Stay Calm and Cry Wolf

Chapter One

Stay Calm and Cry Wolf

“Are ya sure this is gonna work, Scootaloo?” Applebloom asked tentatively as she surveyed the contraption she had helped build. Well, built while the others handed her tools and such, while clamoring over how awesome it was going to be. Scootaloo had gotten the idea to try and get a cutiemark in trick flying, just like Rainbow Dash, but there was the problem that she wasn’t that strong a flyer just yet. So, the natural solution to this problem was to build a catapult to launch her into the air and have her do the required trick flying with the momentum from being an equine cannonball.

“Aww, come on, Applebloom! It’s going to be so awesome! Do you think if I’ll do a sonic rainboom like Rainbow Dash? Oh wait, I’d need to have a mane like hers… Do you think it would work if I dyed my mane the same as her? Applebloom, do you have any paint with you?” Scootaloo machine-gunned out and it took a moment for Applebloom to catch what her pegasus friend said as she was checking over her latest work. Maybe she could get a catapult making cutiemark? That would be cool…

“Huh, what?” Scootaloo was invading her personal space to her right with an excited gleam in her eyes. “Oh, uhm, no, Ah didn’t think of painting this thing just yet.” Applebloom said and smiled sheepishly. Scootaloo deflated and turned back towards where the Apple farm was.

“Aww… but that’s like, far…” Two seconds of contemplation later she perked up again. “Okay, let’s test this puppy out!” Scootaloo shouted as she jumped into the catapults basket. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom shared a glance and both saw the worry in the other’s eyes.

“Umm, are you going to be alright, Scootaloo. I mean, it’s an really big drop if this thing works –“ Sweetie Belle chimed in, showing a healthy amount of worry about the concept of launching her friend into the sky, Pegasus or not.

“Of course it will work, Ah built it!” Applebloom interjected, forgetting the worry for Scootaloo’s wellbeing over the pride in her work.

“We helped!” Sweetie Belle shot back and Applebloom fell silent as this fact sunk in. They had helped her build this thing and thinking back to the piece of contemporary art the three of them had turned a table into… She really should check the whole thing before they -

“Let’s do this! LEEEERROOOOY WIIIINGIIINSS!” Scootaloo hollered out as she pulled the lever to launch herself and rocketed off into the sky. Applebloom muttered a curse Applejack would scold her for even knowing and started running after the still ascending form of Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle tried to keep up with her, but after falling on her face for the first time decided to follow behind, occasionally yelling for Applebloom to slow down.

Applebloom watched as Scootaloo plummeted towards the ground. They had planned her to land in a pond, just in case, but Applebloom couldn’t hear a splash and had the common sense to be worried for her friend. Applebloom jumped over and Sweetie Belle stumbled through the bushes separating them from the clearing Scootaloo seemed to have landed in. They both gasped as they saw the orange pegasus lying on top of a big rock. There was no way she intended to land on a rock, so –

“That was so awesome!” Scootaloo squealed out as both of her friends’ jaws unhinged at the sight of the seemingly unharmed Pegasus. She landed on a rock, you don’t just shake that off! Scootaloo proceeded to jump in place on top of the rock she had landed on and babble on about how and why her technically first flight had been the most super-duper-spectacularly-awesome-amazing thing ever, after a certain rainbow-maned pony. It took her a solid minute to calm down enough to notice the way her two friends were looking at her. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

As soon as Scootaloo asked the question the “rock” she had landed on jerked and Scootaloo stumbled to the ground. The Cutiemark Crusaders watched in awe and building terror as what they had thought to be a big rock unfurled its tail, gathered its paws under it and turned its snout towards the three terrified fillies. The large wolf with rough grey fur towered over the three fillies and they felt frozen in place as they stared into the wolf’s yellow eyes.

That was until the predator let out a strange snarling howl and bared its fangs. That’s when they all started galloping towards the Apple farm as fast as they could, screaming in a high enough pitch to shatter glass. The huge wolf continued its strange howl as it stumbled after the three fillies without any particular hurry. The three young fillies ran with all their might towards the Apple farm and didn’t dare look back, all three of them sure the wolf was right behind them. The wolf wasn’t chasing the girls, instead the carnivorous predator simply followed the sound of the three fillies screaming and stumbling through the patch of forest at the edge of the Apple family’s grounds.

The wolf stopped at the edge of the apple orchard to give the three fillies enough time to grow the distance between them enough for them to not see it, but for it to be still able to track the sounds they made. After the wolf was sure there were enough apple trees between it and the three fillies it continued walking towards the sounds the three fillies made. It took them mere minutes to reach the farm and run into the barn, but the wolf took the time to circle around to the side of the barn, to not be seen following the fillies.

“Girls, calm down n’ tell me what got ya’ll so fired up!” Applejack’s southern drawl reached the wolf’s sensitive ears and they perked up and swiveled towards the voice. The wolf jumped from paw to paw in obvious excitement for a moment, before realizing the amount of noise it was making and stopping. It kept making its way around to the door of the barn as the Cutiemark Crusaders all tried to talk at the same time.

“We were out in the forest near the clubhouse –“

“We built a catapult!”

“I built a catapult, Sweetie Belle helped.”

“I helped too!”

“Nah ya didn’t!” The wolf snickered at how Applebloom’s accent thickened when she got agitated. The grey wolf couldn’t remember if he had seen it happen on the show. It was already at the door to the barn, wondering which way each pony was facing inside.

“Did too!”

“Did not!”

“Girls!” Applejack interjected before the fillies went completely off topic. The wolf let out a sigh of relief as well. As cute as it was, their bickering was downright annoying, especially with as acute hearing it had. It sounded like Applejack was closer to the door than the Crusaders. “What’s this about a catapult?”

“Uh, yeah, we built a catapult and we were testing it out when Scootaloo landed on a rock, but it really wasn’t a rock and it –“

“Whoa nelly! What was that last part? Applebloom, tell me ya didn’t launch yer friend with a catapult!”

The three little ponies were quiet and the wolf peeked in through the door to see that Applejack had her tail to it and the three fillies were looking at the ground. The grey predator started sneaking towards the orange earth pony with a smirk. The three fillies only looked up as the wolf’s shadow was already looming over Applejack and it was stretching its head towards Applejack. Applejack whirled around as the wolf tried to nudge her hat off of her head with its snout. The look of sheer terror on Applejack’s face made the wolf take a step back. This hadn’t been the reaction it had expected out of the orange earth pony at all and Applejack whispering for her sister and her friends to stay behind her made the wolf come to a rather obvious realization.

He was a carnivorous predator, they were herbivorous equines; they ate plants, he ate things that ate plants. It was natural for them to be afraid of him. He pedaled back a few steps and then moved deeper into the barn to give them a clear shot for the door. Applejack kept herself between the wolf and the foals she was protecting. The wolf tried not to seem aggressive, but it only seemed like he was circling them for a meal. Applejack saw the chance and told the three fillies to run for the door and tell Big Macintosh, before charging the huge carnivore to give them the time to actually get to the door.

The wolf froze in place, both surprised and in awe of the selfless act one of the ponies he’d come to idolize was committing. He had no ill will towards the ponies, but it wasn’t like they knew it, so he fought back the instinct to simply bite down on the hooves bucking his jaw. His brain felt rattled from the first buck that the farm pony hit him with. He didn’t know if he could take another one without losing control, so the wolf snapped his head towards the pony and grabbed her tail in his jaw. Lifting the pony by the tail didn’t stop her from kicking him, but at least the mare couldn’t get much power into her bucks. Now he could just toss Applejack out of -

“Le’ mah sistah go!” a teary voice squealed out and the wolf felt a barely noticeable nudge on his forepaw. It was Applebloom bucking his paw with all of her meager power and also the most heartbreaking thing the wolf had ever seen. The carnivore froze for a second before gingerly setting Applejack down and letting go of her tail. Applejack promptly grabbed Applebloom and rushed out of the barn. A moment later the doors were slammed shut and she was no doubt barricading him in, but the wolf was haunted by the image of a teary-eyed Applebloom, that he could only stare at the ground in front of him.

This was not starting well.

Spike

Twilight Sparkle was back in study land and nothing less than a natural disaster would get the bookworm back to reality. Spike tidied up as his guardian floated out several books at a time, scribbled something down from them and then either discarded them or set them aside for future referencing. Spike had gotten tired of Twilight snapping at him for putting away books she needed, so he had proposed that she set the ones she would need in a meter or so around herself and the ones she wouldn’t need further away. Taking the messy way Twilight studied this was the only system that even remotely worked and Spike was able to keep the clutter in Twilight’s basement laboratory to a minimum while keeping the library upstairs somewhat occupied.

As fate would have it, he was just carrying a pile of books upstairs as the sound of galloping hoofs reached him. Out of past experience he knew to set the books down at the side of the door to the basement and brace himself for impact. Sure enough, Applejack galloped through the door and barely missed hitting Spike while skidding to a halt in front of him. If he’d been carrying the books, he’d be tumbling down the stairs. Any hint of annoyance he might have had was blown away by the alarmed look in Applejack’s eyes.

“Twilight! Where’s Twilight!?” Applejack asked, shaking Spike as soon as he was within reach, shouting out her question between pants. Then she glanced at the open door and jumped over Spike to rush down the stairs. Spike heard Twilight’s absent-minded protests on being interrupted and then Applejack’s frantic words. “’Ere’s a wolf! Ya’ll gotta do somethin’, Twilight!”

And with that Applejack galloped back up the stairs, practically dragging Twilight by the mane. If there really was a wolf, then her hurry was understandable, but Spike suspected that Twilight hadn’t caught onto what Applejack was saying. There was a flash of purple magic and suddenly Twilight was standing on the library’s second floor.

“Applejack, what was that for? I’m in the middle of some very important tests right now. If I am right, then there is a logical explanation to Pinkie Sense, after all!” Twilight exclaimed, forgetting about Applejack’s assault on her by the end of her sentence. No wonder Twilight had been locked in the basement for days. The Pinkie Sense Incident had shaken the studious mare’s outlook on reality.

“Twilight, ya gotta come with me! There’s a wolf in mah barn! It’s bigger than Big Mac and it nearly ate Applebloom and… and…” Applejack was clearly panicking and had probably run the whole way from Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight sobered enough out of her study induced catatonia to catch the urgency of the situation and told Spike to grab her Collected Catalogue of Crafty Carnivorous Canines and Superior Selection of Splendid Sleeping Spells. As studious as she was, it wasn’t like she could remember which kind of spell should be used to knock out which kind of animal, so she had reference books for just this kind of occasion.

“Lead the way!” Twilight shouted as she followed Applejack out of the door, Spike hardly able to jump on Twilight’s back with the packed saddle bags. Applejack kept up a punishing pace and Twilight was wheezing and limping by the time they reached the farm. Applejack slowed down to a brisk trot when she could see that the barn was still barricaded shut and Big Mac was standing by the door. She was out of breath but not even nearly as much as Twilight.

“So, you’re saying there’s a huge wolf in your barn?” Spike asked, more than a little perplexed. The Everfree forest housed a lot of dangerous animals, but most of them needed the forest’s erratic magic to live and never strayed too far from it, so for there to be an actual wolf on the Apple farm, which didn’t even share a border with the Everfree, was odd to say the least. He might have not been as studious as Twilight Sparkle, but he had an interest in zoology. This wolf would have had to have wandered from somewhere in the mountains beyond the Everfree and Spike couldn’t think of a reason for such a trek for a territorial predator, which hunted in packs. Well, not alone, at least.

“Yeah, it followed Applebloom and her friends back from the forest and damn near took my head off. I ain’t seen a scarier lookin’ critter in all my life… an’ I’ve gone against a manticore and Nightmare Moon!” Applejack explained, with a bit of a wobble in her step. The frightening situation must have been getting to her as things calmed down a bit. Wolves usually moved in packs, but if they hadn’t seen any other ones by now, then Spike saw no reason to worry Applejack by suggesting there could be more around.

“Has it tried to get out, Big Mac?” Applejack asked her big brother as she galloped ahead. Twilight was still catching her breath and caught up to the stetson wearing pony as Big Mac answered with a curt “Nope.”

“Okay, Applejack, do you think you could identify the wolf if you saw a drawing of it? I want to know what I’ll be dealing with before we even think about opening that door. Do you think Applebloom and her friends are up to taking a look as well?” Twilight was concentrated on taking charge and the two Apple siblings were listening to her intently, so only Spike caught the door rattling a little, like something had tried to bash it open. Spike kept his eyes on the door for a moment, but it didn’t happen again, so Spike decided not to mention it.

“Grightth Grawrmlle!” The wolf barked out as it jumped down from the gangway of the barn and scared the living daylights out of the three gathered ponies and the young dragon. The thing was larger than any wolf Spike had ever seen or heard of and even bigger than most of the bears in Everfree. The wolf snarled as its great, big, yellow eyes turned towards Spike. “Gran Spike!”

Wait, did it just say my name? The wolf was standing a few pony lengths away from them at the door of the barn and looking at them with widened eyes as its ears swiveled about. It looked like it was ready to jump at them any time, but still Spike had the sneaking suspicion that there was something going on. How could Applebloom and her friends outrun this huge thing if it was well enough to jump onto the gangway and down? The possibility that Spike had heard his name uttered made him even more certain there was something going on everypony else was missing.

Big Mac stepped in front of Applejack and Twilight and Applejack stepped in front of Twilight, but Spike was more concerned about the fact that the wolf wasn’t attacking or running away, just staring at them with that snarl stuck on its face.

“Have you tried talking to it?” Spike asked aloud, but none of the ponies around him paid him any attention. Walking up to the predator would be a little too daring, dragon or not, but if it could understand their language and knew of him…

“Hey, if you can understand me, raise your right paw!” The wolf’s attention snapped back to Spike, as did the ponies’ present. The wolf’s ears lowered a bit, it sat down on its haunches, raised its right front paw off the ground and offered it toward them. Twilight’s jaw dropped and Applejack looked confused. Big Macintosh moved his straw of wheat to the other side of his mouth and gave a low grunt as the only signs of his amazement. “Seriously, you didn’t even try to talk to it?”

“Spike, how did you know? You know what this thing is? Why didn’t you tell us in the first place?!” Twilight was losing her temper and Applejack still glanced at the wolf warily, not quite sure what was going on. Spike didn’t know either, but it had just seemed weird that diplomacy hadn’t even been considered.

“I don’t, but it seems to understand us and I think it said my name just now.” Spike glanced at the wolf and saw it nodding its head up and down vigorously. Seemingly, what they’d seen as a snarl could also be a smile. Was the wolf excited about meeting them, or… oh hey, we have an insanely talented unicorn!

“Twilight, can’t you just cast a translation spell, so it can speak for itself?” Spike asked and from the look in Twilight’s face, the thought hadn’t crossed her mind yet. In spite of the sudden turn of events Twilight Sparkle was already digging her memory for a translation spell that could work. Spike had been around Twilight long enough to know that she had at least skimmed the subject at some point and cast some kind of translation spell routinely on books.

“I… think there’s something that might work, but… We don’t know if it has its own language, or if it’s just unable to talk, or if it’s just parroting us. If I cast a spell on it now, then it could attack us!” Twilight frantically reasoned with Spike. Like the prize pupil she was Twilight was looking at the situation based on the facts and casting an intricate spell that would immobilize her in front of a predator more than five times her size didn’t sound that tempting.

“Spike, are you saying that thing’s smart?” Applejack cut in just as Spike was about to launch his counter argument.

“Yes, and I’m also saying that it’s not out to eat anypony. Any predator out for food would have caught three fillies easily and gotten out of the barn while only Big Mac was out here, but this one only came out as Twilight and I arrived. And it said my name just now, I think.” Spike explained and Applejack only looked more confused. The orange farm pony turned to Twilight, probably to have her make sense of the situation, when Big Mac spoke up.

“Miss Twilight, can ya make it so this here fella can talk? I agree with Spike about this being mighty strange behavior fer a wild animal.” The big workpony drawled out in his slow southern drawl, snapping Twilight out of her mental stupor. Big Macintosh was the kind of pony that didn’t talk if he wasn’t sure his words mattered, so if he was convinced, then it should be good enough to at least make an attempt. Applejack sighed and sat down on her haunches, mentally and physically exhausted by all that had happened that day.

Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes in concentration as she tried to recall the spell she had studied as a passing interest, but true to her meticulous nature she had memorized it and made sure she could successfully cast it before moving on. Still, that had been years ago and Spike hadn’t seen her practicing it since then. Twilight Sparkle had a good memory, but Spike wasn’t sure if she referenced books because she couldn’t remember the details, or if she was just being her meticulous self. Would the wolf attack if Twilight made a mistake with the spell and hurt it?

There was a great big flash of purple and everyone present stumbled back, blinking their eyes because of the bright flash of magic assaulting their eyes. Spike blinked rapidly to see what the spell had done to the wolf and if it was attacking. He might have been the one that suggested the diplomatic route, but those teeth were huge nonetheless. The wolf was wiping its head with paw, like a cat cleaning its fur, and was also shaking its head side to head as if to clear it.

“Magic itches… Really didn’t expect that.” The wolf growled out. Its voice was more growling than anything, but at least now it was making comprehensible sentences. Twilight looked at the giant wolf in surprise. Spike wasn’t sure if it was because her spell worked, or because the wolf was actually talking. “Thank you, Purple Magic Pony.”

“My name is Twilight Sparkle…” There was an awkward pause as Twilight tried to think of anything to say as the wolf stared at her expectantly. “Hi?” The wolf made all of them flinch back when it threw its head back and let out a fit of barking laughter.

“Yes! Hello, Purple Magic Pony!” The wolf looked each of them in the eye and then sighed while settling down on the ground. “I do not eat ponies, relax.”

“Mind telling us yer name, big fella?” Applejack asked and the wolf turned his yellow eyes toward her. Now that they all knew he could talk and didn’t eat ponies, the snarl and the twitchy mannerisms could be seen as excitement. The intensity of the look he gave Applejack still made both Applejack and Twilight flinch.

“Yes… Names should be exchanged, shouldn’t they, Orange Awesome Hat Pony?” The wolf then fell silent and kept staring at Applejack.

“Ah reckon yer the one that should go first, yer tha one trespassing on mah family’s property!” The wolf's snarl wavered for a moment and Spike noticed his muscles tensing under his fur fo just a moment, before the unnerving, but still companionable snarl was back on his snout.

“Yes… Trespassing, on your family's land.” The wolf slowly said and glanced over to the farm house behind them. “Tell the fillies I am not a threat, they smell extremely worried for you.”

Everypony turned their eyes to the porch of the farmhouse, but Spike kept his eyes on the wolf. Why was he stalling with such a basic question? Was it a culture thing? Maybe his name didn’t translate to Equestrian and he was trying to think of a substitute they could pronounce… Actually, that made so much sense that it must have been it. Spike jumped off of Twilight’s back and walked over to the wolf. He was again reminded on how small he was and how huge the wolf was as his gargantuan form towered over him. His eyes held no malice, when looking at them this close, so Spike wasn’t worried.

“Could we pronounce your real name?” Spike asked and the wolf’s snarl widened just a bit at his question. He leaned down closer to Spike and opened his mouth to say something.

“Spike!” Twilight shouted in alarm before teleporting next to the dragon, horn at the ready and pointed towards the still-unnamed wolf. As big as the grey behemoth of a canine was, the sudden burst of light made him flinch back and let out an authentic snarl at the “Purple Magic Pony”, as he had called Twilight. To Twilight’s credit though, she caught onto the misunderstanding immediately after seeing the look Spike was giving her.

“I’m really sorry about that, Mister Wolf, but it’s just that my number one assistant here decided to wander off and then I saw him over here and… uh…”

“I understand, Purple Magic Pony. My mouth is full of rather sharp and pointy teeth. If seeing them so close to your dear assistant didn’t startle you, you wouldn’t be Princess Celestia’s protégé, now would you?” The wolf said while rubbing his eyes with a paw to clear the spots that must have been running past his eyes. He then blinked a few times and turned his head away from the blushing purple mare. “Ah, the three small ones have arrived.”

Twilight and Spike turned around to see that both Big Mac and Applejack had moved almost as close to the wolf as they were. Spike also noticed a tight group of three fillies peeking at the big wolf from behind Big Macintosh. Spike turned back to the wolf and was relieved to see that the amused looking snarl back on the toothy jaw.

“Now that you’re all here, let me introduce myself. My name is Fenrir and I am not here to eat you ponies, especially not the Cutie Mark Crusaders over there.” Fenrir said and let out a growling snarl that could have been a chuckle. The way he acted while doing so suggested that, but Spike could see the shared shiver running down everypony’s backs at the sight of Fenrir revealing more fangs than they were comfortable with. “I am from a faraway land and have come here to learn anything and everything about you ponies. It is unfortunate we had to meet in such… unpleasant circumstances.”

“You are a scholar? I’m sorry if I’m treading on a taboo here, but you don’t exactly seem the type. You’re much too… big.” Twilight Sparkle blurted out and from the look on her face afterwards she regretted saying it so bluntly.

“There are things much larger than me in the forest not too far from here. I could also argue that you are too frail and small to protect the knowledge you gather… but I assume that is not how you ponies think, is it?” Fenrir crossed his paws and rested his head on them. His eyes were in level with Twilight and Applejack when he was lying down like this. If the sheer size of Fenrir had not sunken in yet, then it sure did at that moment.

“But why are you in Ponyville? The Everfree forest is large, but it does not reach the border of Equestria, so you should have come across some other village before coming here.” Twilight Sparkle asked, this time not feeling bad for her questions since it was a perfectly valid one. Spike had a feeling he knew what Fenrir’s answer would be, though.

“I am here because Twilight Sparkle is best pony. You have been taught by the sovereign ruler of –“ A trail of light in all the colors of the rainbow collided with Fenrir’s face and the impact snapped his head back before he could finish. Spike and the gathered ponies gasped and took a step back as they knew who had just assaulted Fenrir and didn’t know how the wolf would react.

“Ha! ‘Tis but a scratch!” Fenrir roared and jumped up, already scanning the skies. He was knocked back down by the same streak of multicolored light hitting him in the head three times from the sides.

“What are you ponies doing? RUN!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she halted her violent assault just long enough to do so. Then she went ahead and hit Fenrir in the face as he was getting up. Twilight Sparkle and the gathered ponies were too dumbfounded to do anything, but Spike was just reveling on Rainbow Dash’s aerial maneuvers. It might have been because he was a dragon that his eyes could keep up with what Rainbow Dash was doing, but seeing her use the tricks she used to bounce around clouds to kick off of Fenrir’s head without losing momentum was impressive.

“This rainbow that is dashing around is most annoying.” Fenrir calmly growled out after he managed to keep his eyes on Rainbow Dash’s retreating form. From the way his eyes moved Rainbow Dash was trying to confuse the wolf by fast aerial maneuvers. Just as Spike caught the sight of Rainbow Dash charging towards the gray wolf, Fenrir reared up on his hind legs and Rainbow Dash crashed into the furry wall that was Fenrir’s chest rather than bouncing off of his cranium. Rainbow Dash fell to the ground and Fenrir set one paw on top her back to keep her still. “Aha, rushing me repeatedly in a straight line; a brilliant strategy!”

“Why aren’t you ponies running?! It’s going to eat you!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she uselessly fought against Fenrir’s paw holding her down. By the contemplative look on Fenrir’s eyes he was simply ignoring her.

“Wait… not brilliant. Purple Magic Pony, what is the opposite of brilliant?”

“Uh… Stupid?” Twilight answered and shook her head to try and make sense of the situation.

“It’s already got me! Avenge me! AVENGE –“

“Oh, hold yer horses, sugarcube! This feller here is Fenrir and he ain’t gonna eat nopony!” Applejack cut in and interrupted Rainbow Dash’s inspiring speech on avenging her.

“Yes, do listen to your marefriend, Blue Violent Pony.” Fenrir said with that frightening smile on his face. Applejack took a few steps back because of the completely random accusation and Rainbow Dash spun around on the ground to meet the great wolf’s eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Rainbow Dash retorted and Fenrir’s snarl only widened.

“I’m saying that I can smell her on you. Care to explain that?”

“Yer lying; we haven’t – uh, I mean, I ain’t that kinda mare!” Applejack glanced at the ponies that were now staring at her before turning back to berating Fenrir. “Shut yer trap, ye cretin!”

“Yes, I apologize… Applebloom, might I have a word?” Fenrir asked in a surprisingly polite tone, taking to consideration the fact that his words were a compilation of growls and grunts. The cream colored filly stepped out after a moment of hesitation and Fenrir rested his head on his forepaws as she approached. He was intimidating by nature, but he was clearly trying not to be, but Applejack and Big Macintosh still stepped closer to Applebloom, as older siblings tend to be protective.

“Yes, Mister Fenrir?” Applebloom said, trying to act tough, but still covering and having a hard time looking into Fenrir’s eyes. “I’m sorry about bucking you…”

“Aww… Aren’t you just the most adorable thing? You actually think you could hurt me, how absolutely precious…” Fenrir’s eyes snapped back into reality from fussing over how cute Applebloom was. He raised one of his paws in front of his mouth and let out a quick growl. The way his mannerisms were exactly like ponies’ mannerisms had started bugging Spike, since his language and society was supposed to be completely different. “Okay, where was I… Yes, I take it you were the one that built the thing that launched your winged friend onto me?”

“Y- Yes, Mister Fenrir.” Applebloom answered and glanced at her older siblings who were both looking at her sternly at this point.

“It was incredibly lucky that she actually landed on me. From the way she barreled into my ribs she would have at least broken her legs, if she was lucky and landed on them. If she had landed next to me, she would have probably rolled and snapped her neck, do you understand?” Fenrir said in what sounded like a calm tone, but with his voice being what it was it was hard to tell for sure.

“I- I didn’t- I –“ Tears were pooling in Applebloom’s eyes as Fenrir’s words sunk in.

“It wasn’t her fault! Stop bullying Applebloom, you big wolf!” Scootaloo shouted as she dashed to Applebloom’s side.

“Yes, let’s ignore the fact you nearly died... So, when do we start, Purple Magic Pony? I am eager to learn anything you or your friends can teach me.” Fenrir exclaimed, seeming to genuinely ignore the point he was making mere seconds ago. Again, Twilight’s jaw worked effortlessly over the illogical nature of this huge wolf acting in the most random way possible.

“Wow, wow! Timeout, seriously!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she zoomed up to hover mere inches away from Fenrir’s snout “What’s this about the squirt dying? There isn’t no way we’re just going to ignore this, right?”

“Why not, Blue Idiotic Pony? Clearly you are not afraid of death and the thought didn’t cross the little ponies minds. I’m sure they will act with this in mind in the future.”

“Rainbow Dash has a point, Fenrir. This needs to be addressed” Twilight Sparkle said and stepped next to Applebloom. Fenrir’s creepy snarl was still on his face and Spike was finding it strange. Was he enjoying this for some reason? Was that snarling really the same as a smile, or was it something more in the lines of contempt?

“Oh, this is rich; ponies talking about the harsh realities of life and whatnot.” Fenrir cooed out and bristled his fur while his snarl widened a little. “I swear, you ponies are just made out of concentrated naiivete…” There was an awkward pause in the conversation and Fenrir used the opportunity to flick his tongue out and give Rainbow Dash a lick that made her spin in the air before crashing on the ground again. He glanced at Applejack before barking out a booming fit of laughter.

“You… Yer insane!”

“And you are a pony, your point?”

“I’m a dragon.” Spike cut in, feeling like the conversation would turn into Applejack shouting at Fenrir as he snarled, either amused or annoyed, if he didn’t step in. Fenrir’s eyes snapped to Spike and Spike saw a genuine glint of amusement in them, at least he hoped the glint was there because he was amused.

“Touché, Dragon of Ponyville. I apologize for my rudeness, Blue Rainbow Pony.” Fenrir bowed his head slightly toward Rainbow Dash. Spike saw similar looks of confusion on everypony’s faces. Fenrir had acted nothing like they had expected a huge wolf to act like. He was polite one moment and acted as sporadically as Pinkie Pie other times.

“Hmph!” Rainbow Dash harrumphed and turned away from Fenrir while crossing her front hooves across her chest. Spike noted Fenrir’s ears twitching in response to this, but his “friendly” snarl was still in place. The longer that snarl was plastered on the wolf’s maw, the more it bothered him. There was a moment of silence as they didn’t know where to go from there. There was huge wolf scholar sitting in front of them, with a snarl on its face that seemed to have started to unnerve the ponies as well. Spike was now convinced that this canine oddball was getting some kind of strange enjoyment out of making the situation as awkward as possible.

“So…” Twilight started and shuffled her hooves uncomfortably while she tried to think of a plan of action. “Applejack, could Fenrir stay in the barn for now, if he doesn’t have any other lodging? It would be better that he doesn’t chance upon anypony else before we inform everypony in Ponyville.” At Twilight’s words Fenrir let out another growling chuckle that made the ponies flinch back. The gray wolf flattened his ears and lowered his head at the frightened reaction.

“The term “everypony” sounds amusing to me. You ponies are so darn delightful… I can try and help the Farm Ponies with their work for the rest of the day, if that is okay with them.” Fenrir said with his head slightly bowed. The snarl that had made them wary was gone and without it he looked like a big grey dog with intelligent eyes. He seemed sincere and friendly, but the timing was still suspicious to Spike. It might have been his possessive nature as a dragon, but he was more suspicious of this strange wolf than the ponies around him were. He was a carnivorous canine, so why would he want to befriend ponies?

“Well, I’m sure we can find something somepony yer size can help us with…” Applejack tentatively admitted as Fenrir rose up to his full size again. All of them took a collective step back as the predator loomed over them. Big Macintosh started walking towards the orchards with only a nod of his head and Fenrir followed him. The Cutiemark Crusaders had escaped while the adult ponies were preoccupied with Fenrir and Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle were left to stand there and feel confused. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to ask something, but then paused with one hoof raised in the air, before groaning and letting her hooves fall limp.

“Buck this, I’ll see if this makes any sense after a good nap,” She said and flew up to take a nap on a nearby cloud. Twilight Sparkle stared at the streak of rainbow the mare had left behind for a moment before turning her eyes to Big Macintosh showing Fenrir how they bucked the apples out of the trees. Twilight winced as she saw Fenrir try and buck one of the trees, effectively tearing through the tree with his claws. The big grey predator shrunk down with his ears against his head as the tree fell on the ground, broken beyond conventional repair. Big Mac didn’t seem to say much, but Fenrir still acted subjugated as Bic Mac straddled him on the wagon. Someone that big could definitely do that, but Twilight couldn’t help but think that it would seem embarrassing for someone from a society like Fenrir had hinted towards.

“So, do you believe he’s here just to learn about us?” Spike asked right next to Twilight. Despite everything, she still jumped at his voice. She had been scared for her life less than ten minutes ago. The way Fenrir had been able to have Applejack trust him in that short amount of time should have reassured her, but both Spike and Twilight Sparkle found it suspicious. Spike had wondered about the teeth baring smirk the whole time and Twilight Sparkle wondered what someone like Fenrir could learn from unicorn magic, or anypony, for that matter.

“Spike, take a letter.”

Feral

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Feral

Dear Princess Celestia

I am writing to you to report an incident at Sweet Apple Acres, which I would appreciate your guidance on.

Today my good friend Applejack came to me for help on a problem she thought endangered her family and friends. A grey wolf of unusual size had followed the three fillies calling themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders back from the forest and was locked in the barn. The wolf found a way out of the barn just as I and Spike arrived and called Spike out by name, indicating an unexpected level of intelligence.

After an improvised translation spell granted the unusual canine speech, he assured us he was not out to harm ponies and that his name was Fenrir. This was proven when Rainbow Dash attacked him and he didn’t retaliate on RD’s hotheaded attack, choosing to verbally assault her instead, and then calling Applejack and RD marefriends for some reason.

Despite his strange behavior and imposing form, he has shown interest in learning anything there is to know about us, while acting evasive about any questions about his own past. We would greatly appreciate your counsel on the matter at hand, for I fear there is more to this individual than meets the eye.

Awaiting your response,

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle

“Are you about done with the letter already? It’s way past my bedtime, the one that you set!” Spike grumbled as he struggled to stay awake. Spike hadn’t thought to bring writing supplies with them when going out to deal with a huge wolf, so Twilight Sparkle had been painstakingly perfecting her letter for more than an hour now in the library. There was a reason why Spike usually wrote them and her perfectionism was a big part of that reason.

“I know, I know, but this has to be perfect! I don’t want it to sound like we are in actual trouble, I only want Princess Celestia to know my doubts about Fenrir’s motives… maybe I should just...” Twilight horn glowed and she intended to crumple the parchment, but a scaly clawed hand snatched it before she could start another letter.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Spike said as he rolled the parchment up and blew it out of the window with his green flame. “There, all gone! I’m going to go to bed; the Princess is not going to write back this late.”

Twilight gritted her teeth in frustration, then raised her hooves to her temples, but slouched when she realized how stupid obsessing over the letter had been. She hopped up the stairs and realized how tired she was as she pulled the covers over herself.

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight was not a morning pony, she really wasn’t. As much as she respected Princess Celestia, having her way-too-bright sun shining on her closed eyes was one of the most uncomfortable ways to wake up. There was always that passing second of rage towards the sun and Spike for pulling the curtains open. Then again, waking up to the sounds of the town of Ponyville panicking and screaming in unison was right up there in uncomfortable ways of waking up.

“It’s going to kill us all!” A completely hysterical voice shrieked out and Twilight heard the clop of hooves retreating.

“I am still only sitting here, mind you.”

“Be gone, you foul beast!”

“In a minute.”

“We’re all going to die!”

“Oh, the frailty of life, want to debate on how to deal with it?”

“Sweet Celestia! Huge wolf dude, this is so not cool!”

“Ah, Blue Screaming Pony! Do you happen to know when Purple Magic Pony awakens from her slumber?” There was a set of short growls after this. Twilight’s sleepy brain could reason Fenrir was amused by something only much later. Right then and there the sound of a huge predator growling at her doorstep only served to wake her up even faster. She stumbled out from her bed, nearly fell down the stairs and crashed through the doorway of her library to find Fenrir and Rainbow Dash nose to nose yet again. Fenrir was sitting on the ground with his tail wagging and Rainbow Dash was fuming as she hovered in place. It was obvious which one of them was enjoying the exchange more.

“Fenrir, what in Celestia’s name are you doing?!” Twilight shouted at the large wolf, in part to know what the hell he was doing freaking out the townponies before she could let them know the huge wolf was friendly and part to stop the brewing argument between him and Rainbow Dash. Fenrir turned his gaze to Twilight Sparkle and Twilight could feel her heart start to race and her muscles tense as she readied herself to run. Then Fenrir turned his attention to something that Rainbow Dash said and Twilight felt guilty for thinking of him as just a beast. Fenrir was literate and had seemed like a reasonable, if a little strange, canine yesterday. Twilight should be the one to see through the rough and fearsome exterior and see him as what he was, instead of what he seemed to be.

“Twilight, why are you shaking?” Spike asked worriedly and laid a hand to her side. She physically jerked away from the touch and became even more aware and ashamed of her irrational fear of Fenrir. The rush of adrenaline had passed and whatever had spooked her so thoroughly before wasn’t there anymore, so she put it out of her mind and trotted over to Rainbow Dash and Fenrir.

“Fenrir, we agreed that you would stay at Sweet Apple Acres. You’ve scared everypony in Ponyville with this stunt!” She was tired, grumpy, in need of caffeine and her mane was a mess. She had more than a few reasons to be angry and the smirking canine in front of her gave her no reason to calm down.

“I doubt that telling ponies about a huge talking wolf staying at Sweet Apple Acres would accomplish anything, other than make half the town trot over there and see me with their own eyes. Everypony should just pony up and get their panicking out of their systems, in my humble opinion.”

“Foul beast from the very depths of Tartarus, be gone! The power of Celestia compels you!” A cream colored mare with a curly pink and violet mane shrieked from across the street. Twilight saw Fenrir’s ears perk up as he turned toward the mare.

“Actually I am only a figment of your imagination, Bon Bon. You are insane and right now you are in the middle of a psychotic episode. See, these two mares are not frightened of me at all, as they cannot see me.” That amused grin was back on his snout and the sharp fangs it bared did not seem friendly. Twilight was staring at the wolf, not really sure what to do about what he was doing. Sure, the mare had been rude, but trying to make her doubt her sanity was just bizarre and cruel. Bon Bon, if that was really the mare’s name, flinched back and her eyes darted between Rainbow Dash and Twilight. They were both looking at her, instead of the gargantuan carnivore right next to them, giving Fenrir’s jab at her sanity more merit.

