he ordered a longship to be readied and for a messenger fluent in old Ponish to go south and bring a dire message.
She watched in awe as a wolf was chosen and struck out on his journey. The path was perilous and long, but eventually he arrived and she could see him before the snobbiest looking pony she had ever seen. The Unicorn took one look at the wolf and with a nose turned high ordered the Susi to be forced out. The wolf did not flinch, even when spears levied at him. A flash of movement and four ponies lay on their sides, eyes spinning as their tattered broken spears lay in splinters around them. The messenger still stood, holding the scroll out, defiant of the Unicorn's will.
The Unicorn looked on in horror and eventually the Wolf got tired of waiting. He stepped forward and placed it in front of the pony and turned to leave. The Unicorn looked at the message with utter contempt, clearly she was on the verge of destroying it simply out of spite. But soon, she picked it up, read it, but then with a scoff she tossed it into the fire.
The sun and moon passed through the sky and another wolf arrived. The process repeated itself close to identically. Again, after many months, another wolf, then another and another and another. It was at a point where the guard were ordered to attack on sight which ended in many guards being injured every time the message was sent. But every time, without fail, the message was tossed into the fire. Twilight could see the words on the pony's lips. 'vile mongrels'.
Finally, the last wolf returned and kneeled before the King of wolves, the king who looked south with a great sorrow in his eyes. He was being forced to make a choice he did not want to. He shook his head and levied a finger to the south. His personal guard came to him, pitch black wolves strapping his armor to his limbs as the longships readied. It was not long until rows of armored wolves stood outside a small village of ponies. They all stood with farming equipment and improvised weapons against the wolves.
The battle lasted mere seconds. When the 400 lb wolves smashed through the pony lines what didn't instantly die, routed. The village was emptied and razed to the ground. The wolves made certain to put the fear of the Gods into the ponies they pushed south. Refugees of a foreign army forcing its way into young Equestria. Dozens fled south with tales of wolves who could decimate a whole village on their own without effort, and how hundreds were marching south.
The news quickly reached south and a small collection of ponies gathered, scared and shivering, they ordered messengers to again and again search for the heroes of their land, but every time, they came back empty hooved. The small council of ponies took a nervous look back at a pony that Twilight almost didn't recognize. A white alicorn, nearly the same size as Twilight, a pony with a soft golden sun on her flank.
The image changed as Luna's power flowed into it, images became far more clear and Twilight could even hear voices.
"No! Equestria needs to respond with a military! We can't stand against the wolves without one!" The pegasus shouting looked familiar, it didn't take long for Twilight to recognize him as a historical figure, the first general of the Equestrian military.
"Equestria can't have a military! We just formed, we only just disassembled all of our forces as a sign of peace between all of the pony clans. To put our military back together so quickly would unsettle the population. It would make us look like we are planning for conflict!" Twilight recognized this pony too, a direct descendant of Princess Platinum, one of the early lawmakers of Equestria.
"Do you know what else will unsettle the population? Our entire nation being razed to the ground!" Again, another figure from her history book.
Every last pony present was from her history books all of them yelling and screaming over what needed to be done next, all but one. One single pony Twilight didn't recognize.
He was a young pale white unicorn, he could have easily been related to the Platinum royalty. His figure was flawless, even his golden eyes had a deep piercing feel to them, as if he could glare into some pony's soul if he was angry, or as Twilight remarked feeling a touch of blush. He could make a mare's heart skip a beat with a soft glance of those golden precious eyes which honestly looked as if they were actually master crafted pieces of jewelry.
Twilight shook her head to try and free her mind from the dreamy young stallion, but she quickly discovered that doing so made it quite literally harder to see the illusion. As such, she intentionally lost herself in the image once more and the dreamy story continued.
"No!" Even his words were delicate and noble sounding. As if the highest form of calligraphy and artistic depictions of words could simply be spoken. But despite his command, the others at the table baulked at him as if he was speaking out of turn. "Instead of arguing until we come to blows... why not let the pony who actually has the authority do some choosing for once?"
Twilight nearly flinched as he looked back to a very young Celestia at the table. Half the generals at the table nearly yelled the same thing. "She's just a filly!" They all paused and gave an apologetic bow before one of them continued. "It is no offense meant, but she is so young, she hardly knows the way this world even works! And to top that off, her teacher has gone missing and..."