“Fenrir!” Twilight exclaimed and the large canine turned toward her, this time she didn’t flinch at his gaze. “We both know you are very much real and what you are trying to do to this poor mare is just wrong.”

“Aww, but I wanted to see what would happen…” Fenrir jeered and bared a little more of his fangs. Was he really unaware that they found seeing so many fangs uncomfortable? From all that Twilight had seen this towering canine do, then it could as well be intentional.

“DOGGIE!” A high-pitched, energetic voice hollered out as a pink blur slammed into the side of the grey mass of fur called Fenrir. Pinkie Pie had made an entrance and had actually managed to bowl Fenrir to his side with her tackle. “He’s so fluffy that I can’t believe it! Can you believe it Twilight! How soft and glorious and spectacular and bouncy this doggie’s fur is!”

“I am well aware, Pink Supersonic Pony.” Fenrir growled out, not amused by Pinkie Pie’s antics. As usual, the pink mass of giddiness didn’t react like any normal pony would.

“You can talk? You should have kept quiet and waited for me to set up a more delicate situation, comedy is all about timing, ya know. For example, if I were making up names to call you and you were to offer your own name suddenly, I would be like “GASP, it talks!” and you would be like “Why wouldn’t I?” and then I would be all sad and would apologize for thinking you couldn’t and you would say I was inconsiderate and you wouldn’t be my friend…” As Pinkie Pie rambled on, her hair and mane were also losing their electric fluffiness. When she fell quiet, her mane and tail were hanging straight as she stared right into Fenrir’s fur, idly poking at a few strands with a hoof. The canine glanced at Rainbow Dash and Twilight, but all the clues he got was an aerial shrug and a dismissive wave of the hoof.

“I –“ Pinkie Pie suddenly gasped and jolted several feet into the air, startling Fenrir and cutting him off. at least, the fluffiness and overbearing energy was back, for better or for worse.

“You’re new here aren’t you? Equine, dragon, or canine, anyone new in Ponyville gets a welcome party!” The pink bubble of excitement proceeded on bouncing all around them with a huge grin with even more energy than usual.

“I’m not –“

“Oh, gotta go plan! Bye!” Pinkie Pie gasped as her form blurred out and the only proof she had even been there was the toppled form of Fenrir and a trail of dust going through Ponyville and disappearing into the horizon.

“If she doesn’t mind me eating half of the guests, then I’m all for this party.” The grey predator grumbled as he straightened into a sitting position. He noticed the shocked expressions on Rainbow Dash’s and Twilight’s face, but only stared back, stretching out the uncomfortable silence. He was wagging his tail and looking into Twilight’s eyes with no apparent malice, but his nonchalant comment still hung in the air.

“Of course, I am kidding.” He suddenly growled out after an extended pause, managing to make the ponies present jump at his voice.

“Any reason you’re up and about at this hour, and looking for Twilight Sparkle?” Rainbow Dash asked, clearly irritated by the wolf’s antics. The erratic nature of the great predator, coupled with the fact he seemed to be intelligent regardless, was a cause for worry. It's natural instinct for ponies to steer clear of predators as they can be cunning and unpredictable, but should they be even more cautious around Fenrir, a beast that claimed to be better than the rest of his kind? Could he have an ulterior motive for befriending them?

“Actually, I have a perfectly legitimate reason to seek her out, freaking out Ponyville is merely a pleasant bonus.” Again, Fenrir’s gaze went from Twilight Sparkle to Rainbow Dash and back again. The way he was acting hinted at a mind that had trouble focusing on things for more than a few seconds. Ears at constant motion, snout flaring at scents Twilight couldn’t begin to comprehend and eyes darting from one thing to another, only stopping to examine the eyes of anypony he was talking to. She was snapped out of her thoughts by the said wolf raising a paw and flicking toward her a few times, as if to shoo her away.

“I’ll let you get your breakfast and brush your mane or whatever; I actually have to discuss my problem with the Blue Flying Pony.”

“Why do you keep doing that?” Spike asked, stepping out from behind Twilight, still wearing his cooking apron. Twilight glanced back into the library and spotted her breakfast sitting at the table in the middle of the center room. Spike must have set it there to be able to listen in on Fenrir.

“Doing what, exactly?” Fenrir asked and tilted his head to one side. Seeing as Fenrir was not out to ravage the town, Twilight trotted back into the library to have breakfast and brush her mane. She still kept her ears pointed toward the doorway to catch the conversation between Spike and Fenrir.

“Not calling anyone by their name! You called me the Dragon of Ponyville, Twilight is Purple Magic Pony and you keep changing Rainbow’s name every time you see her!” Spike pointed out and sounded excited enough to be waving his little claws around frantically.

“I… I honestly did not realize. Perhaps it is the spell that allows me to speak your language?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s possible, but why can you say your own name, then?” Twilight could just imagine Spike standing there, pointing an accusing claw at the wolf. She heard a shuffle from beyond the door and presumed it to be caused by the wolf shrugging, or waving the question off. Spike had burned the coffee a little as he had been eavesdropping on Fenrir, Twilight noted absent mindedly. She decided to leave the baby dragon and juvenile canine to argue about as she hopped up the stairs to brush her mane and tail into presentable condition. When she came back down Rainbow Dash and Fenrir were nose to nose yet again.

“Rainbow…” Rainbow Dash slowly articulated, extending her hooves slowly in front of Fenrir’s face.

“Rainbow…”

“Good, okay, now; Dash…”

“Dash…”

“Okay, you can do it! Now, say my name, Rainbow Dash!”

“Blue Exploding Pony.”

“Oh, come on! Just admit that you’re doing that on purpose!” The colorful mare spun in the air angrily and pointed a hoof at Fenrir.

“Yeah, that one doesn’t even make sense, Rainbow Dash does not explode!” Spike chimed in.

“This is pointless. Purple Magic Pony, grab an atlas and let’s go.” Fenrir growled out, suddenly sounding very sour about the situation. Twilight had gotten over the urge to flinch at his every word, but the sudden change in demeanor did unnerve her. Why would he need an atlas, anyway?

“All packed and ready to go!” Spike exclaimed as he set her saddlebacks and his own body on Twilight’s back. Somehow she had a feeling Spike wanted to tag along. The great wolf gave the dragon a look, but turned to Rainbow Dash before saying anything.

“We are heading to the cabin of your yellow pegasus friend. Would you mind leading the way, as you know which way it is?” The grey predator growled out, deadly serious and his whole attention on Rainbow Dash.

“Wow, wow, wait a minute! Why do you want to see Fluttershy?” RD exclaimed, waving her hooves around and eyeing Fenrir suspiciously. Fenrir’s lip twitched as RD shouted her statement, but it could have been because of her volume.

“I am hungry and –“

“You are not eating Fluttershy, bud!” RD hovered right above Fenrir’s snout and had her face right in front of his eyes. She missed Fenrir’s aggravated snarl as a result.

“I was not –“

“You’d better not be thinking of eating any of her animal friends, either! She would be –“

“SHUT UP, YOU INSUFFERABLE LITTLE –“ The gargantuan wolf roared out and effectively head butted Rainbow Dash as his head jerked forward. He caught himself before he could finish his no doubt biting remark and stared at the ground, panting heavily. Everypony had been paralyzed by the sudden burst of anger and were now staring at the manic stillness in the wolf’s eyes, thinking if they could outrun the aggravated predator, or not. Fenrir closed his eyes and inhaled through his nostrils, probably to calm himself, but the ponies couldn’t help but think he just smelled them to see which would taste better.

“As I said, I am hungry; I get aggravated easily because of that. I need to see Yellow Meek Pony to know the area in which her animal friends live; the atlas will make it easier for her to pinpoint the areas I should not hunt in. It would be much easier if you two were there to help her and calm her nerves, any questions?” Twilight Sparkle could think of several. How had he known Bon Bon's name came to mind. His knowledge of what Fluttershy did for a living was also suspect, but she was not in the state of mind to ask these questions.

“Nope.” RD squeaked from the ground, her legs folded above her in a defensive manner, ready to kick up if Fenrir came in for the kill. She had gotten an intimate look at the size and sharpness of Fenrir’s fangs as he barked at her in anger. Fenrir got up on four limbs and started walking toward Fluttershy’s cottage.

“I do know her home is somewhere near the edge of the forest, but your help would spare me from tracking the Yellow Meek Pony down and possibly scaring her.” The jovial tone was gone from his speech and he didn’t turn back to see if the ponies followed. Hunger did make anypony irritable, but was it really a good idea to take a hungry carnivore to Fluttershy’s cottage, which was filled with wounded and helpless animals? Well, he had realized his problem and had moved to resolve it, plunging Ponyville into panic or not, so at least he was still lucid. RD took to the air to catch up with the jogging wolf and Twilight galloped out of her library with Spike in tow, closing the door of the library with a nudge of magic as she went.

Fenrir

He was not complaining about being in Equestria, it had been a fantasy of his since finishing season 1. He had no qualms about being among the ponies he had been watching for the better part of a year, either. He was not complaining that it might be some self-insert fever dream he was having after being bitten by a rabid ferret or something. No, that he could live with, as strange as it would be.

He had plenty to complain about being a wolf many times larger than the ponies he wanted to hug, though.Losing his hands and the chance to find out if Lyra really was obsessed with them, wasn’t the only thing bothering him about his new form. He did miss his opposable thumbs and all the things he could do with them, now that the only thing he could do with his forelimbs was tear things apart and run really, really fast.

At the time he just didn’t want to deal with explaining something to these ponies he didn’t understand himself. He didn’t know the reason why he was a gargantuan wolf and could only guess at why he was a gargantuan wolf in Equestria. As far as he knew he had led quite an unremarkable life. My little pony; Friendship is Magic had been a great show to watch and the fandom created some awesome things and sponsored more charities than any other fandom he knew of, but he didn’t think he would pray to pagan gods to get to Equestria, as awesome as it was.

Well, as far as he remembered, so it might still be possible. He had decided on the name Fenrir, same as the gigantic wolf in Norse mythology, so maybe there was a connection he was unaware of. The name had been the only thing that had popped into his mind when it was time for introductions, being a huge wolf named…

Okay, now he couldn’t remember his own name. He could remember a lot of details and big moments in his life, but whenever he tried to remember what he introduced himself as, it slipped away. Maybe it had something to do with the way he was unable to call anyone by name with the translation spell active.

“So, your plan is to ask Fluttershy to choose which animals are to die?” Rainbow Dash asked, snapping the human turned huge wolf, currently known as Fenrir, out of his thoughts. He mulled the mare’s comment and realized what she was going for. Looking back behind him, forcing down the urge to chomp down on his swinging tail, he saw Twilight Sparkle following them at a reasonable distance. He sat down on the road to wait for the purple mare to catch up before opening his mouth.

“Blue Insightful Pony has brought to attention the possibility that Yellow Veterinarian Pony will not approve of the hunting and consumption of wildlife, wherever it might be; any suggestions on how to deal with this dilemma?” Fenrir growled out, choosing to use as many fancy words as he knew to keep the ponies thinking of him as a scholar. It was a convenient little white lie and he wasn’t planning on admitting to it any time soon.

“Well, that is a possibility…” Twilight Sparkle muttered as she sat down to ponder the issue. “She is the element of Kindness, after all.”

“The harm in not telling her is the possibility of me accidentally killing a critter she’s attached to. If these animals come to her, then not telling her would only mean some of her animal friends will disappear, that happens plenty enough in nature.” The ponies cringed at the bluntness of the statement, but it would not serve any purpose to sugar coat the issue.

He had tried eating apples back in Sweet Apple Acres, but he just ended up regurgitating them, violently. Running around with his guts trying to jump out of his mouth was when he noticed how fast he could run. Hiding what he did throw up was how he realized that his claws were good for digging. He had been transformed from an omnivore into a full-blooded carnivore and this was the most pony-friendly way to deal with it, that he could think of.

“It’s so wrong we’re actually discussing this…” Rainbow Dash muttered and hovered in place with a disgusted face. “We should just tell her and see if she has any ideas, she takes care of all kinds of animals, even carnivores.”

“Agreed, but I’m eating anything that tries to stop me and can’t talk.” He said and turned again to keep jogging along faster than Twilight could run. His size alone made him move fast, but with as long wolves’ feet were, he could jog along in a leisurely pace and leave anything that didn’t fly in the dust. Turning the gnawing hot energy in his chest into bad jokes and moments of randomness was safer than snapping at the ponies around him, like he had done with RD and her incessant bickering. The hunger he was now feeling only fed the wordless hum that was slowly drowning out his thoughts.

“You were joking about eating Fluttershy’s pets, right? Her little critters will defend her, you know.” Rainbow Dash pointed out, ever worried about the wellbeing of her friend. The way she flew at his side, just at the edge of his peripheral vision, made him speed up his jogging to make it go away. The movement and the smell of the soft herbivore so close to him made him anxious; he could just flex his neck and bite down on a wing so easily. His muscles rippled under his fur as he kept going faster, but Rainbow Dash wasn’t taking the hint, just like the stupid vacant-eyed herbivore she was.

“Hey, you might wanna slow down, you’re leaving Twilight behind!” The tempo of her wings had quickened. He could feel his claws tearing into the road and warmth spreading into his muscles as a powerful heart hammered in his chest. The movement at the edge of his vision disappeared and reappeared, each time he saw the flutter of wings, it was harder to fight back the urge snap at them. At this velocity it was unlikely that the dumb aviary miniature horse could dodge in time if he were to swing his head to the side and let the pegasus slam into his snout. He could even grab the mare out of the air and swallow her before anyone noticed if he timed it carefully. One flex of his neck and the annoying little dyke would be bleeding out, crushed between his jaws, wings twitching helplessly…

He could only roar incoherently as the image crept into his conscious mind and flashed in frightening detail at every jolt of his muscles. He didn’t know if he was fighting against it, or wanting it to happen, at this point. He pictured the flex of his neck, how easy it would be to bite down on the frail bones and soft flesh of an aviary herbivore, how sweet drenching his thirst on Rainbow Dash’s blood would be.

He could only roar and force his body to go faster as the rainbow-colored pegasus struggled to keep up with him. She was shouting something, hitting his fur with her soft hooves. His heart drowned out the noise, the heat of his blood smothered the pain and his hunger controlled him.

Spike

Spike didn’t think Twilight could hear the insane snarling and howls Fenrir let out as his form kept getting further and further away, with a rainbow blur next to him. With his size Spike had thought Fenrir to be slow, but even at the calm jog he had started out with, it was nearly impossible for Twilight to keep up with the flying virtuoso and a land-based predator of gargantuan size. Twilight ran between the potholes Fenrir had torn into the road while speeding up.

Twilight was panting and nearly stumbling at her hooves as the holes in the road Fenrir had left became progressively bigger and the distance between them grew. Spike looked up and didn’t see the rainbow blur next to Fenrir anymore. He looked up, hoping that RD had decided to dive bomb the rampaging wolf, but the sky was devoid of any rainbow trails. Spike was really worried now and he was pretty sure Twilight wasn’t stopping because of the same reason. Fluttershy might have been good with animals, but it was unlikely she could calm the feral Fenrir with so much injured prey around to excite him.

“That cheating little mutt!” Spike turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw a flash of colorful tail in thick bush at the side of the road. Fenrir had only knocked her into the bushes, thank Celestia. Spike jumped off of Twilight’s back to help the competitive mare out of the bushes. Twilight stopped as she noticed Spike wasn’t on her back and only then noticed RD’s predicament. The bookish mare was exhausted by the sudden exertion she was forced into by worry for her friend’s well being. They couldn’t hear Fenrir snarling or howling anymore and that made them worry about what had made him stop.

“Bad enough he’s barking and roaring like a madpony, but then he goes and rams me!” Spike cut some vines the mare was tangled in, but she got tangled in a few more because of her thrashing around. He jumped on RD’s back and snipped as many vines he could, before she could tangle herself up again. The flying pony flew out above the road and stared out along the road, trying to spot Fenrir. “Runs like a motherbucker, though...”

“Rainbow… Dash!” Twilight panted out between gulps of air. Rainbow Dash was obviously not realizing Fenrir was not in his right mind, since she wasn’t rushing to Fluttershy’s cabin. Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight, looking confused at her desperate tone. “Get to Fluttershy’s cabin… Now!”

“Uh, okay!” Rainbow Dash stammered out and shot off into the sky. If Fenrir didn’t know exactly where her cabin was, then Rainbow Dash could make it there before him. Then again, all the animals she kept had aggravated even Spike’s domesticated sense of smell when he’d visited her cabin, so it shouldn’t be hard for a full-blown predator to find it. Twilight and Spike ran the rest of the way down the road, stopping only when they saw Fenrir’s tracks skid to a halt and tear most of the road out in the process. There were a number of clear paw prints at the crossroads leading to Fluttershy’s cabin, or the Everfree forest. Had he stopped to track the yellow pegasi’s scent, or had he regained his senses?

“Here you are!” Both Twilight and Spike shrieked at the sudden voice above them. Rainbow Dash chuckled at their reaction and set down next to Spike. “Fluttershy heard Fenrir howling and hid in her cabin, seems like Fenrir never made an appearance.”

“Twilight! Rainbow!” Spike caught their attention and pointed at a number of fainter hoof prints on the ground, going down the road to the Everfree forest. Three sets of small hooves going side by side, partly obscured by Fenrir’s giant paw prints. They only knew of one group of three fillies that would go to the Everfree forest alone.

CMC

“We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders, On a quest to find out who we are, And we will never stop the journey, Not until we have our cutie marks!” The three fillies shrieked out, Sweeitie Belle’s pitch-perfect voice drowned out by her friends’ screaming. She wasn’t aware of this, since she liked singing with her friends and got nervous whenever she was thrust into the spotlight. She just liked singing; it wasn’t like she was particularly good at it. They were inhaling to sing the next verse of their own theme song when Applebloom’s ears swiveled and she stopped to look behind them. Sweetie Belle grabbed Scootaloo’s official CMC cloak to stop her and turned to try and hear what made Applebloom stop.

“What are you –“ Scootaloo’s question was cut short as her ears perked up when a bone-chilling howl reached them. Their first thought was that it was timberwolves, from Applebloom’s stories about how they appeared out of the forest when it was Zap apple season, but they weren’t so sure about that when no other voices joined it. The three fillies pressed together as they heard a low guttural bark echo around them, whatever was making that noise was getting closer, fast. They could hear the rumble of something big running toward them.

“What – What is that? What’s making that noise?” Sweetie Belle whimpered, her own fear slightly alleviated by her two friends shivering on either side of her.

“A bear, maybe?” Scootaloo offered. It did sound big enough to be a bear.

“Bears don’t howl, stupid!” Applebloom countered.

“And how do you know that, stupid?” Scootaloo shot back.

“Fluttershy told me, stupid!” Applebloom shot back. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo did a synchronized “ooh..” at this new piece of reliable information. The yellow pegasus was the resident animal expert, after all, right after Zecora.

“Then what is it?” Sweetie Belle asked, Applebloom and Scootaloo stopped hugging her as they stared toward the noise and pondered what could be making the terrifying sounds.

“Wolves howl.” Applebloom suggested, remembering the timberwolves howling when zap apple season started.

“Would have to be an awful big wolf…” Scootaloo muttered as they stared at the shadowy canopy of the Everfree forest. Even though it was a bright and sunny day, the trees sucked out the light and left the road cloaked in shadow further down the road.

“Fenrir!” Sweetie Belle shouted and glanced at her friends. The looks on their faces suggested that they came to the same conclusion as her about the same time; she was just the first to shout it out.

“What’s he doing ‘round these parts?” Applebloom asked, scratching her head with a hoof, more perplexed as to why the strange wolf was there, than frightened about the fact he was howling and barking while running towards them. “Is he going to see Zecora?”

“Why would he need to see Zecora, he’s a huge wolf!” Scootaloo exclaimed, excitedly waving her hooves in the air to signal exactly how big he was.

“Maybe he’s getting something for his throat? You heard how raspy his voice was.” Sweetie Belle reasoned, remembering how annoying it was to have a sore throat. The other two fillies nodded in agreement and they sat down on the road to wait for mister Fenrir, they might actually get to ride on his back if they asked nicely. Just when the sound of running sounded like the form of the grey wolf was supposed to appear out of the thicket of shadows, there was a crack of wood and the hollow sound of a tree falling in the forest.

The CMC glanced at each other as the forest around them turned deathly quiet without the sound of who they presumed to be Fenrir rushing toward them. Had he hurt himself? Stumbled and crashed into a tree, maybe? The noises they had heard just before the silence sure supported that theory. The three fillies tentatively got on their hooves and started trotting towards the mass of shadows down the road.

“Mister Fenrir, are you alright?” Applebloom shouted into the shadows they thought Fenrir to be in. The silence of the forest had gotten to them earlier, so they had started singing to occupy themselves, but now the forest around them seemed even quieter, like everything living in the forest was holding its breath.

The silence made them glance at the forest nervously and swivel their ears around to catch any possible sound. Still, they didn’t notice the sound of Fenrir carefully stepping out from behind the trees behind them, his soft fur making no sound as it scraped the tree’s bark and his long claws only making a barely distinguishable sound as they sunk into the soft earth of the forest. The three fillies only turned around when his weight made the rocks under his paws shift and clatter against each other.

"Golly, mister Fenrir, you gave us quite a scare there. You're awfully quiet for such a big fella!" Applebloom hollered, relieved that it was only the funny acting big wolf sleeping in her family's barn.

"Yeah, we couldn't hear you at all! You were like a.. a..." Sweetie Belle couldn't think of an especially quiet animal, or pony right on the spot. The way Fenrir was staring at them, panting heavily, wasn't helping her concentration at all, either. His yellow eyes seemed to glow in the dim light of the forest.

"Uh, everything alright, mister Fenrir?" Scootaloo asked and stepped toward the great wolf, flinching as the heavily breathing predator turned to her, growling and snarling at her. She stared into his eyes, frozen in place, and saw the manic focus of a wild animal boring into her from the glow of those yellow eyes. Fenrir's jaws opened and the growl intensified, a gleaming droplet of spittle falling to the ground from his curved fangs.

"Right, mister Fenrir! mister Fenrir!" Sweetie Belle chimed in excitedly, waving a hoof to get the wolf's attention. Fenrir flinched at the sudden sound and growled at the filly after lowering his stance and folding his ears back. Applebloom and Scootaloo were already scared of the seemingly feral Fenrir, but Sweetie Belle was concentrating on speaking without her voice cracking embarrassingly. "Could we maybe - I mean, it would be nice if we could ride on your back, only to Zecora's hut, if it's not too much trouble..."

Her two friends and the deranged wolf both stared at the filly, Fenrir's growl stopping as Sweetie Belle stared at the ground and fiddled with a pebble nervously. Fenrir straightened his posture and stared at the nervous filly with a vacant look in his eyes, blinking slowly.

"We won't tug on your fur, or anything, I promise..." Sweetie Belle added and looked up to the confused wolf. Fenrir flinched away from her eyes and a glint of recognition flashed in his eyes as he frantically looked from side to side, acting frightened of his surroundings. He jumped back and barked at the fillies as they tried to ask him what was wrong, snarling at them while backing away. As the fillies stood there, frozen in place by the crazed look in the wolf's eyes, Fenrir jumped back into the forest. They could hear him tearing through the foliage and many branches snapping as he ran through them, none of the grace he had used to sneak up on the three fillies no longer present.

"He could have just said no." Sweetie Belle shakily said, scared by the big wolf's strange behaviour, still not catching up on the fact she had very nearly avoided being eaten. Her two friends didn't see the need to let the filly know as they tried to stop shaking.

I am glad that most of you like this story and love all the positive comments, but what I would like to know more is what the three down voters found offensive about this story. Getting positive comments is a joy, but the negative opinions give me a chance to better, or explain myself. So, if you're one of those three people, leave a comment.

Also, mad respect for an individual going by the name McWilson and some random numbers on this site for helping me edit this piece of literary vomit into something a little more agreeable.

Feel free to leave one if you aren't.

The Hunter

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The Hunter

”Girls, thank Celestia you’re alright!” Twilight shouted as she spotted the Cutie Mark Crusaders running toward them. Rainbow Dash rushed ahead to check the fillies over for injuries and left Twilight galloping to catch up. The three fillies gathered around the older pegasus mare and shouted out their worries in unison. Their combined chatter was nearly intelligible, but the name “Fenrir” was mentioned.

“Wow, slow down there! You ran into Fenrir?” Rainbow Dash waved her hooves to silence the fillies. Twilight Sparkle rather unceremoniously shoved the bright-maned mare to the side.

“Are you saying you saw Fenrir? Where? What was he doing? Did he hurt you? Which way did he go?” The purple mare asked, making the three fillies take a tentative step back from the second crazed quadruped they ran into that day. Even though Fenrir had avoided hurting anypony, she was still frantically worried about a feral wolf the size of a small house running around. This did not translate well into getting any information out of three scared fillies.

“Just tell us what happened.” Spike said as he jumped off of Twilight’s back and stepped between the mare and three fillies. Twilight gave the dragon a look, but stepped back as she noticed the venomous glare Rainbow Dash was giving her. Twilight levitated a parchment and a quill for Spike to write down the fillies’ statement.

“We were going to Zecora’s hut to learn some more about potion-making, you know, to earn our cutie marks, when we heard this howling and snarling behind us.” Scootaloo narrated, moving her front hooves in time with her words to create a sense of drama. Rainbow Dash nodded for the orange filly to continue and Twilight thought they wouldn’t be as calm if they realized how close they had been to getting eaten.

“It was so-oooo scary! Mister Fenrir was acting like a madpony, snarling and howling like that!” Sweetie Belle cut in before Scootaloo could continue, her voice cracking at every other word because of her excitement.

“Sure, yeah, but as I was saying: The sound of him rushing toward us was echoing off the trees, making it sound like there was a whole pack of wolves coming at us. We didn’t realize it was Fenrir at this point, so we were getting really worried. We waited to see just what was coming for us, but then…” Rainbow Dash leaned in to hear the filly, as she had only whispered out the last word, glancing both ways before leaning toward Rainbow Dash and continuing. “Silence, all the noise he had been making stopped and the whole forest was even quieter than before, like it was watching.”

Twilight noticed Rainbow Dash’s wings fluttering a little in excitement and she had to remind herself the three fillies were right in front of her, unharmed, to not get as wrapped up in Scootaloo’s story herself. Spike wrote something on his parchment absent-mindedly before Scootaloo continued the story.

“Ah asked mister Fenrir if he was a’right, since it sounded like he’d gone an’ hurt himself.” Applebloom cut in, stepping back as Scootaloo gave her a venomous look.

“Yeah, so Applebloom shouted down the road, asking if Fenrir had stumbled, or something, since we heard a tree fall just before everything went silent. We start trotting down the road, silence hanging over us and making us jumpy. We walk right over where we heard the tree falling and hear something breathing heavily right behind us. We turn around and we see Fenrir right behind us!” Scootaloo dramatically raised her hooves in the air with her last statement, making RD’s wings spring out and an excited grin overtook both of their faces. Twilight had to admit Scootaloo had a knack for dramatic reading, but didn’t agree with making light of such a serious situation.

“Then I asked if we could ride on his back to Zecora’s hut and he ran away.” Sweetie Belle added, sounding confused. “It was like he was afraid of us, but why would he be afraid of three small fillies?”

Because he was afraid of what he would do to them, not of them. Fenrir had regained his senses long enough to run away from the CMC, but that didn’t mean he was back to normal, if there was a “normal” to go back to. The aggression was new, but they had only known Fenrir for little over a day, so there was no saying what kind of monster he was. Rainbow Dash gathered the fillies’ attention and started leading them out of the forest, asking them more questions about the encounter. Her overpowering personality and nonchalant and excited attitude about their experience helped the fillies calm down, but the way she glanced back at Twilight proved that she was aware of the danger the fillies’ had narrowly avoided.

“Should we go check on Zecora?” Spike asked as he added details to his notes he hadn’t had time to write as Scootaloo told them of their adventure. Twilight felt a little proud of her assistant when she saw a drawing of the way the three fillies and Fenrir had moved on the road in the margins. “Fenrir might still be nearby.”

“Of course we’ll check on Zecora, Spike!” Twilight snapped and started walking along the path, Spike wobbling along on his own. First Fenrir forces her out of bed and thoroughly annoys her with his bizarre sense of humor, then forces her to follow him, because he feels hungry and then just storms off, feral. She was not having a good day, not at all. “Besides, I was planning on asking Zecora if she knew anything about ways to deal with large, intelligent predators. There are a more of them where she’s from and the books are vague about the subject.”

The trek to Zecora’s cabin was uneventful and they only stopped to examine the tree Fenrir had toppled. The tree had snapped near the base and the way the claw marks were positioned suggested that Fenrir had jumped on the tree to stop his momentum and then sneak behind the CMC as they came to check on the noise. They shuddered to think what the wolf would have done if the three fillies hadn’t turned around and confronted him.

“Twilight Sparkle, what is it you seek, trying a new tea this week?” Zecora greeted them while motioning them to step inside. Twilight smiled at the friendly zebra and stepped in, her mind going over her rhyme and silently judging it. The zebra’s ability to speak almost every single sentence in rhyme was astonishing, but as a fan of literature, she couldn’t help but judge. The zebra’s discreet yawn excused any weak rhymes in Twilight’s mind.

“Actually, I’m here to ask if you could tell me about the great beasts in your homeland. You see, a big wolf, named Fenrir, appeared yesterday and I was wondering if you would have some insight on this situation. Maybe know why one such beast would want to learn pony magic?” Twilight awkwardly told the zebra. She hadn’t had time to think her questions through, with Fenrir going feral and leading them to the zebra’s vicinity. “He kind of went feral out of hunger just now…”

“I heard the panicked howls, thought them to be cause of timberwolves.” The zebra walked over to her cauldron, stirring the concoction with a wooden spoon, seemingly deep in thought. The mixture in the black cauldron changed color and let off a puff of smoke that smelled of flowers. The zebra then walked over to a system that allowed her to lift the heavy cauldron from the fire without the help of telekinesis.

“The beasts of my home are mindless as a common foal; those that speak channel the voice of a different soul.” The zebra grabbed the rope tied to the wall with her teeth and pulled it loose with a practiced flick of her neck. Twilight watched as the zebra pulled the rope and the mechanism allowed her to swing the cauldron to a pedestal at another side of the room. Zecora tied the rope back on the hook on the wall, the mechanism required for the operator pull down, so tying the rope only served to keep it out of the way if the cauldron was not meant to be suspended.

“I know no beast with the mind you describe; there are spirits great and small, eager to fill that role. Caution is what I suggest, as deception and guile is what they know best.” The zebra rhymed and gave Twilight a serious look.

“But, what if Fenrir isn’t a spirit? What if he’s just the scholar he claims to be and just made a mistake? Is there any way to know?” Zecora rubbed her chin briefly, probably recalling wisdom she’d learned in faraway lands. It was either that, or the striped mare was thinking of a suitable rhyme, whichever it was, Twilight was impressed.

“Lies and deception is their game, but they cannot lie about their name. Phantoms that I know, bear not the name you speak, maybe ask those, that are neither mortal nor weak?” The zebra smirked and gave a meaningful glance at Spike’s direction. Twilight had told the zebra that she sent her letters to the Princess through Spike, so her meaning was obvious. Of course, if somepony would know the names of spirits of Equestria, then it would be the Princesses! Actually, she had already sent Princess Celestia a letter concerning Fenrir, so she just had to wait for a reply.

“Yes, of course! Thank you, Zecora!” Twilight beamed at the wearily smiling zebra. She had to wonder if the striped mare had been woken by Fenrir’s howling, or if she had been watching her potion for who knows how long. Whatever the case, the zebra needed her rest. Twilight excused herself with another thank you and rushed out the door, there were lives at stake, so she had no time to waste.

Rainbow Dash

Rainbow Dash led the three fillies back to town, asking them questions about the size of Fenrir’s teeth, why were they exactly going to Zecora’s, what had made Fenrir back off exactly? Basically anything to keep the three fillies talking and not think about the ordeal too deeply, but what would give her more information about how the whole thing went down. From what she’d heard so far, it really did look like Fenrir was going to eat the three fillies, until Sweetie Belle asked his more rational side a question of heart melting amounts of cuteness.

She was now convinced Fenrir was possessed, or suffering from multiple personality disorder of some sort, just like in Daring Do and the Cult of Janus. It just didn’t seem possible that a person, wolf or not, could be a sarcastic jokester one second and a snarling beast the second. There had to be something more sinister afoot! Fenrir had not been normal, not even close, but he had been an agreeable guy, until this morning, when the other guy started coming to the surface. Sure, she knew that carnivores tended to get antsy when they were hungry, especially if surrounded by sentient herbivores. Gilda had explained the whole thing during flight camp. After the whole fiasco of her coming back to relive old times, Rainbow Dash had thought it to only be a convenient excuse, but now she wasn’t so sure.

“Why was Fenrir so scared of me, Rainbow Dash?” Sweetie Belle suddenly asked, staring right into her soul with those innocent eyes as they walked. She knew exactly why he had acted scared after coming to his senses in front of three fillies, but really didn’t think telling them should be her decision. She could just bail and let the fillies go home on their own; they were already at the edge of Ponyville, after all.

“Miss Rainbow Dash!” A commanding voice boomed soon after they walked into town. Rainbow Dash visibly jerked and her eyes shot upward, expecting to see her boss from the weather patrol glaring at her. Instead, there was a group of three pegasi flying toward her, all wearing golden armor and a stony look of authority on their faces. It was a miracle Celestia found so many stallions that looked exactly the same in golden armor. She had a sneaking suspicion there was a lab somewhere in the Canterlot Mountain where these guys were constructed on a conveyor belt.

“Yeah, that’s me.” She wasn’t sure why Celestia’s royal guard was looking for her, but she was pretty sure she hadn’t done anything that could be considered treason, so it was unlikely they were there to arrest her.

“We are here for your protection.” The three pegasi were carrying spears affixed to hooks on the sides of their armor. It was rare to see the guards armed, other than during the princesses’ public appearances; even then it was mostly to show that the guards could do more than stand in place for hours.

“I can take care of myself, I don’t need your protection. Shoo, away with you.” It might be because she had just been thinking about Daring Do, but she was now speaking in an accent. The suspicious look the three guards gave her was the exact same if she had been drunk, they probably thought she was.

“We have our orders, Miss Dash.” The guard with the biggest helmet barked out. Damn, they really took their job seriously. They were working on orders?

“The Princess ordered you guys to watch over me? Why in her name would I need protecting?” The three guards were not amused by her play on words and didn’t even grace her question with an answer. This was not going to be fun. She was contemplating her chances of outrunning the three pegasi when another voice stepped into the fray, this time it was a pleasant sounding colt’s voice.

“Sweetie Belle?” An unicorn guard in golden armor asked as he walked past the pegasi without even giving them a glance. The pegasi guards only showed their annoyance by an all too telling twitch of the wings. “Your sister sent me to find you. Come on, I’ll walk you home, or at least to where your sister is.”

At least this guard had manners and seemed more like a pony, than the stone-faced automatons Rainbow Dash had to deal with. Was the training between pegasi and unicorn guards that different? Sweetie Belle followed the guardspony after saying bye to her friends.

“Are you here about Fenrir? Are all of the Elements guarded?” She had three guards; Rarity had sent one to find her sister, so it was not a big leap to think that they were all guarded. Actually, that might have explained Fenrir opting out on visiting Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash had arrived there after he passed, so Fluttershy’s guards might have been checking the perimeter for the predator at the time. She hadn’t exactly stayed around to chat and Fluttershy might not have gotten a chance to tell her about them.

“Yes, the others are guarded, but our orders are to protect you from harm, as the Element of Loyalty, surely you understand.”

“Are you going to kill mister Fenrir?” Scootaloo asked, looking up to the guard’s eyes, he didn’t flinch at the question, or even register that the filly had talked.

“I hope not.” One of the guards said, earning a scorching glare from the one that had been talking so far, probably his superior officer.

“Yeah, this seems like an adult kind of thing, so little fillies should hurry on home.” Rainbow Dash nudged the two remaining little fillies along, smiling a little at their unified groan at the injustice of it all. Applebloom started jogging toward Sweet Apple Acres and Scootaloo pulled her signature scooter from a nearby bush and then raced off after waving her goodbye. Did she have more than one of those, or had she stashed it there?

“So, what’s the plan?” The prismatic mare asked the stone-faced guardponies. The two subordinate guards glanced side to side and then nodded to their superior to continue. She sighed at them for being so cloak and dagger about it, but didn’t press the issue; they didn’t seem amused by the situation in the least.

“We are to gather the Elements of Harmony at the Ponyville library at their earliest convenience. Those are our orders and to speculate further would be uncouth.” Clearly this stallion was a senior ranking officer, nopony other than somepony who teaches protocol would be so strict in following it.

“Well, the town librarian is visiting the resident zebra, so that might be a problem. Actually, she’s right in the forest where Fenrir ran off into, so you’d be better off trying to protect her, you know, Twilight Sparkle.” Rainbow Dash gestured toward the forest she just came out of and saw the apprehension in the officer’s eyes. He was trying to decide between following his orders and safeguarding the Element of Magic, who was also Princess Celestia’s protégé. He sized Rainbow Dash up with a look that convinced Dash he was at least a lieutenant in the guard and twisted his face into the first emotion RD had seen from him; annoyance.

“Aqualinus, go tell Twilight Sparkle’s guards where she is. Cheese, you go down that path and check on her. I’ll keep an eye on the little Miss Loyalty here.” The two identical looking guards saluted and zoomed off to fulfill their orders. The still nameless guard officer glared at her without even trying to hold back his animosity. This was getting boring fast…

“Okay, see ya around!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she rocketed off into the sky. Usually she flew low and weaved between trees or buildings to shake off pegasi, but luckily there was rain scheduled for that day, so she just flew into the cloud and flew in zig-zags and loops and any other aerial maneuver she could think of to shake her unwanted companion.

She flew up above the cloud cover after making sure the guard after her was still in the clouds and then glided over to an errant piece of cloud, not leaving a trail of rainbows in her wake. She then dropped down onto a roof and then ran over to a tree to take a nap. Every pegasus she’d outmatched thought she would be easy to track because of that trail she left behind, but that worked against them, as they always looked for it, rather than her. She panted happily from exertion and laid down on the branch to rest. She lied her head down and sighed out of relief. This was not one of her usual napping spots, but it would have to do. She’ll work the soreness out later. She lay there for a few seconds before an insistent beating of wings made her check if she was bothering a family of birds of something. No bird nests in the branches, nor any birds.

“A-hem!” Rainbow Dash turned toward the voice and saw the guard with the slightly bigger mane thingy on his helmet and a hard-on for protocol. He’d actually been able to keep up with her; even after she’d made sure he was still in the clouds when she hit the ground.

“Denied!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she zoomed out of the tree and right over Ponyville as fast she could without doing a sonic Rainboom. As soon as the trees on all sides of Sweet Apple Acres came into view, she dived under the foliage and started dodging the tree trunks while going nearly as fast as in the air. She didn’t think her route ahead for a few minutes to eliminate any pattern from her flying, to make it that much harder for the uptight guard to keep up with her. She flew for a few dozen turns and then ran for a moment and then flew again. Again, she was forced into working extra hard to stop pursuing pegasi just following the trail she left behind as she flew.

After a solid ten minutes of continuous trick flying and sprinting between uniform lines of apple trees she jumped up into one of her nap spots and crashed her head down on the pillow. It was more work than she’d put into shaking someone off in a long time, but at least she didn’t have to deal with the dead eyes of a guardpony staring at her judgingly. Again, she heard the insistent flapping of wings next to her, this time accompanied by the heavy breathing of a colt.

“Oh, come on! How?! How in Celestia’s name could you have caught up with me? Is chasing mares around like your special talent, or something?” Rainbow Dash screamed at the guard, more frustrated that she had tired herself for nothing than angry at the colt. It was not much, but the guard’s wings flinched just a little when RD speculated his special talent being chasing mares. She spread a knowing smirk on her face to test the theory and sure enough, the colt backed away just enough for it to be suspicious. “I’ll come with you if you tell me what your special talent is.”

“My special talent has nothing to do with –“

“I’m pretty sure I technically outrank you, me being the Element of Loyalty and all. I could make it an order, if that’s easier for you?” She dropped down from the tree and then leaned on it. Making it very clear she was not moving until the guard relented. He landed in front of her and gave her the most venomous glare a pony could give to another pony without killing them. She couldn’t stop grinning even if she tried.

“My special talent is chasing down and catching criminals.”

“Yeah, sure... criminals.” Rainbow Dash drawled out, as annoyingly as possible. She pushed herself off the tree and started walking out of the orchard and in the direction of Ponyville. She walked in front of the celestial guard, but could almost hear the guardpony fuming behind her. She walked in silence for a few minutes, just long enough for the guard to calm down a little, before speaking again.

“So, your special talent is chasing tail?”

“No.” The guard was trying to regain his stoic demeanor, but as Celestia was her witness, she was not going to let that happen!

“Do I even want to know what you were looking at, if it wasn’t my tail?” She punctuated her statement by a swish of her tail and saw the guard turn his head away from the corner of her eye. Aww, the little guardpony was getting flustered!

“My special talent is being able to predict your movements before you make them. It comes in handy when chasing an agile pegasus.”

“So, you were staring at my flank the whole time, weren’t you?” Rainbow Dash turned to the pegasi guard and pointed a hoof at him. She was the first to admit her flank was awesome, but she was not going to pass up on the opportunity to embarrass the annoying guard. The guard stopped and took a few steps back, his wings unfurling in a clear sign of uncomfortable he was with the accusation.

“I also observed the tempo of your wings, the way you leaned your body, moved your hooves, there’s more to it than –“

“You actually admit leering at me? What’s your name, soldier!” She decided to act like she really did outrank the pony and his reaction did not disappoint. His face turned a crimson red, but he still assumed that thousand mile stare and rigid posture of a celestial guard. It took every ounce of her willpower not to burst out laughing from just looking at it.

“My name is George, ma’am!”

Wait, what? He didn’t look like he was making a joke, but celestial guards were masters at keeping their faces neutral. What kind of name was “George”? What kind of pony could be cruel enough to name their son something so incorrigible? It wasn’t even a name; really, it was more like the sound you made when gagging on something!

“Bwahahaha-HA!” She couldn’t help but fall down on the ground, quaffing in laughter. George the guardpony! It was just too much! “What kind of name is that?! No wonder you ended up chasing tail with a name like that!”

The guard, named George, stayed quiet and staring into space, like any other guard she’d come across.

“You are behaving in a manner not suited for an –“

“Says George… the Pony!” Rainbow Dash wheezed out between fits of laughter, only made worse by the guard’s attempts at staying stone-faced and failing terribly.

“It is a family name!” George growled out, abandoning any attempt to keep his cool in front of the insufferable mare. She could only laugh harder at the mental images this tidbit of information brought her.

“Yeah, the great… house of George! Stop it… You’re killing me!” Rainbow Dash was really starting to have trouble getting enough air now. The guard seemed to decide it was better to let the Element of Loyalty work out her amusement, as he simply sat down and glared at her wildly laughing form.

This continued until Applejack came to check on what in the hay was making so much noise in her family’s orchards. The rainbow colored mare ended up being carried by one of Applejack three earth pony guards. They didn’t see what was so funny about this “George” she kept referring to, the pegasi guard didn’t deem it necessary to correct them.

Fenrir

He was fast, that he already knew, but it still surprised him how quickly he scaled the mountain. He had to get away from Ponyville, away from the Mane Six and everypony associated with them. That was what drove him on for a good while, as his hunger grew.

Almost every creature in his path had the sense to move as far away from his thundering feet and maddened howls, but he leapt at the ones that he crossed with such ferocity he was not sure what they were. They felt soft and warm to tear apart and their blood fought back the fire inside him enough for him to keep running. They were small things, in nests or abandoned in traps, but his powerful jaws and limbs tore through anything between his hunger and them.

Night fell and he tracked by smell, lurking and skulking in shadows while his prey slept in nervous apprehension. He saw a mountain, but had he passed it, or had he tracked his last kill beyond it? He didn’t care. He smelled weak, soft creatures, their fear as sweet as honey to his nose, their fear, their flesh and their deaths; that was what mattered.

He knew what ponies smelled like; he stayed away from them, since they were not food. Everything else reeked of the meat under their skin and he could hear the sweet, warm blood beat in their little hearts. None of their kind mourned them; there were no mobs to slaughter him for killing a deer, or snatching a lone griffin from the air. Their deaths served to sustain him and his strength.

Ponies had community; they struck out at those that wronged them. Herbivores, weak and soft, but clever, thinking they were so much smarter than those that yearned for their flesh. They traded their knowledge and industry for reprieve of the beasts hunting them. They played the cunning nature of predators against them. Why kill a pony, if their kind could give you weapons, traps and ways to hunt other things?

Intelligence was not a privilege only for herbivores, he knew better. There were ways to work the ponies’ overblown community against them, to make them fear the hunter again. There were ways he knew to incite fear, ways to call on a herd mentality they have tried to cast off for such a long time.

There were ways, but he had no reason to use them, that is what he told the raging fire inside him, gnawing at him. There was no reason for his anger; there was no motivation for any crime he plotted to commit. No wrongs to right or no grudge to settle, that was the duality either his bestial body, or human mind could overcome. He had a body well suited for cruelty and an ingenious mind capable of it, but no reason to commit any wrongs to ponies.

The hunter in him saw no thrill in devouring prey that packed itself in one place every night and the human side of him could not reason killing something that could still do him favors. The part of him that would riot against even the idea of hurting ponies was dormant, cast off by a colder, older thing, a thing that knew what it was and could hunt. There would be a time for masks and little lies that part excelled at, but now only the hunter was needed.

A light forced itself upon the land and took his cloak of shadows away, flaring the fire driving him on this hunt. It had not been sated and yet his muscles burned and his mind screamed for rest. He had to kill something big, something larger than his hunger.

There was a feral dragon in the Everfree forest, at the base of the mountain; it had attacked Spike and Twilight, a beast devoid of morals, other than his primal greed. A hardened omnivore, made even harder by the magic in its veins and the fire at the back of its throat. No normal thing of flesh and bone had satiated his hunger; maybe a creature of magic would be different.

Killing a dragon would be hard, impossible if in its lair. He needed to dodge the beast’s fire, but it had made sure there was little to no cover near its horde, it would have to be lured out. The forest would give him some protection from the flames, but if the struggle lasted too long, the forest would burn and turn against him. It had to be lured away and surprised, his jaws were strong enough to bite down on its neck, but the claws and tail was what he was worried about.

First, he needed bait to lure it out. As much of an omnivore it was, it was unlikely that a feral beast could resist an easy kill. Manticores were territorial, easy to track, a little harder to wound without killing them, but easy to drag, thanks to their tail. The proud dragon would probably think it to be tribute from something. The manticore could only smell of blood and roar out its frustration with its mangled legs.

All that was left to do was to wait and let the wounds the manticore had inflicted knit together. The dragon would think the stench of a predator to be coming from the manticore, not something lurking in the forest’s shadow.

Fluttershy

The yellow pegasus reveled in the company of her cute little critters. They were such good little darlings, so full of life and joy of living that it brought a smile to her face. She whispered out a few careful suggestions and the critters followed along by staying still and waiting for their share of the food. There were the few hungry ones that needed their share to be a little bigger and scurried off with their little hands and mouths full of feed. She knew they had stores of food in the forest and around her cabin and that it was natural for them to feel the need to horde, but she had to scold them in that voice they listened to, just for the other ones that could resist their urge to do the same.

“Play nice now, there is enough for everyone.” She said in a voice slightly louder than a whisper. Other ponies thought she was quiet and shy for talking to animals in such a meek manner, but the animals could hear her just fine and understood the slight variations in her voice. It was her special talent to understand and talk to animals, after all. She smiled as the squirrel, which had run off with extra feed, came back and distributed his spoils with the other animals, such sweet little things.

“How does she do that?” A pegasus guard said to another in what he might have thought was a whisper.

“Element of Kindness and all, I’d wager. See, I’m sure you feel the need to help her, even now. Didn’t you offer to help her a little while back?” The other guard commented in a calm voice, not even trying to whisper. Few of the animals looked at her curiously, but quickly moved on. The guardmare had been the one to approach her and was definitely not like the scary stone-faced guards she’d run into before. Her confidence and calming voice reminded her of Applejack. The animals had adjusted to her presence in mere hours, while they still shied away from the other two pegasi after a day of them guarding her. She was a nice mare called Cerulean Wind, but insisted on being called either “Wind” or “Cell”. She thought “Cerulean” sounded too much like something you ate for breakfast.

“I… I overfed a pigeon.” The guard answered, ears flopping down as he lowered his head. Cerulean chuckled and punched the dejected guard in the wing. From what Fluttershy could gather, the guardmare was the superior officer of the two other male pegasi, but they acted more like friends, the way they talked and laughed as they patrolled the area around her cabin, unless the mare gave an order, that’s when the other two followed it without question. It was nice to see there were other ways to command others, than through fear and physical harm.

The mare was just about to throw a quip about the poor stallion’s mistake of letting the over-excitable pigeon eat too much, when there was a terrible howl in the forest. It didn’t sound like it was close by, but it was loud and made by something very big and angry. The pillar of flame erupting above the trees a moment later told them exactly what it was, but what made them anxious was whatever could make such a large beast roar in such a way. The small animals inched toward their burrows and nests, but started running as another roar erupted from the great lizard, one filled with more pain than fury. Smoke rose in the distance and they could hear trees being uprooted as the dragon battled something.

“Uh, how big was that dragon in the forest?” The guard that had given one of her pigeons a tummy ache asked nervously as the sounds of the dragon roaring and fighting something continued.

“Report said it was a fully grown feral.” Cerulean answered and walked over to stand next to Fluttershy, who was trying to calm her animals. “If those noises come any closer to us, I need you to run, or fly, and tell the other guards, the ones guarding your friends. We’ll keep your animals safe, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, do you think it’s Fenrir? The- The one you’re guarding me from, Cell?” Fluttershy asked and hid behind her mane. The guardmare had an air about her that made her easier to talk to, so she was able to keep her voice in her audible range, at least.

“There’s hardly anything else that would attack a fully grown dragon in these woods.” She nodded solemnly and motioned for one of the guards go confirm what was making the noise. The stallion flew straight up until he was where the clouds would be and then flew towards the forest and the sounds of a dragon in great pain. The other male guard and the guardmare stared at his distant form in a tense silence. If the dragon was winning, then there was a wounded dragon to deal with, but if this “Fenrir” was winning, then he was something powerful enough to challenge a fully grown dragon. They wanted to deal with neither, but it was unlikely it was anything else.

The guard in the sky hovered in place as the distant sounds continued, the dragon roaring in pain and whatever was attacking it staying silent. The moment when the guard flinched and started making his way back to them was when the dragon’s roar cut off suddenly and turned into what sounded like a muffled wail.

“Report, now!” Cerulean barked out and the returning guard saluted the moment he landed.

“The dragon was being attacked by a single aggressor, a wolf bigger than I’ve ever seen!” The guard looked back at the long shadows of the forest behind him, the dragon had gone silent. “Last I saw, it was the wolf that seemed to be winning…”

It was midday, it was not normal for a wolf to attack prey during the day and alone. Her friends had told her that Fenrir had not acted like a wolf at all, talking with the help of Twilight’s spell and showing signs of intelligence on par with ponies, even a peculiar sense of humor. Why would an intelligent predator attack another predator many times its size during the day? The forest was silent again, but it was a tense silence, the sound of prey waiting for a predator to pass with bated breath. Her animals were fidgety and scared; the guardponies tensed their muscles and fluttered their wings as the silence dragged on.

Nothing howled or roared in victory, even though the sounds of the battle had ceazed. The silence brought to mind disturbing images of a gargantuan wolf ripping through the soft underbelly of a dragon, drenched crimson in the blood of its kill. If they could not hear, see or smell the wolf, then it could be hiding in any shadow in the dense forest and that only unnerved them more. The silence dragged on and slowly birds started to sing their songs and her little animals came back to get the rest of the food. Cerulean relaxed and told one of her subordinates to patrol the perimeter, just to be sure. First contact they had with Fenrir and he was fighting a dragon instead of coming back to them.

“Storm, go to Twilight Sparkle and tell her that we’ve had a sighting of something fitting Fenrir’s description, use those words, the officer in charge of her protection gets real picky about the details.” The other, more stoic, pegasi guard saluted and flew off toward Ponyville. They were all such strong fliers, had the princess sent them to compensate, since she wasn’t?

Cerulean helped Fluttershy put away the baskets and bowls she had laid down for the animals to get their food, then insisted on carrying the bowls she needed to feed the animals in her care that couldn’t get their own food just yet. They went along and fed all the animals inside her cabin and were halfway through the ones outside when they noticed the silence of the forest around them. The animals in her care were quiet because they were eating their food, or resting, but there were few reasons for the birds singing their songs to go quiet.

Cerulean set down the bowls of fruits, berries and grain and started scanning the tree line, her wings ready to spring the spear on her side to bear. The pegasus on patrol had not come back with any news of the wolf coming toward them, they hadn’t seen him at all for a while, actually. Fluttershy retreated from the tree line, urging for Cerulean to do the same. If Twilight’s description of the wolf’s size was correct, then he could easily leap from the edge of the trees to where they had been standing. The added distance would only give them a second or two more seconds to react, but Fluttershy hoped Cerulean was fast enough. She knew she wouldn’t be, if it came to that.

Fluttershy was the first to see the pair of yellow eyes looking at them from the shadow of a tree. The shadows seemed to cling to the wolf’s large frame, making his shaggy fur look like a dense bush, or a boulder as he stood there, quiet and still. She pointed the great wolf to her guard and this time Cerulean motioned for her to back away. Had Fenrir surprised the other guard in the middle of his patrol, or was the pegasus, whose name Fluttershy didn’t even know, still patrolling the perimeter? Cerulean readied her spear and started hovering in place, not taking her eyes of the dangerous beast.

The great wolf called Fenrir stepped out of the shadows and walked out into the light, just at the edge of the clearing around her cabin. He was even bigger than she had thought from Twilight’s description, his ears nearly touching the foliage of the large tree he had been leaning against a moment ago. His fur might have been grey only a little more than a day before, but now it was a matted mess of bright crimson and dark brown. The blood of the dragon he had killed had drenched him and dried to cover his whole frame, the only place that was not a dark shade of red or brown were his teeth, still white and sharp, even after tearing through a dragon.

Cerulean rose higher into the air in response to Fenrir’s approach and the wolf did not let the flying pegasus out of his sight. Fluttershy couldn’t stop staring at the terrifying beast and wondering what possible reason it could have coming to her cabin, when he’d avoided the ponies searching for him so far. When she could tear her eyes away from his gleaming fangs and yellow eyes, she started noticing things under the fresh coat of drying blood. Things like how he was limping his right back paw and how there was a steady stream of blood dripping on the ground from his torso.

“Uhm, did you come here because you’re hurt?” Fluttershy asked, trying to get herself to speak in a volume the wolf could discern. The wolf’s ears swiveled toward her and his yellow eyes locked with her green ones.

“It’s just that Twi- Twilight said you know about me and what I- What I do and uhm… you seem to be hu- hurt…” Fenrir stared into her eyes for a moment that felt like it stretched on forever, but couldn’t be more than a few seconds. There was definitely a predator in those eyes, but Twilight said he was intelligent and had tried coming to her for help before. As strong as the great wolf was, fighting a dragon unscathed was a near impossibility and by the steadily growing pool of fresh blood on the ground beneath him the grey wolf was crimson from his own blood as well.

Fenrir’s eyes flicked toward Cerulean brandishing her spear in the air and then returned to Fluttershy. She heard a low growl from the wolf and imagined what it must look like to the wounded animal; one pony offering help while another points a weapon at a bleeding and tired wolf as intelligent as a pony, it looked nothing but a trap.

“Cell, could you, uhm, put your spear away? He’s not here to hurt us.” Fluttershy asked timidly, she couldn’t be sure, but it didn’t make sense for a wounded predator to seek out prey that could and would fight back, especially after fighting and probably eating something as big as a dragon.

“If this guy is as smart as your purple friend says, then he better convince me by his own words.” Cerulean rationally suggested and kept her spear poised to strike. Fenrir let out a bark at her comment, but there was no way to know if he was annoyed by the mare’s distrust or by the flying thing with a stick talking. How could Fluttershy explain that the mere fact that Fenrir had come to her spoke for the fact he was still intelligent, or at least that he needed help?

“He’s hurt and came to me for help.” Fluttershy said and took a tentative step toward Fenrir. He glanced at her, but continued watching the armed pegasus instead of her. Fluttershy took this as a good sign and took another step toward the bleeding beast. Cerulean saw her getting closer to Fenrir and dropped down in front of Fluttershy, stopping her with an extended wing.

“Are you insane, stay back!” Fenrir let out an aggressive bark and leapt the half of the way to them at the armored mare’s sudden movement. He wasn’t able to bite, or slam, or claw at the mare, as he was stopped by another form in golden armor slamming into the side of his head. It was the other male pegasus she didn’t know the name of, or could it be the one that went to inform Twilight Sparkle? It was hard to tell with their armors making them look nearly identical. Fenrir barked and snapped at the guard, but didn’t move his paws, or flex his muscles to leap at the flying target. How were they not seeing that he did not want to hurt them?

“Stop! He thought you were going to take me away! He’s hurt, can’t you see that!?” Cerulean still kept retreating away from the seemingly ferocious beast glaring at them, forcing Fluttershy along. Were they really unable to see that the fact he hadn’t pressed his attack, or ran away yet only proved that he was there to get help? It didn’t matter how hurt he was, an animal did not lie down when there were those that would harm it near. Cerulean Wind glanced back at Fluttershy’s frantic expression and stopped retreating, unsure about the situation.

Fenrir was suddenly struck with a bolt of arcane energy, fired by somepony behind them. She heard the clopping of several hooves behind her and more bolts of arcane energy hit Fenrir’s chest, making him stumble back and put weight onto his injured leg. Fluttershy averted her eyes from the spurt of blood this strain caused, but all the pegasi and unicorn guards only concentrated on his bloodied appearance and the ferocious snarl he let out as he charged the unicorns that hurt him.

“Stop!” Fluttershy tried to fly between the bloodied wolf and what she presumed to be Twilight Sparkle’s three appointed guards, but Cerulean kept her back. Fenrir leapt past them and grabbed a piece of Fluttershy’s cabin’s earthy roof in his jaws and then flexed his neck to throw a shower of dirt at the unicorns. Their arcane bolts and spheres of arcane energy exploded when coming into contact with it and left all the ponies present blinded by the lightshow it caused.

Fluttershy didn’t know if the wolf tried to lunge at the unicorns before an even brighter flash of light cut off his snarl and she could feel something heavy fall to the ground near her. Fluttershy blinked and rubbed her eyes to see what had happened and saw Twilight Sparkle standing behind the three unicorns still trying to clear their vision with her horn still smoking from the arcane energy it just channeled.

Fluttershy hit Cerulean in the jaw with a hoof and tried flying over to Fenrir to see if he was still alive, but Twilight teleported to her before she could reach him. She couldn’t tell if his side was moving this far away.

“Fluttershy, are you okay? Fenrir didn’t hurt you, or –“

“Hurt me?!” Fluttershy screamed as she felt anger rise up in her. “You just beat down an animal covered in blood and bleeding without any thought that it might kill him, but yes, I’m JUST FINE!”

“But, Fluttershy –“ Twilight stammered, looking horrified at the fact she wasn’t thanking her for hitting a living, breathing and thinking thing until it couldn’t move anymore.

“No, shut up, Twilight! If you’re not going to help me heal him, then you can just GET THE BUCK OUT!” Fluttershy turned toward the other unicorns. “Anypony who has experience in stitching wounds can stay. I’ll need a unicorn to stitch his wounds fast enough.” Her voice had lost all apprehension and hammered out orders in a way that made the guards stand a little straighter.

Fluttershy trotted over to Fenrir and went straight up to his head, making the guards flinch a little at her taking such a risk. Thank Celestia Fenrir was still breathing. She didn’t think she could have forgiven Twilight if the wolf had died.

“I’ll go get my suturing kit; one pegasus will go to town and get the vet here.” She turned back to look at the stunned faces of the guards and Twilight Sparkle. “NOW!”

Cerulean Wind herself jetted off in the sky, only fractionally slower than Rainbow Dash would have. Fluttershy rushed into her house to get the things she needed to help the beast that had come to her for help.

Fenrir's thoughts are simplified statements for a reason, since he's more or less a beast with some aspects of a human mind at that point, so any introspection or doubts or thoughts were left out for a reason, just saying. Also, I hate writing Zecora with a passion of a thousand suns right now. Damn her and her rhyming...

Masks and Small Lies

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Masks and Small Lies

”No!” Fenrir snapped back into the land of the living as he heard a mare scream their opposition to some idea. He had jerked a little as he woke up and his body groaned in response, every inch of him felt sore and feverish. He could still feel his gargantuan wolf body, so it wasn’t like he was waking up from a night of getting drunk with a headache. He decided to just lay there and see if whoever had woken him explained their opinion further.

“You are not putting him in a cage! He’s hurt and you would open his stitches if you tried moving him!” A voice he finally recognized as the meek caretaker of Ponyville’s hurt little animals, Fluttershy, shouted out. They were definitely talking about him, since he really did feel like he was hurt everywhere and he had done something to have the ponies suspect him enough to go to such lengths as cages and chains. His memory wasn’t the clearest of his time hunting, but he was sure he had killed and eaten more than a few things. He was pretty sure he hadn’t killed any ponies, though. For now he was content on laying there and listening to some silly pony arguing with Fluttershy. He didn’t care how hurt he felt, if this other pony even hinted at hurting Fluttershy, then he would find out just how fast his body could move.

“It’s a dangerous animal and needs to be put in a cage! It attacked me and my stallions, while we were stopping it from eating you, mind you!” A stallion argued back, sounding frustrated by the kind mare’s naivety.

“He only attacked because you attacked him first! You don’t attack a hurt animal and expect it to just take it lying down!” Oh, Fluttershy is best pony, and not only because she was defending him for something he honestly did not remember doing.

“Your innocent little animal is drenched in blood and almost as big as your house! Now get out of our way and let us do our job.” There was finality in his tone Fenrir really didn’t like and how he said it suggested that Fluttershy was standing between him and whoever the stallion was. He opened his eyes and saw a stallion in a guard’s uniform trying to push Fluttershy out of his way. He was going to tell the stallion to calm down and seriously reconsider laying a hoof on Fluttershy, but a low growl escaped his throat instead. It did get the point across, but not in as many words as he’d hoped. The unicorn guard tried to push Fluttershy aside, but to his surprise she rushed to Fenrir instead.

“Oh, you shouldn’t get up yet, you’ll pull your stitches and I don’t know if you can take losing any more blood.” The yellow pegasus mare whispered in a voice he found himself listening intently at. So, that’s why she’s so good at talking to animals, she lets them listen instead of making them. He would have smiled at the realization if there wasn’t a chance that it would get him a spear between the ribs. The pegasi guards hovering around him looked more than ready to use their spears and he didn’t want to test them. He decided that nodding his head was enough to signal that he was lucid.

“Do not make any sudden movements, beast! We will not hesitate to subdue you!” The same unicorn guard stated, staying at a safe distance from him. If he really was drenched in blood, as the pony had suggested, then this was a very rational thing to do. Again, he tried to tease the colt for staying at a safe distance, but could only get a growl and a strangled bark out. Twilight Sparkle’s spell had worn off, it seemed. His body ached everywhere, he had lost the ability to speak and to top it all off he was surrounded by armed ponies more than ready to kill him. The day was not starting out very well, that was for sure.

“Please, Fluttershy, don’t get so close to him.” The unmistakable voice of Twilight Sparkle pleaded. She had every reason to be suspicious of him, but it still hurt a little to hear the fear in the studious mare’s voice. He would have moved his head to see the mare, but the spears the pegasi were brandishing looked sharp and long enough to do some real damage. Right now he had no other choice than lay there and see how things worked out. He could hear Fluttershy moving around him, probably checking his stitches, as she had been worried about them before.

“He’s not going to hurt me, are you now?” The question was rhetorical and Fenrir couldn’t answer it even if it wasn’t. He flicked his tail in a response, just for the joy of actually having a tail. Twilight Sparkle tentatively trotted into his field of vision, flanked by two other unicorn guards and the rude guard from before. The guards glared at him with hostility, but Twilight Sparkle looked unsure and couldn’t quite meet his eyes. How was he supposed to let her know about the translation spell wearing off, when he couldn’t move his body without getting skewered?

“Fenrir, I’m sorry about… you know, hurting you and…” Twilight Sparkle said, with the other unicorns doubling their efforts on looking threatening. They were not that successful, since they were tiny compared to him, even with him on lying on the ground on his side. He couldn’t have grown even bigger, could he? He observed Twilight’s adorkable mannerisms for a moment that stretched on into a full minute, with Twilight getting more and more uncomfortable with every passing second. As studious as she was, she really couldn’t take a hint that well, it seemed.

“It is useless to talk to the beast; clearly it lacks the mental capacity to formulate an answer. The only reason it isn’t trying to attack us is the pegasi’s spears aimed at its throat, Miss Sparkle.” The increasingly insufferable guard pointed out, flicking a hoof in his direction. He felt a little sad about the fact that he wasn’t close enough to bite his hoof off. He growled at the stallion, on purpose this time, and both he and the ponies present were surprised by its volume. He had to grin as the annoying guard flinched back, when Twilight Sparkle stood her ground.

“Oh, uhm, lieutenant, I think it’s not a good idea to insult him… even if he isn’t hungry right now.” Fluttershy said, hovering right next to his right ear. Her voice did not make him flinch, or react in any way, even if he hadn’t known that she was there. The usefulness of her special talent was becoming more and more apparent the more time he spent with her. “Attacking you might open his stitches, after all.”

Fenrir couldn’t hold back a single bark of laughter and everypony present flinched at the sudden loud noise. The pegasi raised their spears and he could see at least one unicorn’s horn glowing. He really had to get Twilight to redo the spell that allowed him to speak, and then he’d at least have a chance at moving without being stabbed. The staring of Twilight Sparkle continued, but it was starting to look like her mind didn’t work any better when intensely uncomfortable, so he just closed his eyes.

“I really don’t like that Princess Celestia sent all of you to guard us without any kind of explanation either, Valor, but Fenrir was literate and intelligent before his sudden decline. I believe it is in everypony’s best interest that we get to the bottom of his breakdown, so I suggest you try and resist the urge to antagonize him in the future.” Twilight Sparkle berated the snide lieutenant and Fenrir couldn’t help but feel grateful. Even after all he’d done and the tragedy he had so narrowly avoided, these ponies were ready to give him a chance.

“Hush now, you don’t need to pay them any attention, Fenrir. You can go to sleep, you’ll need to rest to get all better.” Fluttershy whispered into his ear and then he felt her hoof at a very specific spot behind his ear and pure, undiluted peace flowed into his mind. No wonder dogs loved being scratched there, it was awesome! Fluttershy kept murmuring words into his ear, but he really didn’t care what she was saying, his mind was already floating on a peaceful cloud of serenity. He could feel his body relaxing and his breathing shifting into a stable rhythm.

He wouldn’t mind if he woke up in a cage. It was only smart to be cautious around him, the way he was now. He would just explain himself and plead to the ponies’ good nature; they had already proven they had plenty of that.

Rarity

“Please, Miss Rarity, I urge you to reconsider. It is not safe, nor is it strategically sound, to put so many of the Elements in one place.” Regal Poise pleaded as Rarity was gathering things Fluttershy could need while taking care of a huge wolf into her saddlebags. She was not sure of what Fluttershy had on hand at her home/animal shelter, but she was pretty sure the gargantuan wolf was out of her league, per se. She grabbed the shampoo she used to wash Opal on the rare occasions the fussy cat got too excited chasing something to care about the condition of her fur. She had quite a lot of it, but she doubted it would be enough to wash this “Fenrir” in his entirety, but it could help with the tough spots.

“Oh, hush now, Regal dear, one of my oldest friends might need my help with her passion and another one is probably a nervous wreck by now. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t even offer to help them?”

“A smart one? Both Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle have their guards with them, so there are more than enough ponies already there that can help.” The well-mannered colt still levitated the saddlebags on his own haunches after Rarity was done packing them, despite his opinion. The other two unicorn guards were patrolling the perimeter, or staring in the direction of Fluttershy’s cabin, whichever you preferred. They all knew where Fenrir was; a pegasi messenger had stormed in and told them in no uncertain terms that Fenrir had been subdued in the vicinity of Fluttershy’s cabin.

“Oh, I know that, but the both of them can just forget themselves when it comes to the things they are passionate about. I would hate to see my friends fighting each other for something silly that this “Fenrir” character brought about.” Rarity specified as she made her way through her boutique, Regal Poise following close behind with her saddlebags. His two subordinates fell in formation behind him as they left the boutique. They were stoic stallions and hadn’t even offered their names when Regal Poise introduced himself. She could appreciate professionalism, but they could at least be civil about it.

“Steel, keep a lookout for those three fillies, this seems like the thing they would tag along on. I would rather not deal with them when we don’t know if Fenrir is dangerous or not.” Regal commanded the unicorn walking to his right, seemingly called Steel, and he trotted off to the side. Regal noticed her curious look and gave a small apologetic smile before elaborating. “I’ve read reports of them getting into trouble in similar situations. Our presence alone proves that Fenrir is not someone to be meddled with, especially by deluded children.”

“I agree completely, Sweetie Belle gets into way too much trouble for her own good. I can’t even imagine how my mother deals with her, when she gets into so much trouble just when I look after her.” Rarity commented on her sister’s ill-behaved antics, deciding to ignore Regal’s comment about her sister being deluded. The three fillies did call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders, so there might have been some truth to it. “So, you know who this “Fenrir” character is, since you were ordered to protect us from of him?”

“I’ve just heard the name once before, to be honest…” Regal said, clearly avoiding the issue, perhaps not wanting to speculate on his Princesses’ orders. Rarity fell back to take the place of the other unicorn at his right side and gave him an inquisitive look. He looked at her for a moment before sighing, resigned to his fate. She could always order him to tell her, so why not?

“I happened to stumble on the name while we were trained in the use of spells in taming wild beasts, they used the way ponies of old had tamed Cerberus to guard the gates of Tartarus with an enchanted collar as an example. Fenrir’s name only came up in the list of beasts supposedly locked beyond the gates. I don’t know if there’s an actual connection to this Fenrir, but the one in Tartarus was described as a gargantuan wolf as well.”

“So Princess Celestia sent you to guard the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, in case this Fenrir was the same as that Fenrir? From what I’ve heard he’s more intimidating than actually dangerous. Rainbow Dash was only talking about the way he refused to use her real name, she didn’t even mention being frightened by him.” Rarity didn’t think that Rainbow Dash would not notice a potential threat to her friends, being the bearer of the Element of Loyalty and all.

“Yes, but if this is the Fenrir from the myths, then we have to be even more careful.” Regal pondered, ever the strategist. Rarity had just met the unicorn the following day, but it had become apparent that he loved his little war-games and had let some obscure references to military maneuvers slip into his speech at first. She had a feeling he’d toned it down when he realized Rarity wasn’t particularly impressed, nor did she have any idea what he was talking about.

“Halt!” Rarity and Regal both turned toward the voice and saw the unicorn Regal had ordered to watch out for the CMC shouting at a suspiciously animated bush, looked like he had been right about the CMC trying to tag along. The stern unicorn guard chased off the CMC and Rarity and Regal kept on walking. Rarity, Regal and the other still nameless guard walked toward Fluttershy’s cabin in the warm afternoon. Regal kept pace with Rarity and the stoic guard decided to fall back behind them. Either the other unicorn was still chasing the CMC, or had decided to escort them under adult supervision, since he hadn’t caught up yet.

“Oh my…” Rarity breathed out as they walked over the little bridge leading to Fluttershy’s cabin and Fenrir’s sleeping form came in sight. He was absolutely humongous, even bigger than she had thought him to be from Rainbow Dash’s exaggerated tales of meeting him. Even his head was bigger than a normal pony and he just lay there, sleeping in front of Fluttershy’s cabin while Fluttershy and Twilight argued with three unicorn guards in hushed tones.