"And she'll never learn anything if you just stuff her in a closet and try to rule in her place! Keep in mind that she technically has the authority to remove any one of us... or even all of us.... We gave her that power because of her royal fate driven blood. A true sovereign leader... so why don't we listen to the one that fate gave us?" He turned to Celestia and admittedly gave her quite a little too happy of a glance. "Your majesty... what do you think of all this?"
Celestia looked just like Twilight felt. It was hard not to stare into those golden eye and not swoon. But again, this brought up more internal conflict, she couldn't see the concern in young Celestia's eyes, but she knew that many would put on quite the act if it meant that they could court royalty. But she didn't see such in this young stallion's eyes. He almost seemed more smitten with her than she was with him, but there was still not a single ounce of insincerity in his voice as he addressed the young princess.
"I... I.. um... I'm flattered, I really am. I kind of... want to hear more details... but the old Generals are right. If it comes down to either upsetting my ponies and making our nation unstable... or just letting all of Equestria burn... I ... We MUST defend Equestria..." Even as she gave her voice, she grimaced.
"We will go at once!" The stallion's perfect voice nearly trembled as he beheld her.
"No!" He flinched and Celestia swallowed. "Solar Storm... you are brave, but this is something I can't just let my ponies do alone. You are right, I have to step up..." Celestia stood from her chair and her eyes widened as she hardened herself. "Generals... send for your veterans, Steward! Fetch me armor and a weapon... Solar...." She paused as if she truly did not want to give him the order she was about to speak. "I will need your help to write a royal edict... a draft of no less than one stallion from every household, rich or poor, every last family must send at least one."
Solar Storm nodded looking to feel her pain. It was an order she did not ever want to give. She didn't want to send ponies into war, much less force those who couldn't fight on their own to join such a war. But Solar Storm did not waver. "I will make sure the old noble families send their strongest mages and knights as well."
There was a lot of sour faces, anger and confusion, worry and pain over every last pony at the table. But it all faded slowly as the feeling of creeping time passing them by took hold. Soon, there was a frigid storm pounding what felt like a Northern Equestrian town. Most ponies within the walls were packing, many were just running out in fear as the encroaching irregular storm brewed overhead. But from the direction in which the storm brewed, shapes formed over the horizon.
Ponies shivered in utter fear, farmers, scholars, tradesponies and youths shivered in trenches and formations. Hastily constructed fortifications and siege equipment lined the formations. Knights and veterans dotted the new troops as their morale anchor. Roughly five thousand ponies stood shivering in the icy air as only two hundred wolves stood in flawless uniform lines.
Twilight's stomach sank, Equestria might as well have marched it's army to a cliff, the terror in these ponies, even their veterans would ensure a route within seconds of contact as the wolves closed in at a stead flawless march. At their head, she recognized Susien Kuningas, the King of wolves with four black wolves flanking him.
But opposite to him, hiding her fear stood a radiant golden beautiful standard bearing princess with a golden enchanted polearm, her body radiating power as she forced herself to stand tall. Veterans hoplites of the Pegasus military, royal Platinum mage knights and even what little remained of the Mighty Helm all stood at her side as she met the Wolf King before both sides. Most of the council was with her, even the non combatant member of the Platinum bloodline strapped up with royal battle regalia and stood shivering from both cold and fright as she started up at the massive wolves.
She didn't know how, as Celestia was hiding it so well, but Twilight could simply feel the terror running through the young princess of the sun. But Solar Storm was there, close to her side as if he himself was her choice weapon to draw in her defense. Celestia slammed her polearm to the ground, magically amplifying it like thunder as she stared at the enemy of Equestria. Her lips parted to speak in the thunderous royal Canterlot commanding tone as she had written speech days ago with Solar Storm.
But in that moment, she stuttered, something changed. She looked into the King of Wolves' eyes and she saw something.
He smiled.
"Good.... You've earned your freedom..." He spoke in a voice that sounded soft but could be raised to the level of a god. And as Celestia blinked, trying to put sense to his words, the giant wolf turned and began walking away. His guards instantly turned about as did his entire military. Every last one of them about faced and began to walk away.
Twilight could feel the relief from the pony army, and the confusion of the veterans. Even the odd sensations flooding and overpowering Celestia. But as she looked to the young princess a look clouded what should have been overpowering joy of not having to fight the wolves.