“He attacked us, Miss Sparkle, or have you forgotten that little tidbit of information?” One of the unicorn guards argued, sounding rather annoyed. Regal had explained that the armor was what changed their appearance to seem more uniform. Rarity would have thought that the golden armor was distinctive enough, but Regal went into a ten minute tirade about how the armor was easy to copy, but the enchantment on it was from Celestia herself. It would transmute into lead if any other pony tried wearing it, so it was nearly impossible for aggressors to pass themselves off as guards at important events and gain access into restricted areas.

“This animal is in my protection. He. Stays. Here.” Fluttershy didn’t raise her voice from her usual meek tone, but her eyes bored right into the poor guard. It was not the infamous Stare, but her calm tone and confident words were even more unnerving. Rarity felt a little proud that Fluttershy had found something she was prepared to fight so fiercely for, but the nervous unicorn guard did have a point.

“Hello, Fluttershy dear, whatever seems to be the problem here?” Rarity stepped in right between the guard and Fluttershy. Fluttershy retreated back into her mane just a little bit and the guard stood a little straighter as he had another mare to convince. Regal Poise trotted right past the argument and went to take a closer look at Fenrir’s sleeping form.

“The problem is the giant predator the Element of Kindness insists on coddling! The beast attacked my stallions and had enough sense to use our own attacks against us. There should be no doubt it is a dangerous monster to be locked away, as it should be!” Rarity quirked an eyebrow at his statement and turned to Fluttershy for her two bits. She gave Rarity a determined look and it was enough for Rarity to cast the guard’s testimony in question. She turned to the colt with her best “I am on your side, valiant hero” look on her face.

“Oh my, how dreadful indeed, being attacked by this monster. You must have been scared…” Rarity cooed at the stallion. He gave her a quizzical look, but then puffed out his chest regardless.

“Well, it’s my duty to protect and serve. I couldn’t just let that beast do as it wished, could I?” The guard said, shining a hoof on his breastplate.

“Yes, and I’m sure you did everything you could to defuse the situation peacefully. It would have been completely idiotic to attack Fenrir completely unprovoked. I’m sure you wouldn’t have endangered the lives of your subordinates and two bearers of the elements, just because the poor dear looked intimidating, riiight?” Rarity kept her tone light and seemingly oblivious. The proud smile faded from the guard’s face as she spoke and when she turned to look the guard in the eye, she was absolutely certain that was exactly what had happened. She might not have been the Element of Honesty, but she had an eye for detail few ponies could match. The abrasive guard had flopped his ears back and hung his neck submissively.

“Now, ladies, leave my brother alone. I’m certain there is a solution that will satisfy every party.” Regal Poise trotted over and removed his helmet, revealing that he was an earthy brown unicorn with brown eyes, but with a mane and tail as blonde as Blueblood. His coat and tail changed as well, while Celestia’s enchantment washed out like a bad dye job in the rain. “Come on, Valor, take off your helmet, so we can solve this like adults.”

“I still think that beast is a menace…” Valor muttered as his helmet levitated off of his head. His coloring was a stark opposite to his brother, light grey coat and striking fair orange eyes, but a dark brown mane and tail. He sat down on his haunches and Regal Poise trotted over next to him and did the same. The contrast was rather apparent when they were sitting next to each other like that.

“Now, Miss Fluttershy, Your main issue is that moving Fenrir at this point in time would have the risk of opening his stitches and causing him to bleed out the blood that’s not covering him already, correct?” Regal Poise asked the timid mare in a soft tone. Rarity balked and glanced back at the dirty wolf and noticed that what she had thought to be mud was a little too red where the sun shone through his fur. What the hell had Fenrir done to get himself in such a condition? Fluttershy nodded in response to the observant stallion.

“We have 5 highly-trained unicorns straight from her majesty’s royal guard, I believe I saw the Element of Magic brooding over there and we have the esteemed lady Rarity. We have more than enough unicorns and sharp minds to figure out a way past that little problem.” Regal Poise spread his hooves to invite anyone to prove him wrong. Fluttershy nodded, but still glanced at Fenrir’s sleeping form worriedly.

“Our problem is the fact that Fenrir could be aggressive, even if he isn’t, we will have to prepare for that possibility. It is to ensure our safety and ultimately his, as well. You saw how easy it is to misinterpret the movements of such a big predator.” Regal waved a hoof in his brother’s direction and the lighter colt wilted a little more. “If his movements were to be limited, or if there was a sturdy set of bars between us and him, it would be drastically less likely for something like the tragedy earlier to happen, without him inciting it. Does that sound something you could agree with, Miss Fluttershy?”

“I suppose… I think it would be okay, but shouldn’t we ask him?” Fluttershy suggested, raising a hoof to bring attention to her quiet words.

“We don’t ask a possible aggressor if he wants to be detained!” Valor huffed indignantly and sprang back up from looking dejected. Regal gave him a look, but then tilted his head and made a motion with his hoof.

“Well, it’s just a precaution, but it would be redundant to ask him, since he can’t refuse.” Regal explained in a calmer tone, reaching out a hoof to sit his brother down. “Valor here is an expert in barrier spells, taught by Shining Armor himself, among others. If there’s a spell that will keep our large friend at bay, he will know it.” Rarity raised a brow at this, but then realized it made sense to have an expert in magic be the one protecting Twilight Sparkle, him knowing the mare's brother didn’t hurt either.

She glanced at the pegasi in charge of guarding Fluttershy and noticed that one had a squirrel on their flank and was speaking softly to Fluttershy’s antisocial pet rabbit. The one in charge of Fluttershy’s guard was good with animals, as she had expected. Her own guard was intelligent and was a near perfect diplomat. She was ready to bet her mane and tail on the fact that Rainbow Dash’s guard officer could keep up with her and that Applejack’s guards were all earth ponies and all as strong as her brother. She couldn’t even start imagining what Pinkie Pie’s guards were like. It was becoming more and more apparent that their guards had been picked especially to guard them.

“So, Valor, you think you can make a barrier strong enough to keep him in place if we move him into more open ground?” Regal asked his brother, his hoof still resting on his shoulder. Valor gave it a disapproving glance and only answered after Regal removed it.

“Normally I would say we would need more unicorns for such a spell, but with the Element of both Magic and Generosity, along with the two of us, I think we’ll manage. Moving him without causing him harm won’t be a problem either, since I know a sustainable stasis spell that will keep him still while we levitate him.” Valor levitated his helmet back on his head and he turned into the white coated and blue-eyed stallion every single guard looked like. “Now let’s do this before her Majesty arrives.”

“Wait, The Princess is coming here?” Rarity gasped and Regal put his helmet back on and was indistinguishable from his brother again.

“Probably, we were sent to make sure you girls were safe and Princess Celestia was planning on dealing with Fenrir, but now he’s here and you’re still safe. This whole thing is one confusing mess if viewed from an operational point of view. We were actually forced out of our beds as soon as Celestia got the letter telling her about Fenrir. We were told to choose two trusted guards to accompany us and then wait for further orders. Yet we were only sent here the following morning, by Princess Luna.” Regal started trotting over to Fluttershy’s cabin, tossing his head side to side to get his helmet to sit right. His white coat flickered as his horn rattled against the golden helmet.

Twilight Sparkle

She should have known better, she really should have realized that Fluttershy could have handled Fenrir. She should have trusted her friend enough to listen to her when it came to calming an animal. Fluttershy was the Element of Kindness and it was a proven fact that her gift could calm rampaging beasts. The only difference between the manticore they had all charged back when Nightmare Moon had returned was that Fenrir was a little bigger and was hurt more seriously than a thorn in a paw. She was the Element of Magic, she should have learned to trust in Fluttershy’s judgment, but she still followed the impulse to attack the scary monster in front of her.

“Now Fluttershy hates me… She’ll never forgive me.” Twlight muttered out loud, feeling the need to hammer this fact in deep enough for her to never forget it. She was supposed to be learning about the magic of friendship, but had disregarded one of the first lessons she’d learned about it when she had needed it most. Fluttershy was right to be furious at her, she’d gone against everything the yellow pegasus stood for, just because Fenrir had looked scary as he defended himself. The whole thing with Zecora should have taught her not to jump into conclusions over appearances, but here she was; Fenrir still unconscious and her friend still avoiding her.

“Hello there, Miss Twilight Sparkle.” A stallion’s voice sung out merrily, scaring her half to death. She had been sitting at the back of Fluttershy’s cabin, Fenrir’s breathing had been the only thing to break the silence, but this stallion was now suddenly right in front of her and offering a hoof. He was wearing the enchanted armor royal guards wore and she didn’t know who this pony was. At least it didn’t sound like Valor, so she knew that much. “My name is Regal Poise, I am the guard in charge of keeping your friend Rarity safe.”

“Nice to meet you…” Twilight was able to say, even though she just felt like curling up and letting the earth swallow her. She was a failure at everything she had thought to be an expert in. Even the stallion’s smile was faltering in the presence of such a failure. She was such a failure that she even depressed the stone-faced royal guards. The world just loved reminding her of her faults, as it should.

“I think the embodiment of Kindness is physically incapable of hating somepony for very long.” Twilight looked up to the stallion called Regal and felt a small sense of comfort in the stallion’s compassionate smile. Of course Rarity’s guard would be a smooth talker; it made a frightening amount of sense, since her guard was as much of a geek as her, at least when it came to magic. Twilight grabbed the offered hoof and allowed the stallion to pull her back on her feet. “We would like your help with moving and detaining Fenrir, before Princess Celestia –“

Regal Poise paused in mid-sentence as Fenrir suddenly snorted in his sleep and jerked awake. He raised his head up and his ears swiveled around, like he was checking on a noise he had heard. All the ponies present were holding their breaths without noticing it and took a collective step back as Fenrir opened his jaw wide to yawn. He then proceeded to smack his lips and stare out into the distance, blinking slowly. Fluttershy flew over to hover right in front of his face and it took a few moments for him to focus on the Pegasus.

“Uhm, it would be nice if you could move over to a more open area. I know your leg is hurt, but inconveniencing all these nice ponies… you know… It would be… nice…” Fluttershy tapped her hooves together in the air as she talked and Twilight was uncomfortably aware of the glint of fangs between Fenrir’s lips at seeing Fluttershy do this. It might have been that he thought it was endearing, or that he found it aggravating, there was no way to know. He glanced at the three pegasi pointing spears at him meaningfully and then motioned toward them with his head to convey the message. Fluttershy’s ears perked back up at the realization and she turned to the mare in charge of her protection. “Cell, give him some room, so he can move.”

Fenrir raised a paw toward Fluttershy to silence her before she could start apologizing for asking him to move around wounded. He twisted his torso to get his front paws under him and then carefully supported his weight on his left hind leg, the one not bandaged by Fluttershy. He limped over to the clearing next to Fluttershy’s cabin and sat back down. Leaning his head on his paws and looking at them groggily.

“Okay, he’s not feral. He’s still not talking, though…” Regal pondered as he rubbed his chin with a hoof. “Didn’t you use a spell on him the first time? He’s big and possibly a mythological beast, so it could have worn off.” Twilight slapped her forehead with a hoof at the realization. The spell wearing off would explain the uncomforting stares Fenrir had directed at her before, as well. He was trying to have her redo the spell without getting skewered by the militant pegasi.

“Fenrir, I’ll redo the spell! Guards, he’ll probably jerk and rub at his head, so don’t do anything.” Twilight Sparkle had some of her energy back as she hurried close enough to the giant wolf rolling his eyes for the spell to work. She had studied translation spells after she’d botched up the one she tried at Sweet Apple Acres. It would be in Fenrir’s best interest to not sound like he was growling out each sentence if he would go under royal scrutiny.

Regal and Valor stood at her sides, their horns glowing in case Fenrir flipped from her spell. She closed her eyes and focused on remembering the formula of the spell and channeling the energy in her into the form she wanted, letting the latent magic around her to fill in the rest, since this spell was more powerful than the one she’d used earlier. She felt the energy build up and saw the spell taking the correct form as the glow of her horn intensified, finally there was a flash and Fenrir grunted as the magic hit him again. She opened her eyes to see Fenrir scratching at his ears with a paw again.

“Il vous a fallu assez longtemps...” Fenrir paused and looked at the incredulous faces around him. It sounded like he was speaking in Fancé, instead of the standard Equestrian he’d spoken with the previous spell. He sounded like Fluttershy during the whole fiasco with a certain blue flower, just fractionally deeper and gruffer. “Non, je refuse d'avoir toute ressemblance avec une moufette misogyne. Résolviez ce problème.”

“Okay, I might know what went wrong here. Allow me, Twilight Sparkle.” Valor said as he stepped forth with his horn glowing brighter. He didn’t charge his spell nearly as long as Twilight had and Fenrir didn’t see the need to rub his ears either. “I tweaked the spell you used on him a little, let’s see if it worked.”

“Ma poti intelege acum...” He was definitely speaking a language, but nopony knew what he was saying. At least his voice was less gruff now. “De fapt, ma pot intelege pe nime acum. Nu te mai prostii, Ponei Magic Mov."

“Okay, you foals stay back and let the professional handle this. I don’t work in PR by chance, you know.” Regal Poise gloated and stepped up to shoot Fenrir with another flash of light. “There, that should fix it.”

“Tämä vitsi alkaa käydä aika helvetin vanhaksi…” Fenrir leveled a poisonous look at Regal for the nonsense he was speaking. Regal furrowed a brow and sat down on his haunches to ponder what could have went wrong, seemingly not fazed by the huge carnivore glaring at him. “Vannon Celestian, Lunan ja kaikkien mahdollisten jumal-olentojen kautta; jos en ala puhua englantia viiden minuutin sisään, niin tulee ruumiita.”

Twilight thought the fact Fenrir was able to call Celestia and Luna by name an improvement, but none of them could not understand a word he said. She didn’t know what could have gone wrong with the spell; she had thought to have cast it perfectly. Could it be the possible fact Fenrir was a mythological creature that tampered with the results of the spell?

“I’d hate to interrupt, but did you take the earlier spell into account?” Rarity stepped up next to Regal. Regal looked at Twilight in turn and she shook her head, it hadn’t seemed to be relevant, since it had clearly worn off. “It just seems to me the spell translating his thoughts into words is only getting stronger each time you do something to it, since he’s speaking in languages he doesn’t seem to know. Maybe there was enough of the old spell there to upset the first one and you’d been making it progressively worse?”

“Tuo kuulostaa järkevältä, kuunnelkaa Raritya. Antakaa mennä, sarvet loistamaan!” Fenrir motioned to them and then to himself excitedly. They had no idea what he was saying, but they did hear Rarity’s name being mentioned and he had sat up a little straighter at her words. They glanced at each other and ultimately Regal just shrugged and set onto tweaking the spell with Rarity’s suggestion in mind, since he was the expert in these kinds of spells.

“I have newfound respect for you, Lady Rarity. You have my sincerest gratitude for curing me of that affliction of moonspeak.” Fenrir sounded as much of a wolf growling out lines as before, but now he could call them by name, at least. He raised a paw and gave it a lick, then grimaced at the taste. “I seem to have found my form obscured by a generous coating of blood and gore. The pegasi pointing spears at me are starting to actually make sense now… Anyway I could clean myself up somewhere?”

“Your visage is rather unbecoming for seeing royalty, I must admit. Fluttershy, isn’t there a river near us?” Rarity said, only a hint of apprehension in her voice. Fenrir’s eloquent way of speaking must have settled some of her fear of the big wolf, but his voice and size were still unsettling. The pegasi and unicorn guards didn’t seem to know how to react to the rabid beast that had killed a dragon suddenly speaking like an aristocrat.

“Yes, I think I see it, actually. I should wash myself downstream from your home, though. Predators might be attracted by the lingering scent of blood.” Twilight didn’t like how Fenrir was just ignoring the fact he’d gone feral and that the mere mention of his name called for Celestia to send her elite guard to watch over her and her friends. He seemed to be normal enough, but he’d been normal just before snapping and turning into a snarling beast. Regal or Valor backed away with Twilight and Rarity with their horns glowing at the ready as the wolf limped past them, ignoring the pegasi and their spears. He was calm and had only wished to wash off the blood on him, Cerulean Wind saw no reason to attack him.

“So, Fenrir, how does such a big and accomplished hunter find himself at a place like Ponyville?” Rarity asked, voicing the question Twilight Sparkle had been thinking about from the moment she’d met him, just like that. Fenrir ignored the white mare and focused on easing his body into the water instead. Rarity levitated a floor brush out of the saddle bags Regal had been carrying and waited for him to surface from the river before starting to scrub off the dried blood.

“Thank you; there would have been a lot of soaking and gnawing at my own fur ahead of me if you weren’t so generous.” Rarity waved the thank you off with a hoof as she ran her brush forcefully through his fur. “To answer your question, I’m perplexed by how you’ve accomplished so much, being what you are.“

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked as she flew over with another brush. Fenrir stood up in the river to let the Pegasus get at his sides. The river was running red downstream from him and most of his fur was still dyed a dark red. Why weren’t her friends more freaked out that Fenrir was someone who could slaughter a dragon, basically swim in his blood and guts and then be joking with them only hours after the act? He was a cold-blooded killer; he didn’t see any value in anypony’s life and was perfectly fine eating living, breathing things.

“You are herbivores; you are weak things that munch on plants and pretty flowers. I was taught that your kind could only run and hide from things like me, but you’ve proven me wrong. Yet you are still willing to hear me out after I tore a dragon to shreds and ate its heart.” Fenrir looked all of them in the eye with his piercing yellow eyes and Twilight swore she saw malicious joy at what he’d done in those eyes. He was playing with their kindness and Twilight was stunned that nopony else was seeing it. Fluttershy looked like she wasn’t listening and Rarity seemed too concentrated on scrubbing the blood out of Fenrir’s fur to pay attention to his words. He didn’t have to tell them how he’d torn through the dragon, but had done it just to see their reaction.

“I am a monster to you, I expect you to shun me and instead you forgive me for succumbing to my very nature. There is a power in that I can’t help but admire, this Harmony you preach so vehemently.” Fenrir growled out the last words of his motivational speech, skillfully avoiding answering Rarity’s question directly. She was suspicious of his motives and the amount of control he had over his nature, but should she be even more suspicious of him if he admitted to his nature and inherent cruelty? He was being very open with what he’d done and she didn’t know if she should be concerned by the fact he felt no shame about it, or not.

“FENRIR!” A powerful feminine voice boomed out, along with a brilliant flash of light. Twilight Sparkle knew who it was before turning around because the mare had done the same thing with her after another fiasco involving a ragged doll. All the guards present, excluding the pegasi keeping a watchful eye on Fenrir, turned to their monarch and saluted rigidly. Celestia nodded slightly for them to carry on before addressing the great wolf again. “What are you doing among my little ponies, vile beast?”

“Now, now, Celestia, let’s not forget our manners.” Fenrir growled out in his casual tone, like he wasn’t talking to the supreme ruler of the land he was in, but rather an old friend. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Avatar of the Sun and Queen of Light, Celestia. Or do you go by a different name these days?”

Celestia took an involuntary step back at the wolf’s words; she looked surprised by Fenrir’s answer, even though she had asked the question. Twilight had read old scriptures where Celestia had been addressed by those titles, so did this mean Fenrir really was the great wolf from legends? Celestia eyed the ponies all around them and the guards staring intently at Fenrir before speaking. “Leave us.”

“Princess Celestia, he has shown clear signs of aggression, I cannot leave you unguarded in good conscience.” Regal Poise pleaded the Princess, bowing deeply. Celestia regarded him with only a glance before answering.

“That was an order, Regal Poise. Leave me and Fenrir to settle this, all of you.” Celestia ordered in a tone Twilight had heard her use only a few times, the Princess of the sun and the highest authority in the land rarely lost her temper, after all. Fenrir grinned at the monarch and rose to his feet when the pegasi retreated unwillingly. He was tall enough to look down on Celestia, but lowered his head to be on eye-level with the alicorn.

“But Princess –“ Twilight stepped forward to tell Celestia about her doubts about Fenrir’s motivations and his overall sincerity.

“I believe this is something between me and Celestia, Twilight Sparkle. You can go and speculate on the horrible things we are going to talk about with your friends.” Fenrir sneered and flicked his head toward the ponies gathered at Fluttershy’s cottage. He glanced at Celestia and his sneer only widened at the furious look Celestia was giving him. “Oh, seems like Celestia’s jimmies have been thoroughly rustled by my joking attitude. Do apologize to Pinkie Pie if your benevolent monarch decides to incinerate me.”

“Go on, my little pony, it will be okay.” Celestia assured Twilight in a gentler tone, still not looking away from the bloodied wolf in front of her. Twilight galloped back to her friends and joined them in standing in the doorway and windows, trying to strain their ears to hear what they were talking about. This turned out to be nearly impossible, since Fenrir’s growling voice didn’t carry over as intelligible words and Celestia was facing away from them.

Fenrir

Okay, it was obvious Celestia thought he was some kind of ancient mythological beast, now he would have to find out how alike were the myths of this world and the one he came from. He’d called her names that he thought to be something ponies that worshipped her could tag on her and the reaction he got suggested he had struck true, now the shiny alicorn was glaring at him an intense one-eyed glare.

It was disappointing to see how lanky and ridiculous Celestia looked in real life. The long legs and neck had no defining muscle he could discern and the mane and tail moving in an unseen wind didn’t seem like ethereal embodiments of her power, like he’d thought they would. They were only distracting tufts of glowing hair obscuring her vision and so long that it would be easy to grab them and drown the self-proclaimed goddess in the river he was standing in. He had to wonder if it was possible to kill the avatar to the sun in broad daylight. The irony of it would be hilarious.

“So, which Celestial body are you going to banish me to?” He asked in response to the alicorn’s obvious animosity. He was not going to be civil with someone who called him a beast and acted like he was going to kill everypony, just because he was a wolf. No wonder Celestia had been the one to suggest Twilight to study the magic of friendship, seeing how much she lacked in common decency herself. “That is what you do with those who oppose you, isn’t it? Do you have some kind of cannon you use or do you just use your horn to punt them into orbit?”

“How did you get out of Tartarus?” Celestia asked, possibly stirred to skip the delicacies by his mocking attitude. So, the Fenrir of this world was locked away in Tartarus. That made sense, in the canon universe it had been mentioned to house dangerous supernatural beasts, or something along those lines; a huge wolf from Norse mythology definitely fit that description.

“That’s your first question, really?” He said, leaning his head to the side and squinting one eye, since he didn’t have brows to arch. “I just thought you would be more interested in why I am even talking to you, rather than how I got past your little deformed dog.”

“Answer the question, Fenrir.”

“Ah, what’s the magic word?” Celestia arched an eyebrow at this and Fenrir didn’t know how he could hint at the basic courtesy of saying “please” with his canine body, so he decided to give her a verbal clue. “It starts with a “P”, your rudeness. Probably the first thing you teach a foal to be polite.”

“Please tell me how you escaped from Tartarus.” It was not a question this time, it was a request. Fenrir noticed how her rigid stance and commanding tone faltered at his insistence on being polite. It was becoming abundantly clear that the “Fenrir” Celestia and this world knew was a large carnivorous beast, possibly with some supernatural element to him, but not something that cared for courtesy or customs. He would have to keep playing the sophisticated jokester to avoid being shot to the moon.

“That wasn’t so hard was it?” Celestia didn’t look amused by his joke, but that had not been his intention in the first place. Her horn was no longer pointed between his eyes, poised to plunge into them. Instead of observing him for any sudden movement under her brow, Celestia was looking him in the eye, he was making progress. “Okay, you might recall the return of a certain discordant personality a while back.”

“Why would Discord release you? What did he ask in return?” Celestia asked, confirming his theories on Discord being capable of much more than the jovial pranks he’d been doing when the Mane Six stopped him. Celestia thought releasing something she thought to be a feral beast wasn’t below him, so the artist’s rendition of ponies dancing in fire might just have been accurate. If he admitted to Discord releasing him, then she’d wonder why he would have done it, suspect that he had an ulterior motive even more than she did now. Still, Discord was the one card he had to play if he were to stay free, but how to play it?

“Oh, he didn’t release me, not directly, at least…” Discord was the only thing he knew that certainly existed in this world and was powerful enough to get something out of Tartarus, also, he wasn’t someone they could, or would ask to verify his story.

“He played with the things beyond the gates, as much as he did with the things over here. Cerberus was reduced into an idiot who preferred chasing balls to doing his duty, some were made weaker, or prey animals, I was granted a mind and a conscience, all for his amusement. Your orbital friendship cannon, or whatever you call it, didn’t reach all the way where Cerberus stood guard, so I was burdened by a conscience and Cerberus was stupid enough to abandon his post.”

He went over his explanation for anything he had missed and could still fix with an added detail. There was the assumption that Cerberus had been smarter and more loyal than the drooling idiot that appeared when Twilight was messing around with time travel, but that was something he couldn’t simply talk his way out now. “Now I find you ponies adorable and do not wish to hurt them. The ponies I’ve interacted with can probably vouch for that much.”

Celestia didn’t respond to his statement in any way. He thought he noticed her relax just a bit more, but her eyes were emotionless. He didn’t know if she was contemplating on ways to expel him from his kingdom, thinking of spells to incinerate him, or simply pondering if she should trust him or not. He had not claimed to have changed into a docile dog that held no possible threat, since that was obviously not true, but was his assurance of his conscience and need for interaction with ponykind valid enough? It was the truth, but Celestia could still be convinced he was just as dangerous as the Fenrir she’d locked away.

How fast would he have to move to get his jaw around her throat before she, or her guards could stop him? Keeping the distance between them the same as it was now and lunging forward if her horn started to show any signs of glowing would be good. Could grabbing the horn be more effective? No, she channeled the spells through that; he would probably just blow up his own head, so throat it was. If he couldn’t get to the throat, then he would go for the legs and do a sharp twist of his neck, if all else failed, then the mane. The pain should cloud her concentration enough for him to take her out before the other ponies could jump in. Alicorn or not, a torn out throat should slow her down enough, at least.

“Do you feel bad for the creatures you’ve killed?” Celestia asked, keeping her face an emotionless mask as best she could. He had an almost physical need to groan at the question, but was able to fight the urge down, since it could seem too much like a sign of aggression. He didn’t want to believe Celestia was stupid enough to pose that question to a carnivore…

“Do you feel bad for the hay and flowers you eat? Do you weep for their little flower babies and the seed families they leave behind?” He stopped as he realized how aggressive his voice had become, more growling than words. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, then inhaled to answer the mare’s question. “No, I do not write depressing poetry in the memory of to the things I tear apart and eat. It would be a meaningless gesture, since I have to kill to live. To answer your real question; No, I have not killed any of your little ponies, nor do I intend to. Do not patronize me again, please.”

“Why would you come to Ponyville? Why did you seek my protégé out specifically and how do you know so much about them?” Celestia was still interrogating him, but he was fairly certain that she believed his story about Cerberus and Discord. For all he knew, it could be the truth, but telling them he didn’t know would be even more suspicious and would lead to his immediate capture.

“Do you think I came to your protégé to get to you? My, aren’t we arrogant, your life, or your wellbeing, has no consequence to me, Queen of Light. I couldn’t care less about what happens to you, my little glowing horse.” He really didn’t like Celestia right now. She was being rude and he reasoned that she was expecting him to become aggravated and justify her actions by attacking her for her insinuations. The Fenrir she had known in some ancient time might have done just that, but now she was talking to a human. One of the first things any human society taught a child was to keep their aggressive impulses in check. That and his knowledge of the world they lived in were coming in handy just now. Celestia’s eye twitched at his words, either it was the insult of being called a glowing horse, or picking up on her question’s real meaning. He was not going to bow, or beg this horse for anything, that kind of change from the snarling beast she remembered would not be plausible and would ring untrue.

“I am the sovereign ruler of Equestria, you would be wise to watch your mouth.” Celestia shot back at his insult. The only thing she accomplished by bringing her political power into their little debate was give him more things to shove back into her face. Well, it was more in the way she said it, rather than what she meant by it.

“You are, are you? I take it you sent your dear sister, Luna to the moon, then? What was it this time, did she actually have an opinion, or maybe somepony favored her over you?” Celestia backed away a step, but almost immediately leaned back in to answer his taunt with some kind of excuse. “Oh, save it, I don’t care. Frankly, I am shocked that I am still alive, seeing what you did to your own sister for throwing a temper tantrum.”

“Luna is in Canterlot, she does not wish to see you. You are speaking of things you do not understand, Fenrir.” Celestia took an offensive stance yet again, her horn pointing toward his eyes, but this time he only felt grateful for such an obvious sign of distress.

“Is it Luna who does not wish to see me, or is it you controlling her life, making her just the way you want her to be?” Fenrir leaned in a little closer while he growled out the words and was delighted to see her backing away from him. He had genuinely thought that this would be harder, that he would have to think of another believable lie, but Celestia seemed to be honestly distressed by his words, he could use that. “You tore her very soul apart, just because she didn’t worship you like your little ponies.”

“She was going to make the night last forever: Everything would have died if I hadn’t acted.” Celestia steeled herself with her practiced excuse. It was a perfectly reasonable reason and Nightmare Moon wouldn’t have listened to reason anyway, but Fenrir only had to convince Celestia to not kill him, or lock him away. He knew more about this world than an outsider should, but his knowledge was limited to the narrative limitations of a 20 minute children’s show. Had there been a war between Nightmare Moon and Celestia, he couldn’t know for sure. He had gone too far in letting Celestia think he was the Fenrir she had known to say otherwise now.

“Is that your excuse for tearing her sense of self to shreds? For taking out the parts you disagreed with and then reveling in Luna apologizing to you for having a mind of her own? Do you torture the rest of your court, or is that just a family thing?”

“SILENCE!” Celestia screamed, her voice booming across the forest around them and blowing wind into Fenrir’s face. Interesting, he’d actually pushed her hard enough for the ancient monarch to use the Royal Canterlot Voice. Celestia shifted uncomfortably and glanced at the ponies staring in awe in and around Fluttershy’s cabin. She looked tired when she turned around to face Fenrir, her one visible eye didn’t quite connect with his. He felt a twinge of guilt for making her relive what must have been her greatest mistake, but he didn’t see any other way out of his predicament.

“Not a day goes by when I do not regret using the Elements of Harmony against my sister. After that long night, I made sure that choice would never be solely mine to make, or any one pony. I know I’ve made many mistakes, but locking you away is not among them.”

Fuck.

“You were nothing but a beast drunk on your own power, despising us ponies for our weakness. You reveled in fear and hunted my little ponies for sport.” Celestia’s voice and poise was rising from the depressed slump she had been in, she was obviously convincing herself that she was right. Anything he would say at this point would only be seen as an interruption, rather than an argument.

“You were a prime example of what Tartarus was made to contain, Fenrir…” This was not good, this was extremely bad, actually. Even the ponies looking at their exchange at a distance had become more alert at his silence. He could not get out of this unscathed if Celestia decided to attack him. He really didn’t want to know what the Elements of Harmony would do to him, as curious as he was. “But…”

Was she paying him back for all those jabs at her past and lack of manners? She was even crueler than he had thought if that was the case. His life was on the line here! SPIT IT OUT ALREADY, YOU SHINY MULE! He fought to keep his annoyance under the surface as best he could, but he was sure that the grimace on his face resembled a very aggressive snarl.

“Who am I to judge you, when I forgave my sister so eagerly? Why imprison you again when Luna is free? Wasn’t that the point you were going for?” Celestia was taking her time with voicing out her judgment. It could be her being tentative or one final test of the control he had over his anger. Either way, he could only think of one movie quote to sum up his thoughts about the situation: “Clever girl…” All he needed was a Stetson, an embarrassing pair of shorts and a shotgun to do the line justice, but since he was a wolf, he decided on chuckling at the mental image inwardly. His mind’s humorous little tangent helped him calm down.

“Yes, but my distaste for you is real, Celestia. I will never bend my knee to you, or to the shredded mess you call Luna.” Celestia didn’t react to his words in any way; she patiently waited for him to continue. She viewed him as a conversational partner, instead of a threat; the chances of him actually walking free were improving. He would have to play his role in a way that he had enough leeway for the wolf’s possible future antics, though. “I will not bow to you, but I will not go against you, or your ponies. As regrettable as it is, your little ponies are the only things capable of holding an interesting conversation, besides, their naivety is downright amusing.”

“You’ve insulted me, my family and questioned my rule and now you say you sought my little ponies out for conversation? You are a special kind of stupid to –“

“Let me put this in words you will understand: I am unable to speak your tongue without the use of a spell, a spell that only ponies can cast. I had to find a pony that would do that for me, your protégé is the only pony I was relatively sure I could approach without being attacked on sight. We both know you would have thrown me right back in Tartarus if you’ve found me before I could plead my case in your tongue, so I laid low, avoided hunting and eating, causing the episode that left me covered in blood. You know my temper, you know I find you delicious, yet nopony is dead and you act like I did anything but fight for my freedom.”

He finished with a sharp exhale through his nostrils. That made sense, and it was mostly true, to boot. How he’d exactly gotten to the edge of Sweet Apple Acres was not known to him, but even he was convinced by his Tartarus explanation. The time before Scootaloo collided with his ribs was like a dream, a feverish, violent dream. The thing about the spell had come to him while he was sulking in Applejack’s barn, but Spike had saved him from any awkward attempts at communication.

“You wish to co-exist with ponies? You are the last being I would expect to hear that from. Don’t you think us weak herbivores not worthy to lord over you” Squinted eye, slightly leaning toward him, but tilting her head. He hated how he had to keep guessing what physical tells meant what with equine bodies, but it was a safe bet that Celestia was genuinely asking him a question, hopefully.

“I wish to exist in the same place as your ponies, not necessarily within their community. Normal wolves are idiots, griffons fear me, celestial beasts think they’re above me, Diamond Dogs live underground and I’m pretty sure dragons and their affinity to fire wouldn’t go well with my fur. There is no other community for me to socialize in, so I have to confront you to stay out of Tartarus. I hate you, yet I have not killed you, clearly I’ve been working on my people skills more than you these past years.” He sat back down in the river when he finished his impromptu speech, it was pretty convincing for something he thought of on the spot. Celestia’s lips curled at his joke/insult and she actually rolled her eyes, in other words, she was comfortable enough around him to let him out of her sight, even for the instant the gesture took.

“You’ve definitely changed from the raging beast I knew, but you’re just as insufferable as you were then.”

“Hey, at least now I’m just insulting you, not eating your little ponies, I call that progress, shiny horse.”

“Never call me that again, Fenrir, or it’s back to Tartarus with you.” Celestia waved a wing and the pegasi guards flew over, with three of the mane six and five unicorn guards following close behind.

“Princess, what are your orders?” The guardmare in charge of Fluttershy’s protection asked, saluting in the air, the other two pegasi brought their spears uncomfortably close to his eyes again. He was pretty sure he could grab one of their tails fast enough to slam him into the other one, but fought down the urge to test this theory.

“Stand down, all of you. Fenrir is not an immediate threat.” The two pegasi guards sheathed their spears with only a moment of hesitation. Celestia lead the ponies back toward Fluttershy's cabin, but the two pegasi guards stayed there to guard him. He decided to take the chance to dip in the river for one last time and then step out onto the bank. He soaked the pegasi guards that had been threatening him with spears by drying his fur in the way that was most natural to him, shaking his body furiously. They gave him a venomous look and he grinned back at them as he sat down to dry on the warm sun. His hearing was good enough to pick out what Celestia was saying to Twilight Sparkle.

“Twilight Sparkle, I understand your apprehension toward Fenrir, it is a natural, innate instinct for ponies to feel frightened of a predator of his size, but he has convinced me of his willingness in co-existing with ponykind.” Celestia had craned her neck to be on level with Twilight, probably just to make her words seem more intimate and honest in her protégé’s eyes, since she must have been aware that he could hear them perfectly. “I believe you are the ideal pony to ease his transition. He respects you and your friends and you already know him. I cannot think of another group of ponies so perfectly suited to watch over him.”

“But, Princess, didn’t he escape from Tartarus? He’s a dangerous beast, some kind of supernatural predator!” Twilight whispered with passion, it was clear that she had been doing her research on the name Fenrir and drawn her own conclusions from what she had found. It didn’t sound like his name was very commonly known; maybe it was like Nightmare Moon, an old name affixed to a scarily illustrated wolf stalking bad little ponies that didn’t listen to their parents.

“Twilight Sparkle, I am one of the few ponies who knew the Fenrir that was locked away all those years ago. He was as bad as beasts could go, ruthless, cunning and cruel; the Fenrir you know is as dangerous as Spike compared to who I locked away.”

“But –“ Twilight started, but stopped herself as a yellow hoof was tentatively raised in the air.

“Twilight, I believe he deserves a chance.” Fluttershy wilted back into her mane at the sudden attention her statement had brought, but managed to soldier on, only with a fractionally softer voice. “I care for many carnivores as well here; even some timberwolves come to me with injuries sometimes. They might have to kill out there and I have to fish for them and… uhm…” He could see the yellow Pegasus retreating from the insistent gazes of her audience. He couldn’t know if she got too nervous to convey her message, or if she hadn’t thought it out, but he couldn’t help but jump in.

“What I believe Fluttershy is trying to say is that even though I hunt and kill things without remorse, I am not exempt from feelings and thoughts. I get amused, depressed, nervous, frustrated and frightened, the same as you. It’s just that I have different ways of dealing with some of those emotions, but I do feel them.” He got back up on his paws; his right hind leg was feeling a lot better, but he tried not to stress it too much.

“You fear that I might hurt you or your friends because of those instincts, Fluttershy believes I can control them and your mentor trusts you enough to give me a chance. I will not bow down to Celestia, but you now hold my life in your hooves, Twilight Sparkle. Whether I go back to Tartarus, or I stay here and adjust to a world that’s left me behind, that is all up to you. One word and you condemn me to a hell with things far stronger and crueler than me, another to trust in the judgment of your mentor and that of your friend.” He turned around and limped his way down to another part of Fluttershy’s garden, or backyard, seemingly to give her privacy to decide, but in truth he was doing it mostly for dramatic effect.

There had been a tension between Twilight and Fluttershy, just a subtle flick of the ears on Twilight’s part as the yellow mare interrupted her. He was pretty sure what it was about, with the vague recollection of a bright purple light and an immense pain in his chest that knocked him out when he had still been feral. He remembered it all as a blur, but from how they’d been acting it had been Twilight that had knocked him out, with possibly excessive force and Fluttershy hadn’t taken kindly to it.

“I… I also think Fenrir should get a chance, despite his failings. There really isn’t a better group of ponies to guide him along than us, is there.” Twilight reasoned, trying to convince herself of the decision she had been forced to make. It had been very unlikely for her to pick any other option with both Celestia and Fluttershy saying otherwise, especially with his little reminder of the consequences.

“I am so proud of you Twilight Sparkle, I have the utmost confidence in your abilities, but don’t be afraid to ask for any assistance you might need. Now I must go, my ponies need me.” There was a pause he reasoned to be Celestia hugging her pupil goodbye in that strange neck wrestling kind of way, it had always seemed awkward to him in the show. There was a flash of light and he could hear the ponies left behind murmur among each other about what the hell had just happened.

He had woken up feeling sore everywhere and covered in the blood of something he didn't remember killing and now, only a few hours after that, he was under Twilight Sparkle's tutelage by royal degree, kind of. Things were definitely looking up.

Guide to the three lines of moonspeak in this chapter:

1st: French: Took you long enough... No, I refuse to have anything to do with an misogynistic skunk. Fix it.
2nd: Romanian: Can you understand me... Actually, I can't understand me! Stop messing around, Purple Magic Pony.
3rd: Finnish: This joke is starting to get fucking old... I swear in the name of Celestia, Luna and all possible deities; If I don't start talking english in five minutes, people will start dying.
4th: Finnish: That sounds reasonable. Listen to Rarity, get your horns glowing!

Light Without Shadow

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Well, here you go. Sorry for the wait, but this is a long one, so there's that, at least... enjoy.

A Light Without Shadow

It didn’t make sense, not at all. She couldn’t wrap her head around what had just happened. Why would Princess Celestia decide to allow a remorseless killer anywhere near her and her friends? What in the name of Equestria could Fenrir have said to convince her to do this? Fenrir was an ancient supernatural beast; Celestia had locked him away herself before, so why was he given a free pass now, especially if he had escaped from Tartarus?

“So, I take it we’re still guarding you, then?” Regal Poise asked, raising a hoof and quirking a brow at the situation. Twilight looked up from her contemplations of Fenrir’s nature and saw all the guard ponies staring at her. “Celestia put you in charge of tending to Fenrir, so by extension, you’re the pony that decides whether we’re needed here, or not.”

“Oh…” Twilight paused. She knew that she wanted for there to be additional security with Fenrir around, but how would her friends react to her still suspecting Fenrir, when Celestia was ready to give him a chance? Well, he hadn’t denied having a darker side and his lack of control over it had already been proven by his sudden day-long hunting trip. The fact that she had knock him out to stop him from shredding her guards apart should have been reason enough to lock him away again. Valor instigating the attack only weighed in the matter fractionally; he had been completely within his rights to assume a wolf drenched in blood would be hostile.

“Well, he did kill a dragon, so I think it would be better if you stuck around, just in case. Once word spreads about that in Ponyville, your presence will calm the populace. The townponies have proven to be easily frightened.” That was true, with the whole town practically shutting down when a zebra moved into the neighborhood.

The guards simply nodded and went back to their assigned charges. The pegasi hurried over to watch over Fluttershy, who had trotted off to check on Fenrir’s bandages without any of them noticing. Fenrir was flexing his right back leg carefully as Fluttershy hovered next to him. Most of the blood had washed out of his fur, but he was still tinted red in some places. How could they just accept someone who took pleasure in killing among them? Fluttershy and Rarity hadn’t seen the snarling beast Fenrir had turned into when his hunger set in. The only reason he hadn’t killed a pony that day was because Sweetie Belle had been able to get through to his rational side, somehow.

Why hadn’t the Princess listened to her? Why had she just taken the wolf at his word? None of it made sense; she should have at least listened to what she had to say, before rolling the responsibility of taking care of a nearly feral carnivore onto her and her friends. It was all very strange of the benevolent monarch, but Princess Celestia had given her an assignment and she was not planning on letting her mentor down.

“I still think he’s lying to us…” Twilight muttered aloud. The unicorns huddled around her turned to look at Fenrir jogging circles around Fluttershy, with his seemingly already healed leg. Twilight hadn’t seen the Princess cast any healing magic on him. So far the rate of his healing was the only thing that made him more than an overgrown wolf, with the possible exception of having the power to take down a dragon. It might just have been his size and the element of surprise, but she had seen the dragon in the Everfree forest and found it unlikely.

It was the fact he insisted on their company that bothered her. He knew things about them that he shouldn’t have, if his story was true. Sure, she and her friends were the Elements of Harmony of their generation and bordered on being national heroes and celebrities, but there was no plausible way for Fenrir to have known that Twilight Sparkle was Princess Celestia’s protégé and that she was in Ponyville. He would at least have to have talked to a pony to find even one of those things out, if he had been locked away in Tartarus until recently.

“I’m having fun and you can’t stop me!” The strangely energetic Fenrir exclaimed as he jumped around Fluttershy’s yard. The timid Pegasus was trying to stop the wolf from opening his stitches, but he was clearly not listening. That was until Fluttershy circled around the bouncing wolf and leveled an intense glare straight at the wolf’s yellow eyes. Fenrir skidded to a stop right in front of Fluttershy, as their eyes locked. “Ooh… You have really big eyes…”

At least Fluttershy’s Stare was able to stop him. Fluttershy kept her glare constant and Fenrir sat his hindquarters down on the ground, with his tail brushing the ground and smacking the small animals that had been frozen by Fluttershy’s Stare. His tongue lolled out and he started to pant like a tired and happy dog as they stared each other in the eye. They stayed like that for a moment, until Fluttershy blinked and whatever her Stare did stopped. Fenrir shook his head and drew his tongue back into his mouth, but stayed in place.

“So, that’s what that feels like…” Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, but Fenrir raised a paw to stop her. “If you were going to apologize, please don’t. It just feels wrong when I was the one acting like an idiot.”

“I didn’t want you opening your stitches, running around like that.” Fluttershy admitted, still somehow making it sound like an apology. Fenrir rolled his eyes and glanced around him, as if to get his bearings. He turned his eyes back to Fluttershy and wiped at his nose with a paw before talking.

“So, you don’t mind if I hunt on the other side of that mountain over there?” Fenrir tilted his head toward the mountain that the dragon of Everfree had his cave in. It was the same mountain Fluttershy had driven the sleeping dragon out of a few years back. “I mean, the critters and things beyond that aren’t under your protection?”

“Oh, I… I don’t really know… the animals usually come to me, but the burrows beyond the mountain are not under my jurisdiction…” Fenrir nodded at this and they fell into an uncomfortable silence again.

“I don’t think I thanked you for saving my life…” Fenrir’s tail stopped wagging his tail as their conversation veered into subjects he was not comfortable speaking about. It was hard for pony stallions to mention their moments of weakness, so Twilight could only imagine how unsettling it was for someone like Fenrir. “So, uh… Thank you…”

“No, it was no trouble, really. Caring for animals is my job, after all...” Fluttershy landed in front of Fenrir, not even slightly intimidated by Fenrir’s size as she trotted to check on the stitches Fenrir had been straining with his moving around. “Uhm… This looks like it’s healed, but…”

“Well, I’m pretty sure the Royal Glowing Horse didn’t heal it, so it must be because I ate the heart of a dragon. It’s quite strong stuff, I hear.” Fenrir turned his head down to his side, bending his neck to look at the stitches Fluttershy was gently prodding. “I have the urge to rip out the stitches, but I believe that is not the right way to do this.”

“Oh, you can’t do that, the wound would get infected. I wouldn’t have used such a strong thread if I knew you healed so fast. Thank Celestia we were able to set the bone before it healed crooked…” Fluttershy commented before flying into her house to fetch the things to get the stitches out properly. Fenrir lay down on the ground, basking in Celestia’s sun, in spite of seemingly hating her.

“Fenrir, could I trouble with a question?” Rarity said in a jovial tone as she trotted over to Fenrir. Twilight followed close behind her friend, trying to think of spells that could stop Fenrir, when Valor’s stun spell had only made the wolf angry. She would have to try and go for his eyes, since anything she thought could stop him took longer to charge up than she would have hoped. She didn’t want Fenrir to see it coming from seeing her horn glow.

“Ask me anything, Miss Rarity.” Fenrir growled out as he rolled his head to look at Rarity. The fact he looked extremely relaxed annoyed Twilight to no end. Just because Celestia hadn’t sent him right back to Tartarus didn’t mean he was not under suspicion.

“Why did you insist on reaching Ponyville? I mean, there must have been other settlements between here and the gate to Tartarus.” Rarity asked, still in her sing-song way of speaking, but you could hear the seriousness in her voice. Fenrir straightened himself to look Rarity level in the eye before answering in his low rumble.

“The simplest answer I can give would be; Twilight Sparkle. The long version involves the Elements of Harmony, your close knit group of friends and the high chance that you would try and deal with me yourselves before informing Celestia. I really don’t want to end up back in Tartarus.” Fenrir said this in a low, melancholic growl, as his eyes unfocused and turned away from Rarity. Rarity laid a hoof on the side of his muzzle, but he shook it off and turned his head away from the mare.

Twilight didn’t buy it. It was a little too predictable and cliché for her to just believe it by his word. At least it was clear Fenrir was busy either playing a role, or really trying to work around the trauma left behind by his imprisonment. She dragged Valor off to the bridge connecting Fluttershy’s cabin to the road to Ponyville and glanced around for anypony listening in on them. She was especially looking for any hint of a pink mane or coat, since Pinkie would just blurt out whatever she was going to say for Fenrir to hear. She cast a quick spell to muffle the sounds around her to anypony that could still be trying to listen and leaned closer to Valor.

“Is there any way you could have someone follow Fenrir around and find out what he’s really after. I hate doubting my friends like this, but I have to either prove his sincerity, or prove him a liar.” Twilight was about to open her mouth to further explain her doubts, but Valor raised a hoof to silence her.

“I understand your concern perfectly. What he claims to be seems a little too… neat, for it to be true. Granted, it could just be him embellishing some details for dramatic effect, but I believe we should make sure if that is the case, or not, before trusting him at his word.” Valor glanced from side to side before talking in an even lower voice. “You would be better off talking to Kamos about tailing Fenrir. It’s his specialty, after all.”

“Kamos? Who’s that?” Twilight asked incredulously, but as soon as she asked, the answer became abundantly clear.

“Kamos is the one responsible for guarding the Element of Laughter. I’m not surprised you haven’t seen hide nor hair of him, actually, I doubt your friend has either.” Valor chuckled at this pony’s apparent stealthy nature, but Twilight could only chuckle back, when she thought about somepony new to Ponyville trying to hide from the town’s resident party pony.

There was impossible and then there was Pinkie Pie. It was something she had come to simply accept, but she wasn’t so sure if whoever had been tasked with guarding the pink mare would feel the same.

Kamos

The pink pony was insane, absolutely and unmistakably out of her mind. There was no way someone with a stable mind could be so erratic and hard to predict. It was that, or the tales of her precognitive abilities were true, but Kamos was not going to accept that a mare as ludicrous as the one he was keeping an eye on had such a power. Precognitive abilities were preserved for deities and great sages, not two-bit bakers in a backwater village like Ponyville, Element of Laughter or not. He just refused to acknowledge such a ridiculous concept.

Yet, it had been this painfully cheerful and pink pony that had forced him to sit down on a bale of hay. It had been the same irreversibly mentally ill pony that was able to sneak up on him and drag him down from the roof he had been watching the insane mare from. Even the act of the pink mare getting behind him so quickly and without making any discernible sound was a physical impossibility in his mind. He had a very specific set of skills, especially suited to discern the impossibility of the mare’s actions, since he took great pride in being able to do things nearly as impossible as this mare.

“Okay, everypony! The guest of honor is not a pony! Actually, he’s not even an equine, but that’s okay!” The pink menace hollered from atop something that shouldn’t be able to support her weight. He didn’t want to be surprised that it did, but everything this mare did warred with his view of reality.

“Sugarcube, I ain’t that sure Fenrir will be joining us…” The Element of Honesty pointed out. He preferred this mare to the one he had promised to safeguard. She at least had the decency to not break his perception of reality.

“Are we talking about the same Fenrir that walked into town and scared all of us half to death? Why are we having a party for that beast?” A stallion asked from the crowd gathered at the plaza they had gathered at the pink witch’s insistence. Kamos was certain that he should try and keep some distance to Fenrir, if he was as large as he had been told. He had nothing that could immediately stop something like the beast Fenrir had been described as, but his poisons would take him down, only with time. He would use them if he had enough time and distance to use them safely.

“Don’t worry about it; he’s super-duper nice once you get to know him!” Pinkie answered in her overtly excited manner and a carefree smile on her face. Kamos decided to take the chance and slip away as the pink menace to his sanity was addressing the crowd. He would have to find a good vantage point, so he could use his poisons on the wolf, if he showed any signs of hostility. He slunk into the shadows and found a good spot on the roof of a building overlooking the plaza. He laid flat on the opposing ridge of the roof and set his blowgun next to him.

“My little poneeeh, my little poneeh! Aaa-haa-aaa!” An incredibly gruff voice growled out down the road leading to the Everfree forest and the wolf’s last known location, the Element of Kindness’ residence. Kamos dropped down from his vantage point and hid behind some barrels in a back alley to avoid meeting the owner of this voice eye-to-eye. It was more than likely that the owner of the voice was the humongous wolf he had been sent to keep an eye on. “Come on, everypony now, you know the words!”

The reports of the wolf’s size had obviously been faulty, as the thing that was leisurely walking toward the town was more than twice as tall as anypony he’d ever seen, including the Princesses. The wolf looked lanky and lean, but Kamos knew not to trust appearances too much. He never should have taken pony intelligence as fact, anyways. He still had enough poison to take the beast down, but he would have to tweak the amount of sedatives in his darts when he had the chance.

“My little pony, I used to wonder what friendship could be!” A bemused sounding voice sung out from the wolf’s back. Kamos only noticed the yellow coated pegasus sitting between Fenrir’s shoulder-blades as she raised her head to sing the strange song. For some unknown reason the Element of Kindness was hitching a ride on the monstrous predator. He retreated deeper into the shadows as three pegasi guards passed by him, following the jogging wolf down the road to town.

“My little pony, until you all shared its magic with me!” The wolf howled out in a scarily cheery tone and turned its head to the side to glance behind him. Kamos leaned forward to see a group of unicorns following the wolf and pegasi. He spotted the Element of Generosity and Magic among six unicorn guards. He would have liked to believe that the guards were escorting the wolf with the Elements help, but the situation really didn’t support that claim.

“Big adventure, tons of fun!” One of the white-coated unicorn guards sung out merrily. He couldn’t be sure, but it sounded an awful a lot like the annoyingly exuberant PR stallion, Regal Poise. He was definitely the type that would participate in a sing-along with a dangerous predator, especially if mares were involved.

“A beautiful heart, faithful and strong!” Another voice joined in on the song, the mare singing actually attempting to stay in tune. Kamos couldn’t see the speaker, but from the way the voice carried it had to be one of the unicorns. Twilight Sparkle was a bookworm and a perfectionist and Rarity was obsessed with what she considered proper form, so it could be either of the two.

“Sharing kindness, it’s an easy feat!” Fluttershy sung again, they didn’t seem to have any kind of order as to who sung the next part of the song. Fenrir and the ponies around him were about to pass his little nook in the shadows, so Kamos slid further back into the darkness. He could only hope the herbs hid his scent well enough to successfully elude the predator’s senses. He could hear the wolf’s claws scraping along the road toward the pink mare’s little ambush, along with the hooves of his entourage. He let out a sigh of relief at succeeding in remaining undetected yet again. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to use his other area of expertise during this mission.

“… Go on, Twilight, it’s your turn!” The voice of a certain white unicorn mare said in her sing-song way of speaking. Seemingly there was some kind of order to the singing, but Kamos couldn’t figure it out. It was obvious that she was enjoying the wolf’s zany antics and that the wolf had been able to entice the shy animal-lover to sing with them, but what of the introverted bookworm? Kamos was genuinely intrigued when it came to Twilight Sparkle’s position on the matter, since she was clearly the most intelligent out of the Elements.

“And magic makes it all complete!” A disgruntled voice that had to be Twilight Sparkle muttered out loudly. Kamos grinned as he hopped up to climb back up on his vantage point. It was relieving to see that not everyone out of the Elements could be won over by an extroverted personality and a way with words.

“You have My Little Pony!” The wolf howled out again, this time not stretching out the word “pony” like before, but putting a strange emphasis on the last three words.

“Don’t you know, you’re my very best friends!” An overtly chipper squeaking screech of a voice sung out just as Kamos made it on the roof overlooking the pink mare’s ambush. He witnessed the pink mare popping out of a barrel as she screeched out the next part of the song. He also saw Fenrir yelp at the mare’s surprising appearance and hunch down, but then the wolf disappeared out of his view. The dirt in the spot where Fenrir had been a second before was unsettled and the ponies were looking up, or rubbing the dirt out of their eyes. He realized what had happened only when he heard the Element of Kindness screaming somewhere above him.

He barely had enough time to roll off the edge of the roof before Fenrir crashed on top of it. Kamos crashed down on the barrels he had hid behind before and looked up to see Fenrir’s panting form crouching on the roof he had just vacated. Fenrir’s yellow eyes were staring down at him and his right front paw’s claws were imbedded where his head had been only a second ago. The wolf turned its head back to the group of ponies down the road after a sharp exhale through his muzzle at the pitiful sight.

“You scared the bajeesus out of me, Pinkie!” The frighteningly large wolf growled out, in a tone that conveyed only his amusement at the situation, not the attempted murder he had just committed. The carnivore chuckled in his low growl as he hopped down from the roof. He glanced at the still form of the shaken up Kamos as he jogged back to where he had leapt from. The wolf’s exceptional jumping power had not been in the pony intelligence either. He never should have trusted it in the first place, especially when they were so blind to Fenrir’s true nature.

“If you’re going to apologize to someone, Pinkie, then apologize to Fluttershy. She was on my back when I jumped and I can still feel her quivering.” The wolf nonchalantly chatted with the ponies Kamos had been asked to protect. Fenrir was a worthy adversary; despite his beastly appearance he was intelligent enough to fool most of The Elements of Harmony and to surprise him during a mission. His herbal salves clearly did not mask his scent well enough, since the wolf hadn’t even glanced in his direction before trying to kill him. His keen predatory senses were a problem he would have to work around. He was confident enough in his ability of moving quietly to rule out the wolf hearing him.

“I’m sorry, Fluttershy. I just couldn’t resist joining you guys in song!” The mare he had been told to guard said as he picked himself up from the pile of refuse he had fallen in. Why would any business in Ponyville use barrels to hold their garbage? He should probably wash himself thoroughly as soon as possible, there had to be a reason for such a practice.

Kamos shook himself somewhat clean and lowered his hood before climbing back onto the roof to check on his blowgun. The hood limiting his range of vision had already nearly cost him his life, so he would rather not risk it with Fenrir around. He might have not liked the looks ponies gave him about his mohawk, but he would rather the unpleasant attention to being impaled by Fenrir’s claws. Fenrir, along with the group of ponies moving with him, had joined the other ponies gathered at the plaza. Kamos couldn’t make out any individual voices from the general chatter the wolf’s appearance had caused.

He couldn’t say he was surprised to see his blowgun broken, but he had hoped he could still fix it. Fenrir’s weight had squashed the bamboo shoot and broken it into many pieces, even some of the small metal parts had been bent beyond repair. He salvaged what he could and made a mental note to visit the resident zebra, Zecora. He had heard she was a shaman and a potion maker, but she was a zebra and most likely to have what he needed to fix his favored weapon. It wouldn’t hurt to see if the shaman had ways to make his poisons work faster on a large beast like Fenrir, either. She had access to many ingredients that were rare and potent, living in the Everfree, as she did. It would also be a welcome change to hear his native tongue again.

George

He really couldn’t understand why the rainbow-maned Pegasus was the Element of Loyalty.

She must have been the most selfish pony he’d ever met and a lazy lay-about to boot. She actually ordered him and his subordinates to clear the skies with her, and then had the nerve to try and use the chance to sneak away to take a nap. He had never met a pegasus that resembled a cat so much. The mare was constantly sleeping wherever she liked, but was incredibly fast and dexterous when she actually did do anything.

Still, she didn’t act anything like the Element she was supposed to represent. She was selfish and took any and every chance to dodge responsibility in her job. She was good at it, sure, but the way she left everything to the last minute aggravated the dutiful guard. He had expected the Element of Loyalty to at least be a good example of what she was supposed to represent. Also, trying to keep up with the young athlete in his bronze armor wasn’t fun. He would have been a wheezing and sweating mess if it wasn’t for the enchantment making him look more presentable, cast on his helmet. At least the appearance of being able to keep up with the extraordinarily fast pegasus without breaking a sweat drained some of her enthusiasm.

“Sir, Fenrir has been sighted in town. He is accompanied by the Elements of Laughter, Magic and Kindness and is in close vicinity to the Elements of Generosity and Honesty. How should we proceed?” A messenger working to relay messages between the assigned guards asked as he materialized out from the cloud next to him. He had conditioned himself to their presence enough not to flinch at the pegasi’s sudden appearance, but he really hated that Kamos had trained them to be so stealthy.

“What did Kamos order for you to do?” George asked the stealthy scout. Kamos was a creepy son of a bitch without an official place in the guard, but he had to admit the zebra had an eye for situations like this.

“We are to observe and avoid lethal measures.” The pegasus dead-panned. He really didn’t like the dark blue outfits pegasi working under Kamos wore to stay out of sight. The masks they all wore muffled their voice enough for him to be unable to identify them by voice, their eyes were also enchanted to look like pits of pure black to make identification nearly impossible. Kamos had once admitted that the number of actual guards working under him would surprise him. He couldn’t figure out if he had meant that he employed ponies outside of the royal guard, or if he had operatives working for him in other divisions. He never even dreamed it could mean both.

“Did you say Fenrir is in Ponyville? He actually showed up for Pinkie’s party?” Rainbow Dash asked after rolling off the cloud she had been pretending to be sleeping on. George had seen her ear twitch when Kamos’ subordinate appeared.

“Yes.” The pegasus glad in dark cloth simply answered while keeping his head pointed toward George. There was no way to know where his eyes were looking exactly, with the mask and its enchantment. George was the commanding officer on scene, but he had to wonder if Kamos had sent one of his subordinates to him, just to let Rainbow Dash know where Fenrir was. The zebra had a habit of using other ponies to gather information and Rainbow Dash was definitely the type to be easily manipulated.

“Do what Kamos tells you to, he knows where you’re needed better than me. Dismissed.” George ordered and the pegasus let himself fall through the cloud he was standing on without even a salute. George didn’t know if it was another enchantment, or if it came from training, but he hated when they did it regardless. It caused him not to trust the clouds he stood on; even though they always did it without disturbing the cloud formation they passed through, somehow.

George hopped off from his cloud and motioned for his subordinates to follow him. He was sure Rainbow Dash wanted to get to where the huge wolf was, as well, but he had no obligation to stay with the mare if she decided to stay sleeping in her home. The mare didn’t disappoint as she raced past him and rushed toward a part of town where a large number of ponies had gathered. They heard upbeat music blaring out of a gramophone as they swooped down, but only noticed the great wolf as they landed.

“Chug, chug, chug, chug!” Fenrir chanted, along with most of the crowd of gathered ponies. George and his subordinates joined Cerulean Wing and her two subordinates in the air. He was glad to see she was not one of the ponies chanting with the great wolf. Cerulean Wing raised a hoof at her superior and pointed toward the center of the group for an explanation. She was clearly finding the situation amusing as well, but George didn’t like how Fenrir had been able to win over a group of ponies so easily.

“Oh, the member of your esteemed guard seems a little unsteady on his hooves. Can it be that this humble village takes yet another victory over the Canterlot elite?” He flapped his wings to gather altitude and peered over to the great wolf and the forms of two ponies standing on opposite sides of a sturdy wooden table, which was probably borrowed from some shop in town for their little game. The empty tankards between both of the participants told him enough about the nature of the event Fenrir was spearheading.

“I’m from Baltimare, ya dum’ dog!” A large earth pony wearing royal guard armor slurred out as he stumbled in place, his head lolling around every which way as the alcohol laid waste to his sense of balance. The stallion standing more steadily across from him didn’t comment on the guard’s obvious loss, as you might expect in a contest like the one they were involved in.

“Meh, same difference… Tell you what; you win if you pass one final test. Is that okay with you?” The wolf growled out, laying down attentively on the other side of the table from George’s perspective. As the commanding officer he should be putting a stop to this because a guard participating in a drinking contest while still in uniform was definitely against several regulations, even a few laws. It was damn sure no other pony from the guard was going to participate, but breaking up their fun right now would only bring the party to a grinding halt and possibly aggravate a predator powerful enough to take down a dragon.

“Bring it! I’ll take you all down if I –“

“PICKLEBARREL!” Fenrir suddenly barked out and jutted his head toward the guardpony. The maroon stallion on the opposite side of the table stumbled back, but was able to stay on his hooves, even with the massive yoke on his neck setting him off balance. The guardpony was not as steady on his hooves and fell to the ground with a clatter of empty tankards, as he had tried to lean on the table to stay standing. He was too dizzy to get back up again and ultimately lay still on the ground with his armor sticky with apple cider. Fenrir raised himself from the ground and jumped over to the side of the maroon stallion before turning to address the crowd.

“Mares and gentlecolts, it is my honor and privilege to present you the champion of the first annual Ponyville “Drink-a-ton-of-stuff-with-alcohol-in-it” drinking competition, Big Macintosh!” Fenrir reared up as he called the stallion’s name and jumped back to present the crowd with the slightly swaying stallion at his side. George had never heard louder hoof stomping at the end of a drinking competition, but he was pretty sure the announcer being a talking wolf had something to do with the popularity. “Now let’s make sure we get some food into the colt and keep him drinking water for the rest of the evening!”

“So… you’re feeling alright, then? You’re not going to go all crazy on us again?” Rainbow Dash asked as she hovered in the air in front of the bemused Fenrir. Fenrir was pawing at a barrel of apple cider, most likely with the intention of drinking it. His claws sunk into the wood, but the lid of the barrel was refusing to come off cleanly. The wolf paused in his efforts to answer the mare’s question.

“I was feeling perfectly fine even then, Blue Insufferable Pony. What you saw as insanity then was simply my growing aggravation at you, couple that with my ravenous hunger and you get one very unhappy wolf. I am rather proud of my restraint, considering the circumstances.” The wolf growled out, maintaining stable eye contact with the mare as he told his rather unsettling explanation. From everything George had heard about the event they were talking about, the wolf was sincere. He had lost control and instead of denying it, he was fighting to overcome it. George could respect that, but it was nothing that made them trust the wolf any more than they already did, but it didn’t make them distrust him either.

“Oh, cheer up, Dashie! Fenrir’s been such a nice wolf to everypony and he even taught us a new game to play!” The Element of Laughter popped out from Fenrir’s fur and caused the wolf to flinch.

“An’ he’s been apologizing about scarin’ tha three fillies every chance he got. It’s been getting kinda embarrassing now… They all but forgave you when they got that ride on your back, anyways, big fella.” Now the Element of Honesty was there, no doubt to fetch one member of her assigned guard from the ground. George decided to at least try and apologize for his subordinate’s poor conduct. The mare flinched a little as he landed in front of her.

“Miss AppleJack, I must apologize for my subordinate’s poor conduct in your presence –“

“Now hold on an apple-buckin’ minute! Yer subordinate didn’t show no poor conduct to nopony. An’ even if he did, I don’t want him being punished for havin’ fun at a party. Tha’s just silly talk, I tell ya.”

“Besides, I was the one who threatened to gut him if he didn’t participate.” Fenrir casually threw in. The surprised looks on the faces of the ponies that had most likely been present told him that he was lying yet again. “Put that in your report about his misconduct, I’m sure your Queen of Light will believe it.”

“Ya’ll better stop doing that, Fenrir! Ya almost had me going there for a minute.” Applejack turned toward the large wolf with a stern look in her eyes. It did make sense that lying would strike a chord with the Element of Honesty. “If ya’re gonna keep going on like that, you’re gonna end up like the colt that cried wo-“

“Oh, do go on; the colt who cried… what?” Fenrir had a grin plastered on his face that would be insufferable on a pony, but with him and his fangs, it was terrifying. George didn’t like seeing the wolf heckle somepony he considered a national hero, but he had to admit that Applejack had trotted right into that one.

“Oh nothing really, it’s just a stupid old saying!” Even for an element representing the virtue of honesty, Applejack was a terrible liar. She was also totally incapable of reading people, since George was 100% sure that Fenrir already knew how the saying went.

“But Applejack, I am here to learn about your culture. I must insist on finding out what you were going to say, it is for the good of science and understanding.” The wolf was throwing in big words to pressure the mare into giving him an answer. George didn’t know if Fenrir was lying about being there to learn about their culture, but he didn’t like the wolf’s approach to it regardless.

“The saying goes ‘The colt who cried wolf’, Fenrir. I believe Miss Applejack was only trying to spare you from feeling uncomfortable about the part your kind plays in the old folktale.” George stepped closer to the wolf as he talked. Fenrir reluctantly shifted his attention from the uncomfortable mare and locked eyes with the confrontational pegasus guard. “The story teaches a valuable lesson about the weight of lies, and how dangerous wolves are.”

“So, I take it you’re the pony in charge?” Fenrir asked, the tone of his frightening voice staying conversational, but the glee in his eyes dimming. The wolf didn’t like being questioned or confronted about his nonchalant use of lies, it seemed. His comment also hinted toward a problem with authority, but George couldn’t be sure about it.

“Yes, I am the commanding officer on scene.” Fenrir might have been just making small talk, but George was sure the proud wolf couldn’t let his comment go without a retort.

“The tale also taught you to fear the Dark, to shy away from those hunting in it and conditioned you to cling to your Light for solace. It is not wrong to fear us, but I hold no ill will toward you. I can choose not to follow my instincts. You would be wise to follow the wisdom of those before you, officer." Fenrir grinned as the ponies took a step back at his sudden chilly tone. Even Pinkie’s overabundant cheer stilled at the wolf’s tone. The wolf’s smile and glee returned at their reaction and Fenrir pulled his head back to laugh. “Times have certainly changed, haven’t they? For one of Celestia’s Light and a child of Dark to converse like this. I certainly did not see it in the cards!”

“You’re not a child of dark, silly.” Pinkie Pie chimed in, leaning down to look deep into Fenrir’s eyes, causing him to look at the pony cross-eyed humorously. “The other one is.”

“You enjoy scaring us, don’t you? I don’t like that. I recommend you consider the consequences your actions may bring. You are still an escaped convict, in my opinion and in the eyes of the law.” George said, deciding to ignore the pink mare’s comment. The reports suggested she was prone to violent bouts of depression and frequent delusions. Anything she said should be taken with a grain of salt and now she wasn’t even making any sense.

“Hmph! A sense of humor and leadership really do repel each other…” Fenrir’s grin faded at George’s answer and he finally gave up on opening the barrel of apple cider between his paws. He grabbed the barrel in his jaws instead and raised himself into a sitting position. He flicked his neck a few times to set the barrel firmly between his jaws and then crushed the wooden barrel while craning his neck back. George could smell the quantity of apple cider that was soaked into his fur from where he was standing. The crushed mess of splintered wood and bent metal rings was dropped right in front of George. Before he could ask if he was supposed to be intimidated Rainbow Dash cut into the conversation.

“Yeah, George, lighten up!” Rainbow Dash commented, now hovering in place with a tankard of apple cider she had procured while he had been busy arguing with a giant wolf. He winced as the mare nonchalantly let everypony around them know about his unusual name. Applejack gave Rainbow Dash a look, as if to make sure she wasn’t kidding, but didn’t comment on it. It was good to see somepony knew it was not good manners to laugh at somepony’s name. As a stark opposite to the courteous mare, Fenrir immediately roared into laughter at the mention of his name.

“Are you serious? Oh, dear Lord…” The ground shook as Fenrir fell to his side, gasping for air between bouts of laughter. Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared at George’s side, laying a comforting hoof on his shoulder, surprisingly not laughing along with the wolf. It took a second for him to realize that the pink mare had been poking her head out of Fenrir’s fur just seconds before. Maybe she was more mature than he had given her credit for, but the way she moved was still impossible. “Please, Rainbow Dash, tell me that the big pony in charge of everything is named George! It would make my year.”

“Yeah, but it’s not really a name; it’s more like a sound you make, right? I knew it was funny!” Rainbow Dash beamed at the recognition of her sense of humor. George was the first to admit his name was strange for a pony, but really didn’t see the humor in it.

“Oh, oh! George, do you have another name? Does it happen to be Curious? If you say yes, you’re best pony from here on ‘till eternity.” Fenrir raised his head and was able to pause his laughter long enough to listen to his answer.

“It’s none of your business, Fenrir.” He was not going to humor the insufferable wolf, even if admitting to the wolf’s delusion would bring the matter to a close faster. The humongous wolf and rainbow-colored mare kept on laughing in tandem, but George had a feeling they weren’t laughing at the same joke.

There was nothing George liked about Fenrir, despite the wolf’s surprising intelligence. Not only did Fenrir have an abrasive personality, but he used his size and frightening appearance to milk reactions out of the ponies around him, just to satiate his twisted sense of humor. If Fenrir would have been a pony, his condescending attitude and snide remarks would have gotten him in more than a few fights. Everypony was afraid to cross the great wolf and he would continue to berate and make fun of the ponies around him if nopony ponied up and confronted the wolf about it.

“Now, Fenrir, it’s not very nice to laugh at somepony like that.” A distinctively meek voice called from the crowd of ponies gathered to wonder what the pegasus mare and wolf were laughing about. Her voice barely registered in George’s ears, but Fenrir’s ears swiveled toward the voice immediately and he rolled over to look for the pony who uttered them. The crowd parted as the wolf leveled his eyes toward the yellow-coated mare and the Element of Kindness fluttered over to Fenrir’s muzzle. “You could hurt somepony’s feelings, you know.”

“Oh, Fluttershy, I hope my lack of decorum hasn’t ruined your good time. You have enjoyed the party so far, right?” The wolf hadn’t even stopped to ponder the mare’s words and that irritated George even more. The wolf had been expecting Fluttershy’s interruption and had admitted to knowing that George didn’t appreciate being made fun of by mentioning his lack of decorum. It was infuriating how easily the wolf was able to get under his skin, but if your special talent was reading ponies, then it was especially easy. He missed none of the nuances of Fenrir’s inconsiderate humor and it pained him to see ponies around him staying ignorant to most of it.