They had come, they razed villages to the ground, they killed every pony who faced them and did not instantly flee. They forced the nation to shatter it's peaceful declarations and force her to face every last pony she had drafted into this army to stand before what would certainly be death at the highest degree at the hands of his wolves. A part of her felt like vomiting that he was just going to walk away without answering for any of it.
“STOP!” It was what she wanted to yell at him, it was what she needed to yell, he took the lives of her ponies, razed her villages and spilled the blood of hundreds. It was her responsibility to demand an explanation. It was to her own shame that the voice was not hers.
“STOP! DON’T YOU DARE TAKE ONE MORE STEP YOU MONGREL!” Celestia’s jaw was clenched shut in fear as she saw the single pure white unicorn step forward. His golden mane blowing in the icy wind and his flawless golden eyes glaring across the battlefield. He stood fearless as the King of wolves slowed and turned to look back.
Her voice was like a whisper during a massive storm as she begged him to stand down. “N..no.. please… Storm… stand down..” But clearly none could even begin to hear her pained whispers.
Solar Storm, her newly appointed general stood firm as he had marched out to bark out his challenge. He was rightfully confident, master combatant and the only pony on the council who treated her with any form of dignity. The single pony who refused to tell her that political understanding was beyond her young mind, refused to make decisions for her. Among all those around her, he was one of the very few who saw her as the rightful leader of her nation and not the stepping stone or pseudo puppet that would let them rule through her. She was young yes, but she knew genuine care when she saw it.
“Did you need something little one?” The king shifted on his paws and gave Storm a long stare before the unicorn erupted.
“You coward! You came her and burned our lands, murdered our ponies and spit on us until we show up to meet your challenge then you just leave!?” He was filled with anger, but there was something else to his outrage.
The wolf king stared down at Storm and fascination spread over his features. “That’s not why you stand before me… is it?...” A wry smile spread over his face and he stepped forward.
Likewise, Storm strode up. He was not necessarily large for a pony, but he was strong, tall and majestic, the iconic overly romanticized knight in shining armor but somehow more. But his every step reminded her of his noble intent, his strength, his love for his fellow ponies. “I won’t let you just leave…”
The wolf towered over him, enough to make the soldiers in her front lines take a single step back and shiver before the being. His lips parted and Celestia was unsure if the wolf king was playing a game or if it was something she simply couldn’t believe. But there it was, from his own mouth.
“... Please… don’t do it… She loves you… and no doubt she needs you by her side…” His eyes spoke of another motivation, a pure motivation. He was almost begging the young Unicorn to stand down.
Storm seemed almost taken back by the words but he stared up at his adversary with determination. “You know I can’t just let you leave…” He bit his lip and kept his eyes locked with the king. "F..for the same reason you won't refuse my challenge."
The Wolf King raised his hand and the soldiers stood firm but did not draw their weapons. The massive wolf gave him a concerned look but then bowed his head. “Very well… your heart is golden, such a rarity... but I understand. But please know, I do not want to do this...”
Storm’s eyes closed firm and the wolf reached for his weapon. Drawing his single edged blade he stepped back and readied himself. Before Celestia could even raise her voice to demand him to stand down Storm’s eyes snapped open.
His scream was unlike anything she had heard. His magical fiery whips blasted out, held fast in his golden magic trailing a storm of fire. Darting in and out beside the whips, the glowing daggers stabbed and slashed seeking flesh as the wolf danced to and fro calmly testing the defense of the unicorn knight.
Celestia only vaguely knew what to look for in a fight, but she plainly saw that despite his righteous wrath, Storm’s blows were being calmly and easily sidestepped. Despite the massive flow of magic and martial skill, the wolf was not struggling, and it was with a single darting lunge that he severed both whips and soared overhead. The moment his paws touched down behind Storm he lashed out and swiped his hooves out from under the knight. Storm tried to force his hooves under him once more but the steel blade puncturing his heart stopped him.
Celestia’s eyes wide and her mouth agape she starred in pain as her soldiers shook in their armor. The wolf stood and wiped his blade clean. She was unsure if it was rage or a solid conscious decision, but all she knew was she was in the air, faster than she had ever flown.
“NO!!” Tears streaking down her face she plowed into the wolf, her halberd tasting his flesh. Everything happened at once. She could hear the dull ring of her golden weapon shattering like glass, she felt the clawed grip; not at her throat but on her shoulder, she could see his left hand waving the the wolves which surrounded them both. Had he the will to end her, she would have been dead a thousand times over.