“Oh, yes, the little fillies and colts really liked that song you taught them, even the little animals peeked out to join in when we sang it.” Fluttershy beamed at the large wolf while fidgeting with her front hooves, but only because of her awkward social skills, not because she was frightened by the large canine. There was definitely more to the Element of Kindness than met the eye, but as a depressing contrast the Element of Loyalty was still laughing at the pony responsible for protecting her.

“Actually, the fillies and colts would like to ask if you would give them a ride on your back, but only if it isn’t too much trouble, of course! This is your party after all and it would not be right of us to ask you to do something you don’t want to…” Fluttershy fidgeted in the air as Fenrir leaned his head to the side to look at the crowd Fluttershy had emerged from again. George had taken note of the overabundance of foals in it earlier, but had thought the cause to be a child’s curiosity at the laughing mare and wolf. It was unbelievable that any parent would let their child ride on the back of a huge wolf, but it seemed the wolf had done it once already without incident, so he saw no reason to intervene.

“Of course I will, but they’ll have to sing the song.” Fenrir laid his body down on the ground and flicked his head to call the foals over. There had to be more than a dozen foals climbing on his back and still they fit on it, without any of them clinging to his sides. It had taken a fight with a fully grown dragon and the Element of Magic to bring him down before. George didn’t want to think what it would take to do it again. It would be easier to just believe in his reformed visage, but he didn’t have the benefit of such optimism, he had a duty to prepare for the worst. “MC Pinkamena Diane Pie, do the honors.”

“Please keep your hooves on top of the wolf at all times. Emergency exits are located at the rear end of the canine, along and at the tip of the tail. Please twist a tuft of fur around at least one of your hooves to avoid tumbling off of Fenrir, like this.” Pinkie Pie had suddenly popped up from the thick fur around Fenrir’s neck and was rambling out a speech that sounded practiced, but made little to no sense. Fenrir raised his body steadily when the last of the foals settled down and started jogging down the road out of town. ”We thank you for choosing Fenrir as your mode of transport. My mane and tail can be used as a flotation device, in case of water emergency.”

“Now, take a deep breath, everypony!” George cringed and brought his hooves to his ears as all the foals, along with Fenrir and Pinkie Pie took a deep breath. He looked around to see most of the adults around doing the same thing. Applejack and Rainbow Dash being a strange exception.

“AU-WOO-O! AU-WOO-O!” Fenrir’s howls drowned out any noise the fillies and one mare made in its place, but he gratefully lowered his volume to sing the next part of the song. “This ain’t a song for the broken hearted! AU-WOO-O!”

“No silent prayer for the faith departed! AU-WOO-O!” The foals were clearly enjoying the energy in the song, as they pumped their hooves in the air in rhythm with Fenrir’s howls. “And I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd! You're gonna hear my voice when I shout it out loud! AU-WOO-O!”

Fenrir had jogged a considerable distance away from George, but with the combined volume of an excited group of foals and a huge wolf it was still easy to hear the next line of the song.

“IT’S MY LIFE! AU-WOO-O!” The wolf and his passengers sung out as Fenrir hunched down to speed up to a full run. George couldn’t make out the rest of the lyrics of the song as the wolf sped into the distance. He could only hear the fading sounds of the foals delighted screams back and Fenrir’s howling. The wolf might have been insufferable, but that didn’t mean that he should be locked away in Tartarus again.

“He’s definitely not what you’d expect from a huge wolf, is he?” Applejack mused as she stepped next to George, tipping her hat forward to protect her eyes from the setting sun. Applejack might have thought the way the wolf acted was endearing, but George thought it to be suspicious. Fenrir had gone from a beast that killed a dragon and tore open its chest, into a cynical jokester that taught songs and games to foals. George had met many griffons and even considered a few his friends, and all the griffons he’d met were gruff and silent by pony standards.

“Yes, it’s not something you would expect out of such a large carnivore.” George answered the farm mare and flew off to join Cerulean Wind at the outskirts of the party. Applejack was a pleasant mare and he would have liked to converse with her more, but he had to focus on his job. The mare saluted him diligently and luckily seemed to be perfectly sober, despite the party going on around her.

“So, what did you think of Fenrir? This was your first time meeting him muzzle to muzzle, wasn’t it?” Cerulean asked while motioning between their muzzles with her hoof. He didn’t like the way she kept trying to throw him off by exaggerating her mannerisms, but had learned not to mention it. She would just become conscious of it and do it even more vehemently, effectively making it seem like she was screaming at him.

“Yes, the Element of Loyalty has kept herself busy on other matters, so I hadn’t had the pleasure to meet him… ” George trailed off as a shadow against the setting sun caught his attention. He saw the outline of Fenrir’s body twisting in the air as he did an aerial somersault to get several cheers of excitement from the foals on his back. Clearly Fenrir was not only powerful, he was also surprisingly agile for his size. He dreaded the possibility that he could be forced to go against the beast in battle.

“So, what do you think, lieutenant?” He had known Cerulean Wind for a long time and she was aware of his special talent. She knew that he could pick up on things other ponies missed or read wrong. Fenrir was not a pony, or a member of any other species he’d conversed with, so he couldn’t read his physical mannerisms effectively just yet, but he had enough to work with just with how he had acted during their short conversation and the knowledge of what he’d done.

“I don’t buy it, he’s straining to have everypony like him and I have to wonder why he’s so insistent on that fact. Also, don’t you think it’s strange for a mythological beast, as old as the princesses, to speak like he does? You have heard the way Princess Luna speaks, haven’t you? Actually, it’s strange that he can speak at all, translation spell or not.” George explained, choosing to leave out the things he wasn’t so sure about. He voiced his questions because Cerulean Wind had been on the scene when Fenrir and Princess Celestia had met and might have known things outside the report he’d been given.

“Well, the spell was cast by the Element of Magic herself and messing with it made him speak in different languages, so it might not be as simple as you think.” Cerulean rubbed a hoof to her chin and gazed up at a small cloud lazily drifting along in the sky as she sorted through her thoughts to answer his questions. “Also, Regal Poise happened to accidentally cast a hearing enhancing spell on himself and overheard Fenrir mentioning Discord, from what he understood Discord gave him a mind with a conscience as a joke.”

“I see…” George mulled over what he’d learned from Regal Poise’s disrespect for the privacy of Equestria’s most influential diarch. “How unfortunate for us that Discord has been turned back into a statue and there’s no way to confirm his story.”

“Are you saying that Fenrir lied to the Princess?” Cerulean’s wings flinched at the possibility of Fenrir being able to lie to a being that controlled the sun and get away with it, but she stopped herself before she was obvious enough for other ponies to take interest in their conversation. George glanced at the setting sun and saw Fenrir’s form speeding back toward town at frightening velocity. The group of excited foals and one pink mare held on for dear life as Fenrir’s shoulders heaved up and down.

“I’m saying that as lies go, his story is about the only lie he could get away with, but it could also be true. I wouldn’t put it past Discord to do something like this; it seems about as senseless as anything else he did when he was out and about.” George shrugged at the idea, even if it was just to stop Cerulean Wind from freaking out and gossiping about Fenrir lying to Celestia. If it was true and Fenrir caught onto the guards suspecting him, George didn’t know what the wolf would choose to do.

“LIKE FRANKIE SAID; ‘I DID IT MY WAY!’” The high-pitched voices of excited foals screeched as Fenrir was close enough to Ponyville for their voices to carry. Fenrir was too preoccupied by running as fast as he could to sing with them. George remembered hearing about how Fenrir had turned feral while running like that before, so he started getting anxious about the approaching wolf. Nopony else seemed concerned at all and Fenrir had done this before, but could he really trust that? “I JUST WANNA LIVE WHILE I’M ALIVE!”

“Calm down already, he’s done this once before.” Cerulean Wind commented and nudged him in the side with a hoof. Yes, the foals had gone to Fluttershy to have the wolf do it again. He’d done it once without losing control, so it should be okay this time, as well. George dared a glance at his subordinates and saw them all giving small nods to confirm Cerulean’s words. He turned back toward Fenrir and found the wolf’s eyes locked onto him, burning with an intensity he really didn’t like.

He fought to stay stoic and stand his ground, since he already knew how Fenrir enjoyed scaring the ponies around him, presumably to prove his dominance. He set his jaw and decided that he would not give Fenrir the pleasure, not this time. Fenrir kept on getting closer and closer to where George had decided to stand his ground, yellow eyes never leaving George’s blue ones. When George could feel the rumble of the great wolf’s paws hitting the ground, Fenrir opened his jaw and George could see his glistening and sharp fangs. He thought he only blinked, but when he opened his eyes again, the wolf had already disappeared, his form obscured by the rim of George’s helmet, much in the same way Kamos’ hood had made the zebra lose sight of the wolf earlier in the day.

“IT’S MY LIFE!” Fenrir howled out as he landed behind George. George spun around in time to see the wolf launching into the air again. The foals on his back squealed in glee as the wolf flipped backwards in the air in an impressive display of dexterity. The height of the wolf’s jump and the speed he had been running in told leagues about the strength in the wolf’s long limbs and barrel-shaped torso. Fenrir’s body leveled and he extended his legs downward before he fell beyond the buildings on the other side of the plaza. The noisy splash and the sound of laughing and cheering foals suggested that Fenrir had purposefully landed in the pond of Ponyville’s park. George flew over to check the damage, along with pretty much every pegasi in the crowd.

“That was awesome!” An orange filly with a purple mane squealed out. George noticed that she was one of the few foals with enough sense to be wearing a helmet. ”Let’s do it again!”

“No.” Fenrir rumbled out and climbed out of the water, along with about half of the foals still clinging onto his back, both terrified and excited by the ride they’d gone through.

“Aww...”George presumed that the three fillies that were wearing helmets were the three fillies Fenrir had scared when he went feral last time. The resemblance with two bearers of the elements was obvious with the light yellow earth pony and the natural white unicorn, but who was this orange pegasus, then?

“Night is falling and runts such as yourselves are meant to sleep through the Dark.” Fenrir said cryptically and lowered himself on the drenched grass to allow the foals to climb off of him safely. George had taken note of how Fenrir put emphasis on the words “Light” and “Dark”, as if they meant something other than what George thought. The wolf had called him “one of Light” and designated himself as a “child of Dark”. George didn’t like the sound of that, it was like the wolf was already setting them against each other.

“Those were some pretty slick moves, for someone without wings, that is.” Rainbow Dash zipped over to Fenrir and landed right in front of his muzzle. Fenrir grinned at the comment, showing more sharp fangs than George was comfortable with. There was no way Fenrir hadn’t realized how much it bothered ponies. He was definitely just doing it on purpose.

“Thank you, Rainbow Dash. That means a lot, coming from one of Equestria’s most talented fliers.” Rainbow Dash visibly inflated at the obvious compliment. Fenrir had not moved from his spot in the grass. It was probably because of all the foals and their parents and caretakers swarming around him, gathering up their charges one by one. Any movement from the wolf could bump a foal into the crowd. George was impressed by the wolf’s consideration; if that was the reason he was staying still to begin with. He was annoyed enough by the wolf’s mind games to doubt the wolf's capacity for even such minimal altruism.

“Oh, I’m not a wonderbolt just yet, but I’ll have to admit, I am pretty awesome!” Rainbow Dash’s wings popped out and she started to hover in front of Fenrir, waiting for the wolf to compliment her more. George wasn’t surprised by the fact that Rainbow Dash was so self-centered; he was more surprised how unaware she was of it. The way she would literally pat herself on the back was both tragic and comedic.

“Now settle down, sugarcube, that’s more than tootin’ yer own horn.” Applejack trotted into the scene and immediately recognized the rainbow-maned mare basking in her own glory, imagined or not. George’s opinion of this mare just kept on getting higher the more he knew about her. “Applebloom, get out of there, we gotta get up on home, ‘fore dinner gets cold!”

“Blue Egoistical Pony’s transgressions aside, I have something to ask of you, Applejack.” Fenrir growled out, drowning out the yellow-coated filly’s complaints with his low growl of a voice.

“Aha! You just called Applejack by name! I knew you were just messing with me!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed and fluttered dangerously close to Fenrir’s fangs. Fenrir didn’t even spare the noisy pegasus a glance.

“I am wondering if I am still welcome at your farm, Applejack. With all that’s happened after you extended that kindness to me before, I would understand if I am not welcome.” George scoffed at the manipulative way Fenrir worded his query. Fenrir had just given the orange mare’s little sister a ride on his back and the small filly probably still thought the world of the entertaining wolf. There were little to no chances of Applejack refusing him under these circumstances. The only reason George didn’t intervene was because if Fenrir stayed on the farm, he was easier to keep track of.

“Of course ya are, big fella! Everypony makes mistakes and you’ve shown that you regret yours. Besides, you’re a big help on the farm and giving you a place to sleep is the least I can do.” Applejack waved off the wolf’s gloomy attitude with a hoof and a smile, without the slightest hint of hesitation. It seemed like no other pony had caught onto the wolf’s manipulative ways. George couldn’t say he was surprised, but he had held a small sliver of hope about the Elements being smarter than the common pony.

“Hey, I’m talking to you, chump!” George flared his wings out in alarm as Rainbow Dash aggressively shoved herself in front of Fenrir’s muzzle. The mare’s impulsive nature would get her killed, but George would have preferred that it didn’t happen on his watch. Fenrir growled low in his throat, but forced his snarl down after a quick glance at the two pegasi guards on either side of Rainbow Dash, hooves at the ready on their spears.

“I have made it abundantly clear that I dislike you, Rainbow Dash. I do not need any other reason to ridicule you, but doing so also alleviates some of my displeasure without resorting to violence. Please, do not test my self-restraint further, Blue Oblivious Pony.” Fenrir growled out his words deliberately to drive the point home. George couldn’t fault the wolf for thinking Rainbow Dash was annoying, but the wolf’s flippant temper concerned him even further. George had to wonder if he had misinterpreted the weight of what it meant when Fenrir growled and snarled. Fenrir was from a different time, a time where he probably had no other way to employ dominance, other than aggression. It would take time to deprogram that instinct, to teach him that he didn’t have to strive for dominance, not anymore. George ordered his subordinates to stand down with a wave of a wing and Fenrir visibly relaxed at the gesture.

“You don’t have to be angry anymore.” And just like that, everypony jumped as they noticed the pink mare standing among them. Pinkie Pie had been standing right next to George and he had not noticed the bright-colored mare until she spoke. She was looking the wolf in the eyes with a seriousness George hadn’t expected the mare to be capable of. Her hair still had its usual flair, so at least this wasn’t one of her bouts of depression. “The Dark can be forgiven.”

George glanced back at Fenrir to see how he would react to the mare’s cryptic statement. Fenrir wasn’t snarling, growling, or acting aggressive in any way, but George still flinched back. Fenrir was glaring right at the pink mare. Nopony else was reacting to the unbridled fury in that glare, but George’s special talent was noticing things other ponies didn’t. The anger disappeared when Fenrir blinked and George didn’t know if he should feel lucky to have caught it. He had seen a glimpse of the thing that could tear apart a dragon and bathe in its blood. The fact Fenrir was hiding it so well disturbed him.

“I am not angry, only annoyed. I can see how that can be hard to distinguish, with my frightening appearance and all.” Fenrir stood back up, as the crowd around him had dispersed enough for him to move freely. He started walking away from them without giving them another glance. Pinkie’s comment had hit home somehow and he was not hiding it very well. “I wish you a good night, Shadow hide you.”

Fenrir walked out of the park and disappeared into the darkening day, leaving behind a group of confused ponies.

“Pinkie, what in the hay was that all about?” Rainbow Dash asked, forever the inconsiderate one of their little group of heroes. “He bolted right after hearing your weird mumbo-jumbo about the ‘Dark’ he was going on about. Where in the wide, wide world of Equestria did you hear about that?”

Rainbow Dash was waving both of her hooves in front of her to get the point across. Such flamboyant body language aggravated George and he chose not to look directly at the mare. It was like she was screaming out every word.

“He doesn’t know how to cry… Please, don’t hate him.” Pinkie Pie nearly whispered to the hovering Rainbow Dash. The gathered ponies fell silent and felt a shiver run down their spines when they noticed the distant gaze in Pinkie’s eyes as she turned to address the colorful mare directly. George had heard the pink mare’s precognizant abilities were only limited to weird quirks in her body, not actual prophecies. If she wasn’t doing this just to freak them out for a joke, then what was happening just now proved that to be wrong. Pinkie then simply walked away. She didn’t hop, or skip, or disappear behind a puff of smoke. She just trotted off in a brisk pace, but still with that serious and distant look to her eyes. Nopony even thought to stop her.

“Sis, are we going home or not?” Applebloom piped in, having missed most of the drama while saying goodbye to her friends. She thought the sour mood was strange, considering the fun she’d had that day.

Fenrir

Why had he reacted so violently to Pinkie’s words? He’d been throwing around the bullshit phrases hinting toward an old religion the ancient Fenrir could have followed, so why did Pinkie Pie using those words cause him to feel so angry? The words had just come to him when he talked, but that couldn’t mean there was any truth to them, right?

The “Shadow hide you” line was ripped from the Elder Scrolls games he’d played while he had been human. The members of the Dark Brotherhood had used it as a phrase to wish each other luck. The whole “Dark” thing was from Dark Souls, it had been the chaotic evil ending to the game to bring about true Dark to the world. He knew exactly why the things he said were bullshit, so why was he so mad when Pinkie Pie borrowed his terminology?

Had he really been thinking about where the phrases came from as he said them? Had they really been so fresh in his mind that he would use them in conversation? He couldn’t even remember his own name, so why would he remember where he’d heard those specific phrases?

Fermented apples. Disgusting.

Fenrir felt his stomach lurch and immediately jolted to the side of the road and started to furiously claw at the ground. Oh, that apple cider really wasn’t sitting well with him. He could taste the stomach acid in his throat and fought to keep it in. As soon as the hole was deep enough he stopped holding back the torrent of foul-smelling vomit. He retched a few times to make sure he had gotten all of the apple cider out of his system, before quickly filling the hole back up again.

He really should have learnt his lesson with the apples at Sweet Apple Acres. His body didn’t process plants at all. He had to hunt and kill for his food now. He couldn’t even indulge in alcohol to try and wash out the disturbingly sweet taste of blood out. He was a carnivore now and he didn’t know how he should feel about that. His whole body was specifically designed to kill and digest other living things. He didn’t like the way that restricted his choices. Every HiE fic he’d read, the human at least had a choice to go the vegan route, but he had no such luxury. He was a monster among pacifist ponies taking care of cleaning up wild animal’s burrows.

Sleep.

Fenrir yawned wide and with conviction. Running around with a group of foals and an over-active mare on your back several times per day really took the strength out of you. He would have to try and find out if he had any reason to appear in Equestria at this point in time. The whole world he was in was a fabrication in his own reality, so the appearance of a new surprising character probably meant a new story arc. He would just have to figure out his place in it and hopefully he’d be done and get sent back to the human world. He’d killed a dragon already; he could probably handle anything this world threw at him and the Elements of Harmony.

He ran back to Sweet Apple Acres and snuck into the barn to catch some Z’s. Applejack would come by later with a heavily intoxicated Big Macintosh and explain to granny Smith that he was sleeping in the barn another night. He would rather not disturb the old mare, when she still thought he was a menace. He circled around for a few laps and then settled onto the dent he’d dug into the barn’s floor.

Necessary for survival, yet so useless.

Fenrir opened his eyes and perked his ears to catch any sounds around him. No ponies, a few small pests hiding within the structure and a call in the night, reminiscent of old times. Fenrir straightened his body out fluidly and slunk out into the dusk, staying low and eerily quiet.

The other one hadn’t even heard it. Fenrir followed the call into the Everfree forest, sneaking from one shadow to the next. The great wolf snuck through the forest, until he came across a clearing deep in the forest the ponies feared. There was a cloaked figure at the center of the clearing, half-obscured by tall grass, but still visible to the wolf’s tall form. Fenrir retreated back into the forest’s shadow and circled around to be down-wind from the figure. It took him a moment, but he could recognize the scent of the pony sitting there, calling him.

“Luna.” Fenrir said to get the mare’s attention, as she had not heard him walking over to her. Using the words felt strange, they slipped out of his throat with no effort of his own. He knew them, yet he did not remember learning them. Treacherous magic, perverting his nature… he still needed the words, he needed the Liar.

“Fenrir, we wish you would refrain from surprising us in such fashion.” The mare of the moon frightened and retreated away from him. All the words he wanted to say were of hate, so he did not use them. Watching her was too much, so Fenrir laid himself down. The night was falling; the Dark would obscure the hated weakness of the mare in front of him. “We have come to inquire why thou hath upset our sister in such a manner.”

“Resentment.” The word came to him, escaping his throat through magic. The Liar used more words, conversed with the weak ponies. Prodded, inquired and manipulated them through their meaning. It was not his way, not something one of Dark would do.

“We do not approve of the way you speak of our sister! She rules over these lands as much as I do and you will show us respect!” The mare attempted to sound authoritative, yet he could smell her fear, her hesitation.

“You hold no power over me.” The mare with stars in her mane flared her wings and rose up on her hind legs to state her business. Her stupid theatrics fell short with a simple push of his muzzle. “Theatrics will not hide your weakness.”

“This is outrageous! You will pay for such -”

“No.” The word was simple and the mare was struck speechless by it. His words still had power, even without the Liar. Her silence did not last long.

“You recognize yourself as a creature of the night and yet you go against me?”

“The night is not yours.”

“I am the Princess of the Moon, I rule over the night sky, as my sister rules over the day! You would do well to remember this!” The mare was infuriating in her insistence. The truth was obvious, yet the words did not form. Luna had cast away the Dark and thought to lord over the Night with only her pale Light?

“Your Light does not rule the night.” Could the mare have forgotten her true nature? Had the Liar’s words rung true? The mare huffed and tried calm herself, the stars in her mane blinking and flashing. “Have you forgotten your true nature?”

“Neigh, I have regained it! Nightmare Moon was a deviance of character, brought on by petty jealousy. I hoped you would have understood that, Fenrir. I cannot fault you for your loyalty, but please let go of your groundless hate.” The mare was irate at the truth, obviously under the impression she was right. His power was not the way to convince her of the truth.

He needed the Liar’s words.

“Look around you, Luna. Tell me what you see.” Fenrir asked while starting to circle the princess of the night in a leisurely pace. Fenrir didn’t know it, but Luna noticed how the look in his eyes changed, became more animated, intelligent. “Is it your Light that governs the land?”

Luna hesitated, but then set her eyes on the forest around her. Her moon was bright and high in the sky, giving the clouds partly obscuring it a silvery sheen; her stars were majestic and distant around her majestic moon, everything was at it should be. Fenrir passed in front of her; obscuring her view of the sky and tearing her focus back down to the forest floor. She turned her head to and fro and saw the moonlit clearing they were in. Fenrir could also see the mare turning her eyes away from the ever darkening shadows of the forest. There had been some truth to the Liar’s words, she had forgotten the truth.

“They have forgotten you. They only revere you as a diarchic figure of power, the lesser of their two benevolent rulers. Your sister is revered as a goddess; she has temples built in her name, while you are an old mare’s tale, used to frighten little foals.”

“My moon and stars have inspired countless scientist, poets and artists, Fenrir. My sister’s overabundant light gives life, but I call out ponies’ talent, allow them dreams of inspiration and wonder.” Ponies, she was so focused on talking about ponies when conversing with him.

“Tell me, Princess Luna, how many ponies call your name in their prayers? How many remember to ask for the night’s protection? How many still call for Celestia in the night?” Fenrir questioned Luna, purposefully keeping his tone calm and slow, despite his seething anger at the mare’s weakness and insistence. “How many thank you for their inspiration?”

“It will take time for ponies to trust me again, I am aware of that. You cannot goad me with petty jealousy, I’ve learned from my mistake.” Luna turned her head side to side, trying to keep the wolf in her line of vision without turning her body around.

“Ponies can dream during the day, artists paint sunny fields and work in your sister’s Light. Dreams are not your power, they are not why you are the Princess of the Night.” Fenrir stopped his circling and sat in front of Luna, his tall form obscuring the moon’s light from Luna. “Poor little alicorn, you don’t even know who you are. Do you really believe you are meant to be a pale reflection of your sister? That the pale light your moon reflects is your power?” Fenrir leaned closer to Luna, as the Liar’s foreign instincts suggested.

“The moon’s light is not about power, it brings hope to ponies, they gaze up in awe at my night sky.” Luna countered Fenrir’s questions. Fenrir felt a jab of intense anger at Luna’s insistence. This was hopeless, the mare was convinced her place was in the Light. Fenrir snarled and barely fought down the urge to tear the mare’s throat out. The Liar’s influence beat that urge down as it intensified.

“The moon’s light gives us a shadow to hide in, grants the prey light, where we can see them. You Light is the one to feed the Dark, whether you have forgotten that or not.” The Liar’s games were useless. There was no clever way to manipulate Luna into believing in the truth. He would tell her and be done with it. “You adopted the Dark as your own, we were born in it, molded by it. We rose to fight by you, all of us. Everything with teeth and a hunger, from the Dark in the realm.”

“No, that’s not how it -” The alicorn was retreating, nearly stumbling on her cloak as Fenrir kept on telling her of a truth she’d forgotten.

“I worshipped a being that shrouded her form in shadow and wielded darkness as her weapon, I revered what you once were, Luna. I swore my loyalty to the deity that understood our hunger and the power we signified.” Fenrir took a step toward Luna, making her take a panicked step back. His words were rattling something inside her, he was sure of it. “ You have been reduced to a Light without Shadow. You hold no power over the Dark in your current state and Celestia’s ponies will always favor her Light to your pale reflection of it.”

“No! You are wrong! I...” The mare straightened her posture and Fenrir was surprised to see sadness in the alicorn’s eyes, rather than the expected confusion or anger. The mare bowed, presenting her neck to him. She was prostrating herself in front of him, apologizing for what she thought to be her sin. “I am sorry if that is what you thought of me, but I only cared for my own selfish goals as Nightmare Moon. I am so sorry using you and your people in such a way.”

“You dare apologize for her greatness!? YOU ARE THE WEAKNESS OF MY MISTRESS, YOU DO NOT HAVE THAT RIGHT!” A red mist descended upon his vision and all he could think about was breaking this disgusting pile of weak flesh for disrespecting his goddess.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fyzD4S2Cy4

The Big Bad Wolf

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Meh, i feel drained... I was planning on explaining somethings here, but just comment and I'll see if I get to them...

The Big Bad Wolf

Dude, hey dude, listen… Love and Tolerate, bro.

“Stay out of this!” Careful, don’t use words. You are nothing but a Mask! Your lies only serve to hide me, you weak little shit! You cannot defy me! THIS IS MY BODY!

Hate detected…

“QUIET!” Fenrir roared and threw his head back, away from Luna. The great wolf proceeded to jump and throw his head from side to side while snarling and growling at nothing. The weak mewling thing that bore the name of his old Mistress was still covering on the ground like a thing much weaker than she should be. Luna, the princess of the Night, what a pitiful sack of quivering flesh she turned out to be.

Firing the Orbital Friendship Cannon!

“SILENCE!” Fenrir roared and whipped his head on a tree at the edge of the clearing. There was a meaty “thud!” on impact, but the pain only aggravated him further. It was his body; the Liar would not be disheartened from its pains. The Liar’s nonsense and honeyed words had worked in persuading the ponies that he was not an immediate threat, but Fenrir had not realized just how aggravating it could be.

TASTE THE RAINBOW MUTHAFUCKA!

Luna

Luna kept her eyes shut and tried to keep still as the wolf raged around her, pacing the edges of the clearing and shouting at her to stay quiet. She had expected the wolf to attack her when he didn’t take her apology as well as she had hoped. She had remembered that the wolf had a temper, but the things he said about the Dark… She did not remember it, but it felt like they struck true. Had the Elements of Harmony really robbed her of a part of her own power, instead of simply healing her?

Had that been the reason she had been so weak those first few weeks after her return from the moon? Fenrir paused her pacing suddenly and Luna heard something heavy crash onto the ground. Fenrir had moved around and had been making little to no sound, so the sudden noise made her flinch. The wolf didn’t snap at her sign of weakness, as she had expected for him to do, so she peeked out between her hooves and didn’t see Fenrir anywhere. She straightened her neck and focused her eyes on a suspicious pile of rocks. The pile of rocks jerked into motion and Fenrir put his paws under him stiffly. It was disturbingly easy to mistake Fenrir’s still form for an oddly shaped rock, especially in the dark.

“Ah, Princess Luna, you need not cover in front of me.” Fenrir said, suddenly sounding a lot calmer and actually somewhat bemused. Fenrir started to pace around her again, but now he was walking around her slowly, instead of the eerily silent jog he had done a moment ago. She could hear his claws scraping at the soft ground. “You caught me at a bad time, I’m sorry for frightening you.”

Luna raised her head out from between her hooves and dared a glance at the frighteningly large wolf. He was walking the edge of the clearing they were in, but his limbs moved stiffly, as if he was awkward in his own body. The wolf raised a wrong paw when trying to step forward and nearly stumbled as Luna watched. What could have happened to him to make him to move so uncharacteristically? Could it be one of the “ane-rysins” Celestia’s prized healers had discovered during her absence? Fenrir was an old beast, not nearly as rooted in magic as Celestia, or her, so old age could affect him. Had his burst of emotion triggered an episode?

“Are you feeling well, Fenrir?” Luna carefully asked, knowing that Fenrir could become aggressive if his physical proves was questioned. As a former alpha of his pack, he had been forced to hide any signs of weakness to keep his position. His size had not been as uncommon in olden times, so Fenrir had to be more deadly than his peers to stay in his position. Any sign of weakness meant that the younger males in his pack would have challenged him.

“Where is the rest of my pack, Luna? The Sun Horse couldn’t have known, but you claim to be the ruler of the Night. Where are your subjects, Royal Sister?” Luna flinched back as Fenrir asked a question that hit true with her. Celestia had banished all of Fenrir’s kin into Tartarus, for their aggression toward ponykind. Her sister had thought his kin to be mindless beasts, considering them beyond diplomacy. Luna didn’t know what had happened to Fenrir’s pack, since that would mean opening Tartarus and only Discord had been insane enough to do that. Fenrir kept walking in his awkward way, but Luna kept her eyes to the ground.

“They are still in Tartarus, Fenrir. I do not know of their wellbeing, as the gates are meant to stay closed…” Luna dared a glance at the raging wolf and furrowed her brow as the wolf was still having trouble walking right. The way he jerked his limbs forward and kept his eyes squarely on the ground bothered her. He was clearly ill, but confronting him about it would only aggravate the wolf. Had he asked her the question only to distract her from his troubles at moving his own body? A proud beast like Fenrir would rather suffer through his ills, than accept help from somepony he clearly despised. “I’m sorry, Fenrir…”

“Oh, stop apologizing already; it is unbecoming of you, itty bitty Woona.” Fenrir growled out a chuckle at his random pet name for the Princess of the Night. He was clearly using his newfound ability of speech to express dominance over the ponies around him through insults. Kamos’ agents had told her as much in their reports. Fenrir instigated arguments, only to win them and feel superior. It made sense that Fenrir would transfer over his primitive and confrontational sense of social interaction into his new persona.

“We wish that you would refrain from using that name of us. It is distracting to be reminded of something so old.” Woona had been a pet name that had been used of her in the dusk of her consciousness. Both her and her sister had outgrown such childish games long ago.

“HA! So, you were actually called that. I knew it!” Fenrir sounded excited and amused at her reaction and she didn’t see any of that anger he had been expressing only minutes ago. His movements were still stiff and made more noise than they should, but he was not having as much trouble moving while he chuckled at her old pet name. “You do realize that I am not going to stop calling you Woona, right?”

“Our name is Luna, call us as such, wolf.” She did feel guilty for what had happened to the wolf and his kind, but she was still royalty, as much he denied her crown.

“HAH! Names are important, I agree.” Fenrir kept walking, but he slowed down to a more comfortable walk, still circling her along the groove he’d torn in the grassy earth. “Woona, Luna, Lunar Mare, The Mare on the Moon, Mistress of Dreams, Maiden of Stars, Nightmare Moon. I know many names for you, but how many of them are true, Luna? Do you really know the hidden corners of our minds, slither through our dreams?”

“I do not understand why you ask this of us, Fenrir.” The wolf wasn’t even looking at her. His head was lowered and his eyes trailed the path he’d carved into the earth. She could hear how his large lungs sucked in air and expelled it. Her senses and muscles were still hyper from the scare the wolf had given her before.

“Do you know my name, or not, Luna? Can you look into these eyes and say my name?” Fenrir turned to her, but turned back to staring at the ground as their eyes met. She thought she had seen fear in his eyes, but what could Fenrir be afraid of?

“You are Fenrir, the great wolf. You recognized yourself as such, even before... in times before speech.” Luna could feel her voice failing her. There was something wrong here and it frightened her. Fenrir was acting erratically and she really didn’t want to deal with a mentally unstable Fenrir.

“Before talking, you say… That would mean you recognize this body, that it has always been Fenrir… Somepony as crucial to this world as you recognizes it, so it’s unlikely to be a new addition…” Fenrir was still walking circles around her, but now he was staring at the ground with an intensity she didn’t like. He was mumbling about things she didn’t understand and seemed confused. “Do I know the name from its memory or from the tales of my world? What kind of logic decides what I remember and what I don’t? Could it be association? Does he have to have memory of something similar for it to connect? How does that explain my understanding of language and social interaction? No, it has to be something else…”

“Fenrir, We are concerned –“

“I AM NOT FENRIR!” The wolf suddenly roared and jerked his head toward her. The wolf stumbled on his own paws and fell to the ground ungracefully. He growled and snarled as his paws tore at the ground for him to get back on his feet. There was a heart-wrenching frustration in Fenrir’s actions that made Luna feel uncomfortable. Was she responsible for confusing him to such a degree?

“We are able to help you overcome your confusion, Fenri –“

“I am human, not a beast. Cars, cellphones, airplanes, the internet, tumblr, youtube, clothes, Equestria Daily, bronies… I am a human, a brony, this is not my body, this is not my world and this isn’t right, not right at all. Luna, can you look into these eyes and tell me my name? I can’t remember my name.”

Fenrir was ranting while glaring at the ground in front of him. He was standing still and staring down, but Luna could see how his muscles were straining under his thick fur. He was terrified by the confusion in his mind, but was too proud to openly show it. Breaking down like this in front of someone he didn’t recognize as worthy must have been making it a hundred times worse.

“Please, let us help. We never meant to cause you any discomfort.” Luna dared to take a step toward the wolf, but stopped as she noticed a slight, yet definite change in the wolf’s posture. His muscles relaxed and he stopped muttering nonsense. The great canine turned his yellow eyes toward her and although she didn’t see the murderous rage she had witnessed before, something about the wolf’s sudden calmness unnerved her.

“You… You are saying you did not mean harm, so it is perfectly logical to think that you are to blame for the harm already done. You are admitting your involvement in my current predicament; I hope you understand that, Luna.” Fenrir took a step toward her and although he sounded calm and was using a sophisticated form of speech, she still took a step back. There was something worrisome in the intensity of his gaze. “If you are pleading guilty to something other than bringing me here, in this spiteful beast, you better speak up, Socially Awkward Princess.”

“Please, you must understand, it was never meant to –“ Luna felt ashamed and couldn’t quite meet the wolf’s intense glare. That might have factored into the fact Fenrir was able to tackle her to the ground and pin her under one giant paw, but the speed the wolf moved suggested that he was not having trouble moving his limbs anymore.

“Do you think I care what the hell you meant to do?! You tore me from my own universe and transplanted me into the psyche of a homicidal canine! HOW IN THE SEVEN HELLS DID YOU THINK THAT WOULD WORK OUT?!” Spittle splattered on Luna’s face as the wolf barked at her in anger. It was becoming exceedingly hard to breathe, as the wolf was not in the state of mind where he would care if his weight was crushing her ribcage. Between gasping for breath and only seeing the hate-filled snarl of a gargantuan wolf, it was nearly impossible to muster the focus required for any kind of spell that could save her.

“Look at me! Look at me and see who I am!” Fenrir lifted the paw holding Luna down enough for her to breathe, but he was still keeping her pinned against the ground and she could just barely breathe. She blinked away tears and did what the wolf was insisting her to do. She looked into his eyes saw his anger, but she also saw fear and frustration. “You look into these eyes and tell me my name, Princess of the Night!”

“We comply! We will do as thou ask!” She was terrified at what the wolf would do if she refused his forceful request. She was the Princess of the Night, she had an innate affinity to understanding spells and powers dealing with the hidden part of the mind, mainly the part that dreamed. She had been able to teach her magic to a few unicorns with a similar affinity for it, but she was probably the only pony that could do what Fenrir was asking her to do. She fought hard to ignore her uncomfortable position and searched herself for the tranquility she needed to do what she needed. Fenrir was breathing heavily and the anger in his eyes had not lessened, but at least he had the presence of mind to allow her time to work.

Despite her more than distracting circumstances, she was able to calm herself enough by breathing in and out slowly. She was starting to see more and more nuances in the hate in Fenrir’s eyes. She was able to see more and more of the light behind those eyes; she was starting to see the construct of the wolf’s soul and mind within his gargantuan body. She saw frustration and fear behind those yellow eyes. What she saw was a confused and scared spirit pleading for help.

Luna’s breath slowed as she tried to deepen her trance. Names were usually the first thing in a consciousness, it permeated everything about it, gave it a form, set it apart from others. Names were important and she didn’t see one, other than “Fenrir”, she would have to look deeper to know for sure. Looking into a mind was like looking at a constantly moving and changing word puzzle, the only thing that jumped out at her was “Fenrir” for something the spirit called himself, but if she looked even a little deeper, there was nothing. It was like this spirit had no identity and “Fenrir” was treated as an alias. She had seen something akin to this with ponies after traumatizing events, amnesia, they called it, but for a spirit’s identity to be as lost as this…

Being torn from their home dimension and forced into a foreign psyche would certainly be traumatizing enough.

“Who am I?” The wolf’s booming voice distracted Luna out of her trance, but she thought to have seen another presence. She only caught it as she was jolted back into reality and the fury in Fenrir’s eyes returned full force. The spirit she had seen didn’t have that much anger in it. There was a thing of immense hatred surrounding and crushing the spirit. A wordless rage enveloping and seeping into the beautiful mind she had witnessed, perverting and unraveling it at the seams.

“I don’t’ know, I’m sorry.” Luna gasped out, before she was able to stop herself. Putting herself in such a trance weakened her to suggestion, so the wolf’s question circumvented her rational mind. She winced as the wolf’s paw pressed on her ribcage again. The gargantuan wolf was snarling at her, with spittle dripping from his huge fangs and onto her coat. She could only see the immense hate in his eyes now, she had to get out, before he tore her apart. She focused all of her fear and panic into a teleportation spell and could feel the magic rushing into her horn as Fenrir opened his jaws.

”YOU LYING BITCH! GET BACK HERE, YOU FUCKING MULE!” Luna heard Fenrir roaring out from somewhere within the forest as she reappeared in the air above it. Her chest ached, her cloak was torn and the fact she had nearly died was only starting to sink in. She flapped her wings to stay afloat and looked around in the forest below in a panic; she really didn’t want to lose sight of Fenrir. The wolf had gone silent and the sound of her wings sounded loud enough to be echoing off the mountainside. She had to get higher, out of the distance Fenrir was able to jump before –

Fenrir’s gargantuan body slammed into Luna’s side and she could hear how his jaws snapped shut, luckily biting down on her cloak instead of one of her wings. Fenrir was supernaturally powerful, but his jumping ability had a limit, as ridiculous that limit was. Fenrir started falling back down toward the ground, dragging the frantic Luna down with him. She was trying to unlatch her cloak and free her wings, but the latch was burying into her side with all the weight of Fenrir’s falling body, so it was a lot harder than you would think, even with alicorn magic.

She was sure she would not be given another chance to escape if Fenrir was able to bring her down to his domain again. He would dig his claws through her wings and snap her horn off with his jaws. He had proven to have the strength and cruelty to do something like that. The cold predatory anger in his eyes convinced her that he was capable of things worse than she could imagine. She tried bashing Fenrir’s snout with rays of magic, but all she got was an annoyed grunt and a quick flick of his neck to rattle her concentration.

Her cloak had been torn by Fenrir’s claws before and Luna could hear the tear spreading as the wolf jerked his head. She only had a few seconds before Fenrir would slam her body on to the ground, but shredding her cloak was her only chance at getting away. She fought against every pegasi instinct she had and folded her wings to her sides to avoid cutting through them as well. She didn’t have time to be fancy and the shard of moonlight she used to tear at her cloak nicked her coat once or twice, as she used her frantic mind to control the spell most natural to her. Her cloak was shredded and Luna flapped her wings madly to slow her decent, but she still crashed into the underbrush of the forest, despite her attempts.

Fenrir let out a long, wordless howl as he realized his prey had escaped and Luna struggled to get up and run. She was bleeding and she hadn’t fallen that far from where Fenrir did. There was no way the wolf’s keen senses couldn’t track her in the dark forest. Her breathing was ragged and her mind jumbled from her rough landing, so all she could was run and look for break in the trees to get airborne again. She couldn’t hear Fenrir following her, but she was not going make the mistake of stopping and trying to see if he was there. She was playing his game now, but stopping would only mean that he would win and she would die.

“Do you still think your jeweled crown gives you power over me?” Luna jerked and stumbled on a root as she heard Fenrir’s voice just right behind a tree she was about to pass. How could he have passed her without her knowing? What kind of game was he playing? She started running in the opposite direction, too scared to finish her thought properly.

“Do you feel in control?” Fenrir stepped out of the forest and blocked her path. Luna skidded on the slippery ground of the ancient forest and came to a stop only inches from Fenrir’s snarling muzzle. They were practically nose to nose and everything that wanted to live in Luna screamed at her to run, but she could only stand on her shaking legs and whimper as the hate in those yellow eyes bore into her.

“We… I wanted to do the right thing. My selfish wants robbed you of everything. We… I believe you deserve a chance, Fenrir.” Fenrir hadn’t killed her yet, she had to say these things before he did. She was too afraid to stop herself from talking now. “I have wronged you in such horrible ways, yet all of them just forgive me, not knowing anything…”

“You wanted me to know you, to understand what you had done to Fenrir beyond his own understanding.” Fenrir growled out, that all-encompassing anger subsiding for a moment. “You set out to pervert the nature of your most loyal follower, just so you could feel better about yourself?”

“No! No, that’s not what I… I couldn’t risk him continuing to fight his old war, my ancient mistake, I wished for him to understand. I never meant to bring harm to anyone. Please, I shall do everything in my power to make this right.” Luna noticed that she was begging, she was begging for her life in an ancient forest at night, muzzle to muzzle with her old compatriot.

“Discord opened the gates, but you let me roam free, after attempting to pervert everything that I am.” She couldn’t look away, but the sudden reappearance of that boundless hate made her flinch and made her hoofs shake more. There was so much hate in that glare that she was surprised she was not torn to pieces, with pieces of her mane tangled in Fenrir’s fangs, blood splattered everywhere. The mental image didn’t help her fear, at all. “I am starting to remember…”

“I am sorry…” Luna could feel herself shaking and she felt ashamed for it. She knew that such obvious signs of her fear only aggravated the wolf further, but everything he had done had driven her to the brink of her sanity. Everything about the wolf told her she was seconds away from being slaughtered horribly, yet he was having a somewhat civil conversation with her. She knew there was some kind of rationalization that could alleviate her fear, but she was too terrified to bring it to mind.

“I beg of thee... Spare my life. I do not wish for my sister to suffer further.” Fenrir responded to her plea by growling deep in his throat and inching his jaw open enough for Luna to smell the putrid stench of whatever living thing he’d slaughtered before. The great wolf hunched and pounced. Luna closed her eyes, too afraid to even think of fighting back, but was both relieved and terrified when she heard or felt nothing.

What had happened? Was Fenrir still glaring at her? Was he only waiting for her to open her eyes to make her even more frightened before killing her? She didn’t want to open her eyes, she really didn’t. If Fenrir was there, she was sure she would scream, but it would also be terrifying to notice that he wasn’t there, since she wouldn’t know where he would be coming from next.

It took her several minutes to gather up the courage to open her eyes. She didn’t hear anything move or breathe during that time, but she knew better than to trust her own senses when it came to Fenrir and hunting in the Dark. Fenrir was nowhere to be seen and the only thing that proved he had even been there were the four paw prints he’d left when she was snarling at her during their conversation. She was breathing heavily; her heart was beating in her ears, drowning out any of the small noises Fenrir could be making if he was still watching her. She could smell the sweat drenching her coat, so she couldn’t even smell his breathing if he was standing right next to her.

“I will do everything in my power to help you, to make this right! Please, believe me!” Luna shouted into the darkened forest. Her moon only served to deepen the shadows of the forest and gave Fenrir that much more places to hide. He was a wolf the size of a house, yet he could be hiding right under her nose and she wouldn’t know it. That in itself was enough to frighten her, but she didn’t know if Fenrir was playing with her, or if she had been spared from a horrible fate.

“When you re-embrace the Dark, you have my permission to try…” Fenrir’s voice called out from the forest. He was not right next to her, nor did he even try to frighten her, but even the fact she couldn’t see the great wolf, or know where he was, unnerved her immensely. At least she could deduce that she was free to go from his comment. Luna galloped to get the momentum to force her way through the foliage of the forest and took flight. She didn’t trust her concentration enough to teleport past the trees. She got a few new scrapes, but she was airborne and quickly ascending beyond the range Fenrir could jump.

She paused at an altitude she thought safe and glanced down at the forest. She had a feeling there was something she should say, but nothing came out of her mouth when she opened it. Was she planning on apologizing, or maybe reassuring that other entity she had imprisoned within Fenrir? What could she possibly say that would alleviate such a transgression?

“I… I promise to do better…” Luna stayed there, hovering high in the air and going over everything that had happened. The other one within Fenrir, the “human”, had lost himself within Fenrir’s blind hate and attacked her. Somewhere between dragging her down from the sky and confronting her in the forest he had regained his senses and had decided to use her fear to get honest answers out of her. She had been spared from a horrible fate by the two minds’ shared curiosity over how they’ve come to be.

She had hurt yet another innocent soul, all because of her own hubris. Why was it so hard to stop hurting the ponies and people around her?

She was shook out of her melancholy by Fenrir’s far-reaching howl gliding through the night. There was nothing else in existence that could howl in the way he did and Luna felt the sound scratching at some forgotten part of her. She beat her wings and headed toward Canterlot as Fenrir kept howling into the night, the forest under her howling, screeching and hissing to join the great beast. Nocturnal birds and bats flew up to screech and hoot, frenzied by Fenrir’s howl. They gathered around her, brushing against her coat and wings, attempting to spread their excitement onto her.

She didn’t know why, but she was terrified of joining in their reverie. She was sure something terrible would happen, that she would change into something darker, something completely egoistical and cruel.

Nightmare Moon. She could feel the familiar feeling of omnipotence sneaking into her bones. The dark purple in her mane whispered promises of greatness and Fenrir’s howl only served to drown out her rational mind and focus the voices she had made the mistake of listening once before. Things like mental conditions got all kinds of complicated and meta-physical when you were a physical presentation of a celestial object.

She couldn’t let Fenrir manipulate her in this way, she wasn’t this weak anymore. She started to channel every ounce of power into her horn and started thinking of home, her tower in Canterlot, that insignia on the floor, where the moon shone through the night. Teleportation spells were made easier if you knew the place you teleported to and if you happened to draw your power from something that saturated the place you were teleporting to through the night.

The world flashed into brilliant light and there was the oppressive feeling of magical energy surging through her before it disappeared. Reading new studies on what teleportation magic actually did to achieve instant translocation had made the act seem exceedingly creepy to her, but she was glad to be outside of Fenrir’s zone of influence. Her memory of the world before her time as Nightmare Moon was sketchy at best, but Fenrir’s control over other animals and the way he resonated with the darker part of her unnerved her.

Fenrir

“You didn’t have to do that.” Fenrir muttered to himself, The Liar was in control for now. There was nothing to hunt or kill, so fighting the obstinate thing for control served no purpose. The thing had proven to be stronger than Fenrir had given it credit. As soon as it had become aware of Fenrir’s influence over its actions, it had fought against him surprisingly well. Watching the pathetic Princess of the Night fly away was proof enough of that fact.

“Trying to instigate another Nightmare Moon transformation would only bring Celestia’s whole army down on you, along with the Elements.” Fenrir hoped he could hurt the Liar without bringing harm to his own body. It seemed like the Liar was only capable of lying and complaining. If he really though his actions would have brought such devastating consequences, then why hadn’t the Liar stopped him? “I refuse to spend the rest of my existence in a cage, just because you can’t control your fucking temper, Fenrir.”

“My body, try to stop me.” Fenrir forced his throat to growl out. The Liar was the one in control right at that minute, so it was hard to go around him. Fenrir felt his body fall limp over the sudden confusion in management, but the Liar was fast enough to take control again to spare them from falling on the ground.

“We can’t be mentally wrestling over every little thing. I would like to get rid of you as fast as possible, as well. You’ll have to work with me if we’re ever going to get this over with...” Fenrir felt his body walk over to a small cliff overlooking a part of the forest. The fall was deadly to a pony, but Fenrir’s body could take it easily. The Liar sat his body down and directed his eyes toward the starry sky. There were no clouds for pegasi to hide in, or anything else to eat or attack, so the reason the Liar did this was lost to Fenrir. “If only I knew why I’m here, in this body…”

“The Moon Princess tried to change me.” Fenrir had his body growl out. His body was sitting, so the following slouch was minimal.

“No, that’s not what I mean! Why am I here, in this world, why have I been brought here, at this specific moment? There has to be a reason for that, I’ll just have to find out what that is.” The Liar was having his body pace the edge of the cliff, looking down onto the forest. The Liar was getting agitated over this and Fenrir couldn’t understand it. “I’ve appeared here at this time and we’ve found our way to the Elements of Harmony, but Celestia was only concerned over if we hurt anypony…”

“There is no crisis happening right now, so is this an introduction of my character, an episode or two to let the audience see what kind of person I am?” The Liar was using the spell just barely, so the words sounded like a series of growls and snarls. You could say the Liar was muttering to himself. “I scared the CMC, talked my way out of that, Twilight helped me speak with a spell, probably wrote a letter. I got hungry and nearly killed Rainbow Dash, I ran into the CMC again…”

“The CMC represent children, and the second time I met them was in a dark forest… bowtie, red capes…” The Liar stopped his pacing and snapped Fenrir’s head toward the forest. He stayed quiet and still for a minute or so, only opening and closing Fenrir’s mouth a few times. “I kill dragons, I drench myself in its blood, there’s even a part of me that despises ponies…”

“That is not something for a children’s show… except…” The Liar paused yet again, this time turning Fenrir’s head from side to side and lolling his eyes every which way. The Liar had his body jump down from the cliff and Fenrir had to position his legs under him to stop the talkative idiot from breaking his neck. The Liar took control again and started running through the forest, toward the mountain in the Everfree. Fenrir could smell the rotting carcass of the dragon he’d slaughtered earlier and directed the Liar toward it. There was nothing else this way he could be running toward.

“Take the gems, the big wolf is howling! We have to go, we have to go!” The voice didn’t sound like it came from a pony, it was too gruff, compared to the voiced Fenrir had heard. The Liar inhaled deeply and Fenrir smelled the smell of scared canine and upturned earth. Both the smell and the voice were coming from the dragon’s lair, where its horde was. Had the Liar known these mutts would be here? Fenrir was not especially fond of gems or material possessions in general, but these weak little runts were stealing from him. He’d killed the dragon, he had claim to all of its possessions, not these dogs!

“Simmer down, let’s sneak closer to them.” The Liar tried to whisper in his voice, but the only thing that came out from Fenrir’s throat was a quiet growl. Still, Fenrir could hear it clearly enough, the Liar was using his body to speak, after all. The Liar hunched down and started moving forward. Fenrir stepped in to move his legs properly and land them on the right places, if the Liar noticed it; at least he didn’t make a fuss about the intrusion. The Liar snuck toward the lair, Fenrir rushing him along, since there was a breeze toward the mountain, so there was a chance the mutts could smell him coming.

“Wolf went back to the ponies. Left horde here, we can’t leave gems here. We take gems, we take care of them. Wolf not know.” The mutt’s voice was grating to Fenrir’s ears and only gave him one more reason to tear them limb from limb. He could see into the cave now. It seemed like the dogs had dug a tunnel into the floor to get past the bloodied entrance. The entrance to the tunnel was close enough to where Fenrir was for him to block their way out before they could get to it.

“I used to wonder why I was here, if I had a reason for being here.” The Liar spoke suddenly and the mutts froze at the sudden voice, just for a second, but long enough for the Liar to leisurely walk halfway to the hole in the floor. Fenrir stopped his body and turned toward the dogs, his body was now close enough to the hole on the floor and the exit of the cave to pounce at the dogs trying to run away, no matter which way they tried. Surprisingly, the Liar was still not complaining about the intrusion. “I tried to distract myself by interacting with them, thinking that the reason had to present itself at some point. You see, I love those ponies, I admire and respect them.”

“We give gems back, we take nothing. We don’t want to anger big wolf.” One of the dogs piped out. Fenrir could smell the fear from all three of them. The Liar took a few steps toward the dogs and Fenrir enjoyed the scared reactions this caused. The Liar was good at these kinds of things; Fenrir would have killed one by this point and would probably have two hysterical dogs to deal with. In contrast, the Liar had an extremely attentive audience, all because of a few well-placed words.

“I had this idea that if I could just hold on, if I could cling to my sanity just a while longer, then I could be part of something good. I actually thought the feral part of me was only to test my resolve, my trial by fire, you might say.” The dogs were trying to slink away while the Liar was entranced by his own words, so Fenrir had to step in and freeze them in place with an aggressive bark. They yelped and whimpered at the thundering echo in the cave they were in.

“We sorry, we sorry!” The dogs hollered and the Liar only looked at the three whimpering forms in front of him. He took a few steps toward them again and the dogs showed subjugation by bowing with their hands stretched out, revealing their necks. The Liar probably wasn’t aware of this, but the gesture stopped Fenrir from killing them.

“You see, my mistake was in thinking that it was about me, but it’s about the show, it’s always been about the show. Tell me, Diamond Dogs, what role could a wolf capable of slaughtering dragons play in a pony show, aimed at children?” The Liar leaned his head down toward the dogs and waited for the dogs to gather enough courage to raise their heads. They looked at each other and whispered amongst themselves, trying their best to answer the Liar’s question right.

“The bad guy… great wolf, sir.” The small dog piped out, being ushered in front of the two larger ones to give the Diamond Dog’s answer. Fenrir could feel the Liar stretching his lips into that snarl he was so fond of. Fenrir had not quite understood its meaning, but the ponies had been doing a lot of the same, so he chalked it up to a herbivore thing. The dogs reacted like carnivores should, by getting nervous at the sight of his fangs.

“You are exactly right, Spot.” The smaller dog, along with the two bigger ones was surprised by the Liar knowing Spot’s name. The Liar used this chance to hunch down and lunge at one of the bigger ones and Fenrir had to correct the posture of his body and the way his jaw was positioned. The angle was awkward, so Fenrir was only able to grab the grey one by one of the elongated forearms. The Liar had been going for the throat, so Fenrir reasoned he would not have anything against killing the dog.

Fenrir took a quick step back and whipped his head to the side with all his considerable strength. The dog’s forearm had too much bone to eat quick enough right there, so Fenrir worked it free from his fangs with his tongue and positioned his body back in front of the two remaining dogs, dropping the mangled arm at their feet. Killing one of a group savagely was a scare tactic Fenrir was well acquainted with, but the Liar’s way of using it was especially effective, judging from the looks of sheer terror on the two surviving dogs.

“From this point on, the Diamond Dogs work for me, you come to me when called and you do exactly what I tell you to, or I’ll tear your legs off and watch you bleed out, understood?” The Liar growled out, the dogs nodding their head vehemently in agreement. They were ready to do pretty much anything to leave the cave alive, but Fenrir had a feeling the Liar had definitely made it clear he was the alpha of their little pack now. “Now pick up the pieces of your friend and go back to your pack. Tell them all to come to the clearing in front of this cave at first light, or suffer a fate worse than that of Fido here. anyone not present shall be hunted down.”

The Liar turned his back to the dogs and walked out of the cave and out into the clearing. He walked past the dragon’s carcass and into the forest. The Liar didn’t seem to have a destination in mind, but Fenrir remembered there being a stream between the cave and the way to Sweet Apple Acres, so he directed the Liar’s steps toward it. They reached the stream and the Liar bent down to wash off the Diamond Dog’s blood, as Fenrir had thought he would. The Liar stopped to look at Fenrir’s reflection after most of the blood had been washed off.

“Fenrir, I know you would not stop hating ponies, no matter what I did. That is something neither one of us can change, but I have no qualms about that, not anymore.” The Liar spread his lips into that strange snarl again before continuing. “It’s funny when I think about how I didn’t see it before; you’re literally the Big Bad Wolf. You are the oldest archetype of a villain there is, but you on your own are a rather cliché villain. So, I propose a deal to you, Fenrir; let me play the villain the way I want and I will make sure your Dark is restored, along with your pack.”

The Liar was making a lot of promises and even proposed going against the ponies he’d claimed to adore, but the Liar had proven to be better suited to surviving in this world, filled to the brim with peace loving ponies and creatures of Light. The Liar’s actions in the cave and the way he had talked to the Moon Princess proved he at least understood the Dark, so Fenrir was ready to believe him. He didn’t know how the Liar was planning on bringing his pack and the Dark back, but he didn’t understand a lot of things about the Liar. There was nothing Fenrir could lose from agreeing to the Liar’s proposition and much he could gain.

“I agree to your terms.” Fenrir had his body growl out through the pony magic. The Liar nodded his head once, before starting to run toward Sweet Apple Acres. The ponies could become suspicious if Fenrir slept in the forest, after the Liar had asked Applejack for lodging. Apart from the pegasi hiding in the errant cloud above the barn, there were no ponies to witness Fenrir sneaking back into the barn. Fenrir could hear the pegasi coming down from the cloud after he settled down to rest and then flying back up. Those sneaky ponies were annoying and now there was one right above the barn he was sleeping on.

The Liar would have to think of a way to either dispose of the flying horse, or sneak to the cave without it seeing for them to meet with the Diamond Dogs.

Discord's Cruel Joke

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This took a while to make because of real life things and a new job and all kinds of things. Enjoy.

Discord’s Cruel Joke

He had lost the wolf for approximately an hour last night. The speed and stealth the gargantuan wolf could move was surprising and after the wolf’s tail disappeared into the darkened forest, it was impossible to track him. Kamos would not be pleased at his slip up, but he would have to report it when he was relieved from guarding the frightening beast. At least the wolf had come back to sleep in the barn again, sparing him from whatever Kamos would do to him if he would tell him he had lost the wolf completely. He would have to be extra diligent from now on, the wolf had slipped by him after he’d let his guard down the first time the wolf laid down to rest.

“I got soul, but I’m not a soldier…” Fenrir came out of the barn, while growling out some kind of rhyme. It was nowhere as melodic as it was supposed to be, since his words were strung together from growls and barks. He had to strain his ears to make out what the wolf was saying at the altitude he was surveying Fenrir. Fenrir slunk out of the barn and started to jog back toward the forest. The moon had set and the sun was going to rise in a few moments, but the forest was still dark enough for the surveying pegasus to lose the wolf in the undergrowth of the forest. He pushed his cloud gingerly to make it float closer to the edge of the forest. He would have to get down onto the trees to keep the wolf in sight.

The wolf jogged into the forest and the pegasus on the cloud witnessed the canine disappearing into the long shadows of the forest yet again. His fur was such a dull grey and his gargantuan frame seemed so out of place being anything other than part of the scenery that it became hard to make the wolf out in the forest. This time the pegasus was able to keep his eyes on Fenrir by jumping from his cloud and onto the twisted and moss covered branches of the forest. The great wolf’s form disturbed the trees just enough for him to make out his position without getting too close.

“I used to rule the woo-rld, seas would rise when I gave the word…” The pegasus flinched as the wolf suddenly muttered out another rhyme in his distinctive growl. The dark and silent forest made the peculiar words even creepier. The wolf couldn’t have been powerful enough to upturn seas in the old days, could he? The pegasus had to jump a few branches forward to spot the wolf moving through the forest again. Following the wolf as close as this and without any back-up was going against Kamos’ teachings, but he couldn’t lose the wolf again. Kamos had made it clear there were enough reasons to suspect the wolf’s motives, so just letting the wolf do whatever it wanted for another hour was unforgivable.

“Hush, little baby, don’t say a word, and never mind that noise you heard; it’s just the beast under your bed, in your closet, in your head…” The wolf growled out yet another strange rhyme. If you just ignored the aggressive growling the words were muttered out with, then they sounded like lyrics to creepy and fragmented songs.

“Exit Light, Enter Night!” As if to solidify his point, Fenrir howled out the rest of the strange lullaby he had been muttering. The pegasus pressed himself against the branch he was balancing on, while the rest of wildlife around them panicked and started running. There were things small and large hissing, quacking, clucking and screeching around them as they tried to get away from the huge predator intruding in their territory. The pegasus strained to keep the wolf in his sights, but things running out of the tree he was in were rattling the branch he was on and he lost the wolf’s dull grey coat in the ancient forest.

Had the wolf planned this? The pegasus wouldn’t be surprised if the wolf knew he was being followed, seeing as even Kamos had been unable to stay hidden from him, but could Fenrir really have planned to use the creatures in the forest to distract anypony following him? The pegasus quickly jumped down to the ground and to where Fenrir had been standing just a moment ago, in hopes of catching a trail to follow, but despite the wolf’s size and apparent weight, there was nothing to point him to any direction.

“Everyone’s a critic… Damn, I love that song…” Fenrir’s distinctive growl muttered out to the pegasi’s right. The pegasus flew back up into the forest’s foliage and cursed his stupidity for giving up his position so easily. At least it sounded like the wolf hadn’t seen him yet. The pegasus strained his ears to catch any other sounds the wolf would make, but after muttering out those words, he couldn’t hear the wolf at all. As much as he dreaded it, he would have to re-establish visual contact with his mark. He started jumping from branch to branch, careful not to disturb the trees while doing so, making his way toward where he’d heard Fenrir.

Just as he started to wonder if Fenrir had moved on beyond where he could track him, the branch he was balancing on was torn asunder as Fenrir’s frighteningly powerful jaws snapped shut mere inches from his rear hooves. The pegasus tried to get airborne, but Fenrir flexed his neck and threw the remainder of the destroyed branch at the stealthy pegasus. The pegasi had to retract his wings to protect them from the splintered pieces of wood and crashed into the foliage under the tree. Instead of trying to fight his way out of the bush, the pegasus crawled deeper into the underbrush. Things were hissing and clucking around him again, but he ignored the distractions and only fought to get away from the huge wolf attacking him.

It must have been the panic that made him forget the reason why he had been told to watch out for anything that hissed and clucked in the Everfree Forest. He didn’t think twice about extending a hoof to try and push the strangely scaly chicken out of his way.

His last thought was that he had never seen a chicken with red eyes before.

Fenrir

“Well, that was a hassle…” Fenrir mumbled as the sneaky pegasus was turned to stone by the cockatrice that had hidden in the bush from him. He could have snuck into the dragon’s lair unnoticed, but there was the chance that the pegasus would think to check if he had done so. The smell of magic on the pony’s clothes was pungent, so the death of the pegasi spy could alert others. This way, what happened here could be explained away with his bad temper and the pegasi spy’s carelessness.

Fenrir lunged his head into the bush and crushed the cockatrice’s body in his jaws. As much as it had in common with a chicken, it definitely did not taste like one. Now the ponies couldn’t use Fluttershy’s Stare to have the abomination undo its own magic, but surely the Element of Magic could figure out a way to unfreeze the pegasi spy, given enough time. The most important thing was that the pegasus would not tell anypony of his attack on his person, or relay information about his movements any time soon. He had a few hours, at the most, to do what he had to without anypony catching wind of it.

Fenrir started jogging in the direction of the dragon’s corpse and felt the more savage part of him taking over and speeding him into a full run. Either the urgency of their situation had not escaped the beast’s notice, or the savage hunter was excited about leading a pack again. The great wolf ran through the thick forest with nearly impossible agility and stealth for something of the size their body was. Fenrir’s body might not have any flamboyant magic ability, but the way he could hide his body so well in shadows and the speed he could move in while doing so was supernatural.

He urged his gargantuan body to slow down to a careful walk when the clearing the dragon had died on got closer. His feral side might have wanted to storm in and bark at the significantly smaller dogs viciously, but this side of him had also promised to adhere to his directions. He was glad to see the ease his body moved from shadow to shadow and the heightened awareness he had of his surroundings. He could smell a large gathering of canines that smelled of earth and fear, among the thick scent of a rotting dragon. The Diamond Dogs were there, but there was still the possibility of some kind of ambush.

It would be better to tear into any obstinacy before it began, but if he could disarm their feeble attempts at rising up against him without any collateral casualties, the dogs’ loyalty would be unquestionable from then on, instead of being based on the fear of being torn limb from limb. He pushed his body to sneak around the clearing several times, checking the clearing and the surrounding area for any Diamond Dogs in hiding, finding none, he walked out into the clearing quietly.

“Atten-ti-on!” Fenrir roared and was pleased to see the dogs freeze in place instead of freaking out because of his voice. Still, they only scampered out of his way as he walked through them and toward the two surviving alphas. He would have to beat in some discipline into the mutts if he were to use them.

“We are here, as you asked, Great Wolf.” The larger of the two deviant dogs spoke. Fenrir wasn’t sure if this was Spot or Rover, but he had definitely killed Fido last night. He was relieved to see that the dogs had burying rites, instead of some barbaric custom of presenting the body to him. It had not been very probable, but the option alone had unnerved him. He didn’t like the fact that the mass of Diamond Dogs in front of him shivered at his frightening appearance. He had to establish something other than fear to effectively control this pack of dim-witted canines.

“You have all seen what I did to Fido, one of the three dim-wits that lorded their intelligence over your raw power and instincts. You think you fear me for my capacity for violence and my eagerness to show it to prove a point.” Fenrir started, the rough image of what he wanted to get across forming in his mind. He had to remember to stay consistent with his backstory and use the tidbits of mythology he had spread among the ponies to influence these abominations. “You are wrong…”

He could see how his statement slowly sunk into the slow minds of his audience as he paused. Some cowered, expecting an attack for being wrong, but most perked their ears, eager to please. The two deviant alphas were looking straight at him from the front row, the bigger of the two scratching their head at the confusing statement, but the smaller simply arched a brow. He liked the small one better, if he needed to make a point again, then it would be the other one.

“True, I hold within my person the power and ferocity to tear you all to shreds. I trust in the power within my claws and fangs, but that is not why you feel the dread you feel now. You have all but forgotten the trepidation you feel when tearing into a new tunnel, that alien presence in the unknown of an unlit tunnel. You shield your bodies with armor and light your way, consoling your weak little minds, thinking you are safe in the Light!”

Fenrir stopped his speech and observed his audience once again. Every single ear was pointed toward him and he could see recognition in their dull and beady eyes. They had known fear of the Dark as small runts, or had become frightened by unfamiliar noises in the Dark at some point. It had been a small gamble on his part, but one with odds he gladly took. He was talking to a group of dogs that were brought to heel by an annoying unicorn, after all. Now that he had led them to thinking of something otherworldly and common to them all, it was time to give it a name and use Fenrir’s Dark to sway them to his side.

“You live under the ground, hiding away from the world of True Light, but you still drag Light where Dark should rule! You feel the fear of Dark and cling to Light. This is where you are wrong, Diamond Dogs! You have been led astray by the sun-loving ponies and their success, yet you do not hold their magic, or their spirit!” Fenrir sat up and started pacing in front of his attentive audience. “You think the ponies will help you chase your gems? No, they will manipulate you and steal them for themselves; you have all seen this and taken it as prey, when you should have hunted! Their Light cannot help you where Dark permeates the halls you walk and holds what is dear to you within its womb!”

Fenrir stopped his pacing and slowly and deliberately turned toward his audience. He stood tall and hunched his head to look as threatening as possible. He hoped Fenrir really had a way to exude this “Dark” he had been talking about, but if that was not the case, then he just had to re-label the fear they felt of him as religious reverence.

“You fear the Dark, yet you live surrounded by it! You cling to Light, yet you hate those who revere it! You have been led astray long enough, Diamond Dogs! Embrace the Dark and shun the Light! Fear me and listen, as I speak the Truth you have been denied so long!” Fenrir ended his speech by stretching his neck up and letting out a howl similar to the one Fenrir had used the night before to frenzy the wildlife of the forest. He smiled inwardly as he heard the gathered Diamond Dogs howling and barking in excitement with him. He had succeeded in turning their fear into loyalty, something that was much easier to work with.

“Now, silence your fretful hearts and listen, subjects of Dark. Light looms in the horizon and we have much work ahead of us…”

Applebloom

It was strange to see Fenrir gone from the barn so early in the morning. The last time he had been sleeping well into the day in that tight ball that looked way too much like a rock. He had explained it away as his kin being nocturnal by nature, but Applejack said it was just because he was lazy. Applejack had ensured her that Fenrir had been in the barn when Big Mac stumbled back from the festivities. It was not like the wolf was hard to spot, big as he was.

“Do you think he had to go hunting again? He couldn’t eat anything at his own party, after all.” Scootaloo asked the other Crusaders as she inspected the circular indentation Fenrir had left on the floor of the barn.

“He did carry us and the other kids around enough to work up an appetite, that’s for sure.” Applebloom reasoned, remembering the thrilling rides he had given them as an apology for scaring the three of them. Eventually he had relented on giving the other fillies and colts the same privilege. He was very adamant on calling it a privilege, muttering some weird things about lights and stuff.

“What do you think he’ll eat?” Sweetie Belle asked aloud while pressing her hoof on one of the huge paw prints on the ground in front of the barn. Sweetie bell proceeded to stand within the paw print and press her front hooves on two of the claw marks. Fenrir’s sheer size didn’t really come across when he acted so friendly and goofy most of the time. Sweetie Belle actually had to strain her hooves to reach the claws on opposing sides of Fenrir’s paw.

“Meat, Sweetie Bell, he was pretty insistent on that point when he was apologizing to us. He’s probably hunting down some poor rabbits and stuff over beyond the mountain.” Scootaloo answered, secretly glad to be the know-it-all for once.

“Yeah, I know that, but what will he eat, specifically? He had to kill a dragon the last time, so what else is there around here?” Sweetie Belle asked aloud, throwing a hoof toward the forest starting at the edge of Sweet Apple Acres. Scootaloo raised a hoof and opened her mouth to answer, but stopped herself before speaking. Applebloom watched as a wrinkle formed between her violet eyes and saw her hoof slowly drift down. There really wasn’t anything that could rival a dragon near Ponyville, in terms of size or ferocity.

“Maybe it was just because he was just out of Tartarus. He must have been famished after being stuck in there for so long…” Scootaloo countered, seeing a chance to argue with the white unicorn. Applebloom watched as Sweetie Belle tilted her head, considering Scootaloo’s argument fairly, not catching any of the playful hostility in the orange pegasi’s voice.

“Yeah, I guess he would be…”

“Hi girls!” Applebloom jumped and shrieked at the sudden voice behind her. She pedaled back into the barn and the blur of pink that had surprised her followed her in. “Do you know where Fenrir is?”

“What’s up with your eye?” Scootaloo asked, pointing at Pinkie’s left eye, which was twitching and had a constant stream of tears coming out of it. Pinkie Pie pressed a hoof at the edge of her eye and looked at the drop of water for a moment before answering in an even more hyper tone than normal.

“I don’t know, but I have to find Fenrir. I have to get to him before… I don’t know what, but I have to find him. Have you seen him? He’s big, kinda scary and fairly hairy, you can’t miss him. Are these his tracks? They seem to be the most fresh and going this way. Okay, thanks, gotta fly!” The Pink mass of nervous energy chattered out and charged into the forest, messing up the set of prints she had been talking about as she went.