Tears streaming from her eyes she looked up at him. She hated him, he had taken Storm from her. She could smell the coppery tint of his blood as his hand came in and yanked the golden tip of her blade from his chest and tossed it aside. He had stopped her and destroyed her weapon with his bare hands before it had sank even an inch into his body.
The tears did not stop as she grit her teeth in the pain tearing away at her heart. It was more than just the loss of Storm. She was princess, she was still so young. Everypony she knew wanted nothing more than to control her, to rule through her, and this was her life now. A teenage mare fighting the King of Wolves and failing in front of her entire nation. She could feel the grip on her shoulder shift and his clawed fingertip drag from her breastplate to her chin, forcing her to look him in his eyes, his weeping eyes.
Her breath was gone as was her mind. The wolf in front of her leaned forward hiding the tears flowing from him. She could feel his icy breath on her eyes. “I am sorry… he was not supposed to challenge me, to die against me… I cannot return his life… but know that he died with a weapon in his grasp… and bravery in his heart… you will see him again… Don’t blame yourself… You will hate me… you deserve to hate me… but this is not what I wanted…” There was a sharp pain and her vision darkened as the illusion cracked and failed.
Twilight was left blinking, nearly gasping as Luna stared down at the ground, the Shaman stared at Twilight.
"Once the challenge is issued, it must be taken seriously... but passion is not punished in the North. It is our way, the young are innocent, it is normal for the ignorant to try and interfere with a duel, it is punished, but in her case, the King of Wolves found that it would be far more than was necessary to harm her." He stood up and flashed the same image from before, only far more clearly. A desperate pained, weeping young Celestia who looked to have not slept in days. She stood before a massive Goddess of ice. The mother of winter, who's power flowed into the illusion as well now. The words Celestia spoke, invoked a terrible pain and rage into the old Goddess. As such, the next image was that of the King of Wolves in the deep north dueling the old Goddess.
"That should catch you up..." The Shaman grinned as he threw himself back in the chair.
"But... wh.. why did he pull his army back?" Twilight's mind was a flurry with possibilities and guesses. But it was Luna who spoke.
"It was the age of darkness... Weeks after that day... Discord showed up. Without our army, thousands would have died simply from the Chaos of ponies fleeing or fighting for resources. Then the Crystal Empire, and Tirek, even I was in that prophecy... the original image the seers saw. Celestia, Equestria, all of it. Either enduring the storm or being crushed under it." Luna's ghostly form kicked at a small pebble atop the pillar.
"The desire for preservation and the mistrust of the wolves forced our hand. We didn't just want you to succeed, the world needed you to." The Shaman's smokey images showed dozens of threats passing through the ages. "We were either going to let you die and fight it ourselves, or be merciful and step up. Your nation was like a stubborn child, sometimes you must spank that child so he or she understands why things are done. They simply wont learn any other way. I personally believe we should have just left you all to die... but it wasn't my call... it was my King's and I will honor his choice."
Twilight sputtered as she pushed herself upright. "Then... then why did he come now?"
The Shaman looked down at her and laughed. "Well... that one's kinda... meh... Well, he always wanted pony kind and the wolves to see eye to eye, but also... you may not have noticed..." He paused and coughed a clear 'stupid ponies' before looking her over again. "That you are kinda going through an age of darkness just like old Equestria did. Many great enemies of the past are re-emerging and many new threats are showing up. Surely you don't NEED help... I mean you alone are responsible for most of the victories. But..." He paused and honestly seemed to be concerned. "His majesty... I feel, he suffers guilt... he wanted to reach out to your kind... and in the end he traumatized and wounded a youth who was forced to rule before she was ready. "
His demeanor changed, the condescending smirk fell away and the Shaman seemed to breath deep and low in deep thought. "We in the North, we believe in destiny, in fate... and his majesty spoke of those golden eyes, the golden soul, his heart belonged to your princess, they were fated to be together. It's just one more reason he couldn't bring himself to kill her that day. It wounded him just as it wounded her." He chewed his lip but brushed it all away and lolled back in his throne as he looked up at the old Goddess. "Everyone made mistakes... But now we just need to see what his plan was for this one, it's really got me stumped..."
Both Twilight and Luna looked at each other and squinted as they looked back at the Shaman. "Wait... plan?"