“Uh… What just happened?” Sweetie Belle asked looking quite perplexed. Applebloom would have gladly answered the white unicorn, but she wasn’t all that sure either. It was common knowledge that Pinkie Pie was weird and some things she did nopony understood. Even her big sister was of the mind to just ignore any perplexing thing Pinkie did, but now there had been a strange kind of urgency to the usually random mare.

“Cutiemark Pinkie Pie Trackers… Yay?” Scootaloo suggested, obviously also aware of the strange air of desperation Pinkie had had about her. If Pinkie Pie had gone to find Fenrir as he was hunting, then the three of them trotting into the scene with an annoyed and hungry wolf would be a spectacularly bad idea.

Then again, tracking another pony through a thick forest could get them a particularly awesome cutiemark.

“Cutiemark Crusaders GO!” Sweetie belle yelled and hopped in the air in excitement. The three fillies then proceeded to charge into the dark forest, following Pinkie’s clearly visible hoofmarks.

Princess of the Night, Luna

A thousand years of prosperity and magical breakthroughs and there is still not a single piece of research or a discovery that deals with separating intertwined souls or personalities. Luna had access to every single piece of research and the accumulated spells that were discovered and researched during her absence, but it seemed that the kind of magic she was looking for had slowly become forgotten at her continued entrapment in the moon.

She had taken a great risk in using the kind of magic she had. To change one’s very person was not something to do lightly, but to see Fenrir put down because of Discord’s cruel joke was something she was not prepared to witness. The strong and fierce warrior she had known would not bow down to Celestia’s peace-keepers, nor would he understand the need to continue his imprisonment. Why couldn’t the great wolf have the same chance for redemption she had? Fenrir would not have been imprisoned at all, if Luna had not coerced him and his kind into fighting a pointless war.

It was all her fault, everything the foreign mind inside Fenrir was subjected to was another sin on her part. She had to fix it, there had to be a way to make it right! Luna levitated yet another row of old scrolls and knit tomes in front of her, checking them for any kind of hint to solving her problem. They touched on things like transfiguring animals into non-living objects and keeping living organisms functional after a drastic metamorphosis. It was all theory and research that had been incorporated into the spells ponies used today, but if she could dig deep enough, then there might be something that could help her, a fresh perspective she could work from.

The soul that she had transfixed into Fenrir’s psyche was a separate entity, but still irreversibly joined with Fenrir’s body and psyche. Simple psychiatry spells that dealt with mending fragmented psyches would not work, she had to find a way to separate two intertwined psyches without causing any more harm to either one. The only spells that even touched on things like that in her sister’s peaceful reign was the theory behind advanced transfiguration spells. She was one of the last ponies alive that knew enough of the link between the psyche and soul to even attempt utilizing the concepts of physical magic into spiritual matters.

Yet, she was pressed for time and every avenue she pursued and found nothing to help in her nearly impossible task frustrated her even more. The human inside Fenrir was not of this world, so what would happen if she were to separate him from the wolf’s psyche? Fenrir’s dominant soul had been corroding the human’s sense of self, but what would happen if he was torn from the soul he had all but fused with already? Would there be anything resembling the thing that had pleaded her for help left?

Luna levitated another row of books and scrolls from the shelves and felt her magic waver and fizzle out as her concentration faltered. The collection of old dusty books and fragile scrolls clattered on the ground, the older tomes and scrolls tearing apart or unfolding from their bindings. She looked at the mess in front of her, she didn’t know which scroll was which, what was a short scroll or a piece of a book and if there had been anything that could have helped her among them.

She could feel her lip tremble and her vision blur as she tried to gingerly lift an intact looking scroll from the pile, maybe she would get lucky and there would be something to help her there still. She let out an involuntary sob as the pile shifted and the fragile papyrus tore before she could pull it free. This was hopeless, the aggressive spirit of Fenrir had been corroding at the human’s sense of self for weeks already.

“I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry… I just don’t know…” Luna muttered as she slid to the ground, further disturbing the fragile pile of documents. She looked forlornly at the pile and let her tears fall as she stared at the blurry sign of her failure.

“Luna? Luna, I know you’re here, those night guards outside are a dead giveaway.” Luna heard her sister trot into the old archives and felt her radiant power far before she rounded the corner to the nook of the archives she was wallowing in. She didn’t bother greeting her formally, they were past the need for such formalities and she really didn’t know if she could summon the strength to do so. Her sister enveloped the pile of documents in her sunlight and lifted them off the floor. Luna sniffed and blinked to clear her eyes to observe what her sister would say.

“Theory of transforming living creatures via the use of an intermediary form of magic between the school of Transfiguration and Alteration…” Celestia read the title of the first scroll she came upon aloud and turned to Luna with a look on her face that expected her to cheer up, but turned back to the pile after Luna only looked away. She continued on reading the titles of what Luna had gather and her face grew more serious after each increasingly technical title.

“I couldn’t let him die; I did not want to see another life snuffed out because of my ancient mistake. I did not want him to die revering the mare that led him to the death of his kind…” Luna raised her head to meet Celestia’s compassionate eyes. It would have been easier to see her angry and shouting at her, the quiet sadness only told Luna that Celestia had not been surprised at her failure. Luna cast her eyes down again and forced down a sob. If she was going to admit to her latest sins, then she would do it clearly and without question.

“He had battled and waited for a thousand years, Celestia, I could not let such devotion be met with lies and inaction veiled as compassion. I had to do something; anything to make it right, to change his cruel fate.” Luna fought to keep her voice steady and clear, fighting down sobs as she made the depth of her sin clear, even to herself. She hiccupped and swiped her nose frantically. Despite her conviction she was becoming an outright mess. “Discord… Discord gave me a spell, showed me a way, for old times’ sake... I believed him… I didn’t want Fenrir to die believing in a lie and… Now Fenrir shares his hate and the truth with another life Discord had me affix to his soul. I’ve committed a grave sin and horribly hurt two souls, when I only tried to help one… I’m so sorry, Sister…”

Luna slid down to weep on the floor as the last word of her damning confession bled out of her. All she had wanted to do was give Fenrir a chance for a happier end than the one she had forced him into with her foolish arrogance so long ago. Now, she had only been able to make an already bad situation into something that could turn the ponies that had accepted Luna back into the diarchy against the Princess of the Night. Reviving the dying general of Nightmare Moon's army was not a very assuring thing to do.

“Luna… you kind-hearted fool…” Celestia said as she bent her knees to nuzzle her sister close. Luna froze for a second, not expecting Celestia to comfort her so readily, but then she bawled into her sister’s neck at another one of Discord’s cruel jokes.

Veil of Night

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So, real life hit me hard and I was lured by the siren call of vidya games during the production of this chapter... Sorry that it took this long, but here’s the chapter.

Veil of Night

Pinkie Pie ran through the forest, only giving half a mind to the Fenrir’s tracks she was following, her Pinkie Sense was pulling her in the same direction even without them. The blurriness of her left eye made her stumble on branches a few times and got her mane caught in a bush once, but the sense of urgency in her kept her moving toward where Fenrir was. She had to get to him before… before something, so, so very sad happened.

It was already strange that her Pinkie Sense would manifest any other way than a strange nonsensical quirk of her body, but the cold pit in the pink party pony’s stomach was almost enough to deflate her hair. If it wasn’t for the fact that her Pinkie Sense predicted things she could watch out for, or stop altogether, then this new quirk might just have done that. She had to get to Fenrir; she had to stop whatever she was predicting before it happened.

“No, I’ll explain it again, pay attention this time. You only need to use steel on these parts here, but it will have to be forged precisely by the specifications I gave you, have someone relay the instructions to your forge master. Now…” Pinkie could hear Fenrir’s gruff voice talking with someone on the clearing she was coming up on. Fenrir had raised his voice only a little, but it made his voice carry so much better in the bleak forest. She saw the great wolf raising his head from its hunched position and turning toward her. “Now we say hello to the Element of Laughter, Pinkie Pie. Try and be courteous, Rover.”

“Go… Good day, Pink Party Pony.” The Diamond Dog that Fenrir had been talking to stuttered out and bowed his head a little as Pinkie ran up to them, panting and sweating from her gallop. Pinkie took notice of a large sheet of paper the Diamond Dog had hurriedly rolled up as Fenrir told him to act courteous. She tried to respond to the dog’s greeting, but found herself out of breath. She stopped trying to speak and focused in gulping down air, it had been a while since she had been this out of breath, the constant partying and zany antics had given her quite a lot of stamina. When she raised her head again, the Diamond Dog had already excused himself and Fenrir was laying in front of her, looking bemused at her exhaustion.

“So, whatever brings you to my neck of the woods, Pinkie Pie?” Fenrir drawled out as he stared at Pinkie Pie. Pinkie could see that there was something behind those eyes that shouldn’t be there and it only made her Pinkie Sense itch worse. She had noticed that Fenrir wasn’t alone when she held that party in his honor, but now it had changed, she still knew there was something more to him than what other ponies saw, but now it was… blurry. It might just be her left eye screwing with her vision, paired with her exhaustion, though.

“It’s my Pinkie Sense; it’s telling me that something sad is going to happen, something that will involve you, Fenrir. I had to come here and try to stop it.” Pinkie blurted out, spurred on by the cold pit in her stomach gnawing at her sanity. She didn’t want to put her friends through another mental breakdown, so it would be nice if this could be resolved here and now.

“Your Pinkie Sense, you say… Am I right to assume that it predicts the future for you personally, or those around you at that time?” Fenrir asked, straightening his posture from his relaxed pose and leveling a questioning look at the exuberant Pink Pony. “If that is the case, then I might know the reason for your distress, Pink One.”

“Really, is there anything I can do to help? I would hate to see one of my friends sad… Oh, and yes, that’s how it usually works.” Pinkie beamed at Fenrir and hopped a little closer to the wolf. If there was something she could do to stop Fenrir from being sad, or doing something that would make her sad by proxy, then maybe the chilly pit in her stomach would go away.

Fenrir didn’t respond to her question right away, deciding to get up on his paws instead and letting Pinkie follow him into another clearing adjacent to the one she had found him on. This one was larger and large parts of the ground had either been burned to glass or torn out in great chunks, Pinkie also noticed she was walking on the ashes what used to be old and thick forest, now burnt to ash. Fenrir stopped walking about in the center of the clearing his fight with a dragon had caused and fixed his gaze to Pinkie’s left, to a place where a pack of Diamond Dogs were busy doing something.

Pinkie followed Fenrir’s gaze and saw the group of Diamond Dogs busy butchering the remains of the dragon Fenrir had killed. She felt sick and wanted nothing more than to look away, but her eyes were transfixed on the gruesome scene by some twisted curiosity. She wasn’t sure how much of the gruesome wounds on the body of the once great beast was Fenrir’s doing and how much was because of the Diamond Dogs efforts, but what she saw wrenched her gut in disgust.

“My kind does not bear the gift of longevity dragons and alicorns possess, not naturally. We live our small lives, relying on our instinct and the power of our body to pave the way for the next generation. That was the life I led and the life my pups would have led…” Fenrir’s words sunk into Pinkie’s mind as the gruesome scene he had led her to burned itself into her mind. She watched a Diamond Dog hacking away at the muscle and meat between the dragon’s ribcage and scales, before signaling two others to pull the scales back, so that it could cut deeper.

“Then came the war and the rise of Nightmare Moon. She called out to the Dark and all those with fang and claw howled back, as our nature commanded; she rewarded us with power, when we pledged our loyalty to her and her cause…” The diamond dog cutting away at the dragon’s ribcage crabbed a rib and started wrenching it out of place while using the large cleaver he had hacked at the meat as leverage. The dogs were taking the dragon apart, practically bathing in its gore to scavenge the body for anything they could use, and they did it with no sign of feeling disgusted by what they were doing.

“I devoted my life to becoming stronger; I tore through my enemies and grew in favor as the stench of their blood clung to me. My fur became like steel, my fangs akin to spears and no creature could hide nor run from me. Shadows cling to my form as I pass and my step is muffled by the Dark’s favor…” The diamond Dog wrenching the rib gave a final grunt and fell back into the dragon’s gored chest as the bone finally gave away. The dog clawed its way out of the gory mess and raised the gigantic rib above his head, howling in triumph. The two dogs joined the dog merrily and other dogs stopped what they were doing to yelp or howl at their fellow canine’s accomplishment.

“I became a living weapon of war, all for the sake of her praise, for her goals and her selfishness. When she led us, we fought to eradicate her foes and keep her safe; When she fell, we kept fighting for her return. When we were locked away, my pack kept fighting in her name and for her honor.“ The diamond dog threw the bone over to the other side of the carcass and grabbed the huge cleaver again, to continue his gruesome task with renewed vigor. Just as the dog was heaving the heavy slab of metal above his head Fenrir stepped in front of Pinkie, blocking the carcass from her sight and snapping her out of the trance she had been in. Pinkie dreaded what she would see in the great wolf’s eyes now, taking what he’d been talking about into account. Pinkie locked eyes with the wolf towering over her and saw that the line between the two things she’d seen had all but disappeared now and what she saw now frightened her.

“And for all my struggles, all the battles I won and for all those who fell before me, I come back to a world that has eradicated my kind, to a Mistress that has chosen to forget me and with the Queen of Light being regarded as a benevolent monarch…” Fenrir’s voice was even and as calm as it could be with his gruff voice, but Pinkie still flinched away as the wolf leaned closer to continue his tale.

“You ask if I plan on doing something that will upset you, if I will cause you heartbreak... Tell me, how does it feel to know that it was you ponies that eradicated my kind and chose to pervert my Mistress by force, just for your own convenience? How does it feel to wield the power that took the mare I dedicated my life to protecting from this world? Can you laugh after knowing that you destroyed the last thing I had to live for? Can you smile while serving the sociopath that killed the pups of my pack after locking me away?” Fenrir turned away from Pinkie and barked once to call out a diamond dog that had been lingering a respectable distance away. Pinkie worked her jaw, trying to speak, to reject the reality that Fenrir had painted, but she could not form words, she could barely breathe. It was not only fear that paralyzed her, it was shock at the implications of Fenrir’s words; guilt at what he blamed the Elements of Harmony for and sadness at the wolf’s fate.

“I believe you have your answer, Pinkie. Leave, I cannot guarantee safe passage through the forest after the Dark claims it.” Fenrir informed Pinkie, still keeping his animosity toward her concealed. Pinkie got to her hooves robotically, stepping back into the forest with her head hung low. She stumbled on roots and loose rocks, but this time her mane wasn’t getting tangled on branches, her straight and lifeless mane hung near the ground and shrouded her vision. It was that and the silent tears blurring her vision that made her miss the Cutie Mark Crusaders hiding rather poorly in a bush along her improvised trail.

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight Sparkle sat in the main room of her library, levitating several books around her and sitting among dozens of discarded tomes. The parchment she’d been making notes on was nearly full of her meticulous text, but most of it had been crossed over, or circled. Why were there so many books about spirits, when none of them could agree with each other on what they were?

One book said that spirits were natural forces given a mind as nature’s way of controlling the excess amount of magical energy found on some parts of the world, while another claimed spirits were otherworldly beings reaching out to our world through the veil of our reality. She had even found some that claimed spirits to be powerful sorcerers lingering in this world.

Even with all of these books and collections of studies, she still couldn’t find anything non-fictional about the kinds of spirits Zecora had mentioned, the kind that possessed animals to communicate and toy with equinekind, the kind that was inside Fenrir, controlling his actions and toying with her friends.

“You’ve been looking for me, Element of Magic.” A silky voice spoke out right in front of her. She didn’t think there was anyone in the library until they spoke up and it was definitely not Spike’s voice, so she reacted accordingly; by letting out a shrill scream and by throwing the books she was levitating at the voice. Twilight picked up another particularly thick tome and scanned the room as the books hit the far wall harmlessly.

She turned her head to the side and noticed she was muzzle to muzzle with a zebra wearing a dark cloak. She tried to hammer the unknown assailant with the book she was levitating, but the zebra’s hoof shot out and tapped her horn, disturbing the spell and causing the book to fall to the floor harmlessly. The zebra took a calm step back as Twilight rubbed the base of her horn.

“You wanted to speak to me, I am Kamos.” The zebra spoke again, as calm as can be. The zebra was only slightly taller than Twilight and his cloak hid his form. At first glance she had thought the zebra to be Zecora, but as she looked closer the stripes on his face and what she could see of his neck were a darker color and positioned differently from the rhyming potion-maker. The zebra did have similar oval bright blue eyes that Zecora had, though Kamos’ frown only exaggerated the fact they were shaped differently than the average pony’s. Twilight had to admit, if she didn’t know Zecora, then Kamos’ appearance would be frightening, if only because it was so foreign. The dark cloak and his sudden appearance were enough to make Twilight frightened of him for the moment, though.

“You scared me; just… just give me a minute.” Twilight shook her head and tried to calm down her breathing and her beating heart. Everything was still a little too bright and she flinched at every creak of her library as the adrenaline that Kamos’ appearance had introduced into her system was yet to run its course. She did try to calm down by taking a few calming breaths, but Kamos just standing there and staring at her didn’t help her calm down.

“Okay, yes, I did ask Regal to help me get in touch with you, but scaring me half to deathwas still uncalled for.” Twilight glared at the zebra and he nodded his head respectably and continued to stare at her. The zebra didn’t seem too talkative, so Twilight decided drop the subject and move on. “I need to know if Fenrir is planning something, or if he is hiding something. The way I hear it, you’re the zebra to talk to when it comes to things like this.”

“Yes.” Kamos answered, nodding slightly before trotting toward a bookshelf. He stayed quiet and surveyed the backs of the books before pulling one out and throwing it at his feet to flip the pages with precise flicks of his comparatively sharp hooves. “Everything your nation knows of spirits will not apply to whatever you think is afflicting Fenrir. I’m sure you’re close to realizing that yourself.”

“What do you mean? Are you… Do you know what it is? Is it one of the spirits from your home?” Twilight asked excitedly and took a few tentative steps toward the frightening zebra. Kamos didn’t respond to her questions and just kept flipping the pages of the book he had picked out. It looked like he was looking for something, judging from the way he was flipping the pages after reading only a few words or seeing a picture. Twilight stepped closer to check what kind of book Kamos was studying. She watched him flip a few pages more before coming to the conclusion that it was a storybook, similar to the one she had found Nightmare Moon’s origin in. She would have to check the cover of the book, but the size and the artistic style of the illustrations suggested it could very well be the same book.

“Here; read this.” Kamos suddenly said, tapping his hoof on a page with a picture covering two thirds of it. Twilight stepped forward and surveyed the image briefly before moving onto the piece of text under it. It was an artist’s rendition of both Luna, surprisingly depicted as she had looked like during Nightmare Night, and Celestia standing in front of a dark wall of what looked like steam of some kind, or maybe cloth, the artist’s style left room for interpretation. Twilight stared into the brilliant brush work and could almost swear that the hues of dark purple and blue were moving when she wasn’t looking.

“Veil of Night”

“The princess of the Night, Luna, does more than protect us during her Night; she keeps us safe from things that live beyond the veil of reality, things that we ponies see only glimpses of in our dreams.”

- Grayscale, 23rd year of the new age.

“Grayscale, one of the first century’s most prominent artists sought the council of Princess Celestia for the piece copied here. It is the last in a line of pieces capturing moments of our beloved monarch’s life. This particular piece has received criticism for its portrayal of Celestia covering behind the Princess of the Night, Luna. Princess Celestia has personally objected to having it changed to portray her in a more positive light in the past, but was not reached for comment by the time this book was published.”

Twilight looked back at the painting and she did notice that Celestia was standing behind Luna, while it was her horn that illuminated the pair; Luna’s face was calm while Celestia’s head was bent away from the veil. Twilight levitated the book up and observed the incredibly detailed expression on their faces. Luna had her eyes fixated on the wall of dark fog in front of them and delicate brushstrokes of light blue went from her glowing horn and disappeared into what Twilight assumed be the “Veil of Night” that the piece was named after. Celestia on the other hand had her head turned away from the wall and the one eye that was not obstructed by her ethereal mane was shut tight. It was like Celestia didn’t even want to be there, but couldn’t live with the idea of having her sister work in the darkness surrounding them.

“Apart from that painting in the Canterlot art museum, along with what is said in that book she let you borrow, there is no mention of this “Veil of Night” anywhere. The only other thing I found about it was a royal decree banning all research on the “Veil of reality”, dated a mere week after Nightmare Moon’s banishment.” Kamos blurted out in his silky voice. Had the zebra done all of this research in the time between when Princess Celestia sent him to protect the elements, or had he known of Fenrir before?

“So, you are suggesting that whatever is possessing Fenrir came from beyond this veil? What made you jump to this conclusion? I only suspect he’s possessed because he seems to know more about us than he should.” Twilght asked, while flipping through the book she had almost forgotten she had. The “Veil of Night” was one of the few paintings that didn’t have a story about the princesses or of old Equestria accompanying it. She could also see how the artist’s style changed from the style reminiscent of old equestrian tapestries into a brilliant meld of realism and surrealism, giving his paintings a dream-like quality. She made a mental note to research the artist further in the future.

Kamos looked Twilight in the eye for an uncomfortable moment, before tapping his hoof on the floorboards three times. Twilight was about to ask what he was doing when she heard the hum of magic around her. She twirled her ears until she located the source of the noise. There were three unicorns standing at the edges of the room, wearing enchanted cloaks that made them hard to make out. It was too late for her to do anything but brace for whatever was going to happen and give Kamos a dirty look. Kamos raised an eyebrow as the three unicorns finished their spell and a dome of magic rose from the ground to cover Twlight and Kamos. The three unicorns raised their hoods again and trotted out of the library as mere blurry figures.

“I apologize if you misunderstood my intentions just now, Twilight Sparkle. What I intend to tell you is as classified as things can get in your peaceful diarchy, so I decided to take measures against eavesdroppers. Both of us can walk out just fine, but not a single entity can see or hear us from the outside.” Kamos calmly stated in his silky and deep voice. Twilight had been surprised and frightened twice in the span of ten minutes, so she was kind of frantic and seriously contemplating hurting the zebra stallion. At least the zebra didn’t seem to be doing it for his own amusement, but Twilight suspected that it was on purpose.

“How would telling me about Fenrir be considered treason? He’s a war criminal… isn’t he?” Twilight was not sure if she could stomach the idea of Fenrir being a misunderstood hero.

“Fenrir is a beast that served Nightmare Moon in the war a thousand years ago, of that I am sure, it is the source of his newfound intelligence that is in question. I do not know the exact nature of the mind inside the beast, but I do know who summoned it and that it came from beyond the veil, the one in that painting.” Kamos stated and the silky tone of his voice and his professionally stoic demeanor while saying it convinced her. She was beyond suspecting Kamos for palying mind tricks on her; everything he’d done made sense, if what he was about to tell her could be considered treason.

“Who would help Fenrir by summoning Celestia knows what to guide him? Who would do that? Why?” Twilight couldn’t hold her questions back. The adrenaline running in her system and the whole “cloak & dagger” thing Kamos was so adamant about had excited her too much. Kamos looked at her like a disgruntled teacher would look at an overactive foal acting up in class and Twilight found herself mouthing a sorry before deflating.

“Princess Luna was sent to deal with the open gates of Tartarus when Discord was released. I was chosen to accompany her and aid her in resealing the gates. We were about done wrangling up the beasts with the help of Luna’s magic when there was a howl from beyond the open gate. Fenrir was tearing through the beasts we had already sent back and the ones we had gathered outside doubled their efforts in trying to get away. Luna had to stop and concentrate on keeping her shield up, since there was no way we could stop all of the beasts from getting to settlements if they ran wild in every direction. We could do next to nothing with Luna’s shield protecting the beasts from us, as much as it was protecting us from them. Fenrir didn’t care about the beasts, he made a straight line toward Luna and most of the other beasts scampered out of his way, he tore through those who couldn’t.” Kamos was about to continue, but Twilight raised a hoof to ask a question.

“So, Discord did open the gates? Fenrir wasn’t lying about that? If you were there, why didn’t you send Fenrir back with everything else?” Twilight was getting agitated at the story Kamos was telling. Here she had been beating herself up for not checking if all the beasts were in Tartarus when she had lead Cerberus back to the gates, when Kamos and Princess had been there before to do just that.

“I’m getting to that, calm down.” Kamos sat down on his haunches and motioned for Twilight to do the same. Twilight was starting to dislike the zebra’s overly detached and calm demeanor. After seeing how he knew how to stop a unicorn’s spell and that he had Celestia knows how many ponies ready to do his bidding, it was hard not to think he was scheming something. After a moment of contemplation Twilight did set her haunches down and relaxed her shoulders. She sat exactly like the zebra, with her haunches on the ground and her front hooves straight, keeping her up. It was an uncomfortable way for her to sit, but she didn’t want to look up to the zebra.

“As I was saying; Fenrir was tearing through Tartarus’ residents to get to Luna and there was little to nothing for us to do to stop him. He stopped just as he got to the edge of the shield Luna was keeping up. The other beasts were running back into Tartarus, so Luna was starting to regain her senses. The shield fell when they locked eyes and I was prepared to stop Fenrir from attacking, but to my surprise Fenrir only took half a step toward Luna before collapsing on the ground.” Kamos stopped his story and averted his eyes for a moment, as if trying to think of a way to continue the story.

“You must understand that this was not the Fenrir you know now. He was not a beast of the Dark in his prime. He was a beaten and scarred beast that had survived in Tartarus for a thousand years by his own power. He was obviously on the brink of death, but Luna ordered the unicorns in my squad to help her heal him. She was frantic and desperate and it looked like she didn’t know why. My squad had one dedicated healer and he specialized in equine physiology, so there was little to no chance of saving Fenrir’s life.” Kamos stopped his story again and locked eyes with Twilight for a moment. He must have been good at reading ponies, since Twilight was starting to realize why Kamos telling her of Fenrir’s origin would be considered treason.

“It was Luna? Are you saying that it was Luna that summoned whatever is inside Fenrir? Why would the Princess go through so much trouble to save something that killed so many ponies?” Twilight bounced up and started pacing at the edge of the dome they were in. She had met Luna, she had seen how removed she had become from ponies, but would she favor a remorseless killer over the welfare of her subjects? Would she really be that desperate to save something she knew from her past, even if it were a killing machine?

“No... No, you’re lying. You’re trying to trick me with all of this cloak and dagger stuff you’re pulling! There’s no way Luna would let something like Fenrir run free. She… She’s awkward; she gets depressed when foals run from her! She thought screaming at people was the norm, for Celestia’s sake! She’s one of the kindest ponies I know, so why would she heal a killer and then just let it go on its way?” Twilight was panting heavily, still pacing on the border of the dome they were in. She couldn’t understand what Kamos was telling her. It was unlikely that he would go through so much trouble just to lie to her, but accepting it as truth was rather hard. She was hyperventilating, she needed a paper bag, she needed to calm down and think about this.

“I cannot speak for her highness, but I believe that is the problem; she is too kind, she couldn’t watch an old compatriot die. Fenrir fought through a sea of monsters just to collapse at her hooves. I must admire such fierce loyalty, as a sworn knight myself.” Kamos stayed prone in his strange sitting position, watching Twilight freak out with no indication of being amused. That fact alone helped Twilight calm down a little faster.

“Why are you telling me this? Even if I know where Fenrir’s intelligence came from, I still have no idea how to stop him, or if I should. Knowing what you’ve told me only makes things more complicated!” Twilight’s head was spinning from this new vague and unhelpful information. Luna had made Fenrir into the manipulative and temperamental beast he was now by summoning spirits from beyond this reality. From how Kamos told the story, Luna had done it with the best of intentions, but Twilight just couldn’t come to terms with the thought that a Princess would let their feelings cloud their judgment so completely.

“The Elements of Harmony were made to stop war and discord. From all that I’ve seen, Fenrir is a veteran of that forgotten and bloody war; the only question is if he’s still fighting and what side he’s on…” Kamos stood up from his prone sitting position and took a few steps toward the edge of the dome, before stopping just at the edge. “He is haunted by violence and anger, The Elements of Harmony are the only thing that has even the slightest chance of saving the little there is to save in him… I sincerely hope you succeed.”

Kamos walked out of the dome they were in and Twilight watched Spike jump a few feet in the air at an unfamiliar zebra stallion suddenly appearing in the library. The dome they were in concealed them from view, along with protecting them from eavesdropping. The fact it took three unicorns to cast a dome that small spoke for the potency of the spell and Twilight was tempted to stay in the dome and see how long it would last, but seeing how Kamos was physically holding himself back from hurting Spike made her step out regardless.

“Spike, calm down, I’m fine. This is Kamos, the royal gua –“ Twilight started to introduce the zebra to the thoroughly shocked Spike, but Kamos interrupted her.

“Kamos, Knight of Luna, in charge of guarding your insane pink friend.” Kamos introduced himself and nodded to Spike before trotting towards the door. He spoke as he paused in the doorway, without turning to face them. “Consider who you share this information with, Twilight Sparkle.”

Kamos closed the door carefully behind him, making barely any sound. Twilight only then realized that it was the first time she had even heard of a royal knight. It wasn’t like she was unfamiliar with the structure of the guard, her brother was the Captain of the Canterlot guard and he didn’t have a knighthood. Did this mean Kamos was a knight from outside the guard? The fact that he had subordinates hinted toward him having some genuine authority.

“Twilight, why were you invisible?” Spike asked, obviously still shaken from the experience of having a frightening zebra stallion just appear in front of him. Twilight turned to Spike and considered if she should tell Spike what Kamos had revealed. If things with Fenrir escalated, then having a baby dragon telling everypony that it was Luna who set Fenrir free would spell trouble. Luna had been well received as the other part of the diarchy, but if it came to light that she had let a dangerous beast from Tartarus go free, solely because of nostalgia… as much as Twilight had learned to value honesty, that seemed like something that would do more harm than good.

“Kamos just had something important to tell me and didn’t think a Pinkie promise was enough to keep it a secret. Plus, he showed me a pretty nifty spell.” Twilight answered the dragon and hoped he would drop the subject. She would tell the other Elements about Fenrir’s origins, but she didn’t want to burden a baby dragon with such a secret. Spike glanced at the point in the floor Kamos and Twilight had appeared from and nodded his head.

“Sure, that was pretty cool, I guess.” Spike contemplated, not paranoid enough to question why a zebra would go to such extremes to hide something. Spike then waddled off to continue his chores, knowing that Twilight was safe calming him considerably. Twilight suddenly disappearing while such strange things were going on with Fenrir and the Princesses must have frightened him. Twlight busied herself by cleaning up the remnants of her now useless research while she wondered who she should tell first and how much they needed to know. She didn’t like that she even had to consider hiding something so big from her friends, but it was the least she could do, taken the risk Kamos was taking by telling her into account.

Fluttershy

Fluttershy dropped the gooey feline into the bath smelling of the flowery shampoo the spoiled cat enjoyed. She then worked her hooves into her soaked fur and tried to work out most of the gunk before bringing out the brush. Opal continued to cast an absolutely furious glare at the huge grinning canine lying at the edge of the clearing her cottage was built on. Fenrir looked relaxed and content with what he’d done and Fluttershy had to wonder how much of that was just to aggravate Opal. Fenrir was nice for a carnivore, but he had the habit of intentionally aggravating others for his own amusement.

“It’s fine, Opal; you’ll be all clean and as fluffy as ever in no time… I’ll even give you a fish, just don’t tell Rarity.” Fluttershy leaned forward and caught the suspicious glance Opal gave her, but then felt the cat relax under her hooves as she regally nodded her approval to this bride. Fluttershy started humming as she worked her hooves gently into Opal’s fur. It was a simple melody she had heard somewhere, but she could still feel Fenrir’s aggressive aura lessening as she continued with her task. Fluttershy had noticed that it was a predator thing, they had an aura around them that caused other animals be wary of them. Of course, any competent predator could hide it completely, but it was mainly used as a way to drive away other predators without actually fighting them. Fenrir had the habit of using it when he wanted to make a point, so other ponies were frightened of him without knowing why.

“Fluttershy, I need to tell you some – What happened here?” Fluttershy turned to see Twilight Sparkle standing on the pathway leading to her cottage, examining the gooey liquid Fenrir had spraed on the ground, and onto poor Opal. Fluttershy watched as Twilight poked the pool with a hoof and then feverishly tried to wipe the goo off of her hoof. She couldn’t help chucking a little at the display.

“Oh, it’s just that Fenrir came over and he had a little… accident. Poor Opal happened to be caught in the spray and I’m just cleaning her off… You shouldn’t step on that.” Fluttershy kept working her hooves in Opal’s fur and could feel how the warm water was rinsing away the slime. Twlight looked from Opal, to the pool on the ground and then to Fluttershy. There was a grimace and a deep blush on Twilight Sparkle’s face, like she had witnessed something thoroughly disgusting and personal. Well, you could say it was both less-than-appetizing and personal, but it still didn’t warrant such a look of disgust. It was a natural process every living thing went through, after all.

“No, Fluttershy, you have to understand; things like this don’t just happen by accident! He came here on purpose and… and… did this! This is sick, this is wrong on so many levels, Fluttershy!” Twilight Sparkle was obviously agitated and Fluttershy couldn’t understand why. It was a perfectly normal process of the body that every animal experienced, even ponies. Fluttershy glanced where Fenrir was resting and saw the amused grin back on his snout. As much as the sight of his fangs unnerved her, it was nice to see him happy. There had been a strange air of melancholy about him when he appeared earlier. The whole time he had been there Fluttershy had the impression that he was expecting something bad to happen.

“Well, he had been locked in Tartarus for so long. It’s not unheard of to be… sensitive after being exposed to so many things that could excite his condition.” Fluttershy calmly explained as she hoisted a pail of water over Opal’s head. Almost all of the slime had washed off already, it looked like she only needed to rub a few stubborn spots and rinse the cat to be done. Twilight Sparkle still looked disgusted, for some reason.

“He had his accident all over Opal? How do you not see how sick that is, Fluttershy? Not only is he overtly aggressive and antagonistic, he’s a per –“

“I don’t understand how a simple sneeze could get you so fired up…” Fenrir growled out from his shadowy spot. Fluttershy noted how Twilight Sparkle’s blush deepened and how Fenrir’s grin grew even wider. Fluttershy didn’t understand the situation and decided to focus on rinsing off Opal. “Or could this be a humorous misunderstanding of some kind, hmm? Whatever you thought I had done to warrant such a reaction, I wonder…”

“Don’t make this into a thing, Fenrir. We both know what I thought and that I had every reason to think it, so drop it… please?” Twilight Sparkle interjected before Fenrir could say another word. Fenrir growled low and raised his head, probably trying to imitate a groan. It was strange how pony-like Fenrir’s mannerisms were, but Fluttershy didn’t think it was something she should call the canine out on. He was probably doing it to fit in; he had already proven to be intelligent enough to pick up on things like that.

“Oh, but it would have been so awkward and hilarious if I were to blurt it out when you were trying to deny thinking of such things… you just had to ruin it for the audience, didn’t you? Well, I can’t blame you for being clever enough to sidestep such an obvious set up, but you could have humored me.” Fenrir’s eyes trailed off as he was talking to Twilight and he suddenly barked out in laughter. Fluttershy could feel Opal tense under her hooves and she could feel Fenrir’s aggressive aura return in full force. Fenrir kept on laughing, but it turned into something more along a pained howl after a few seconds. He got up on his paws and walked away from the two ponies frozen in place.

Fenrir walked into the edge of the forest and Fluttershy’s cottage, but then stopped. He hunched his shoulders and tensed his muscles as his fur stood on end. Fluttershy expected him to howl out his aggression, but she could only hear the great wolf muttering to himself. She couldn’t make out the words, but the tempo of the words was strange nonetheless; it was like he was answering his own questions, just in different tones of voice.

“Is the audience you mentioned the other spirits from beyond the veil? What is your goal, why would you torment Fenrir?” Twilight Sparkle confidently stated, placing her hooves firmly on the ground and staring at Fenrir’s great form, waiting for him to acknowledge her question. Fenrir stopped muttering and stood completely still at Twilight’s words. Twlight took a defiant step forward and raised her voice. “Why would you come to us? Why would you claim to seek our help, but constantly go against us? Tell me, is this all just a game to you?!”

Fenrir didn’t snap at them, or immediately question what Twilight was accusing him of, which was strange, but still nothing she would put past the strange wolf. He had acted unexpectedly before, just to get under their skin. Fenrir did turn around and Fluttershy was even more perplexed at what she saw in his big yellow eyes. Her special talent made her especially keen to any changes in a mood of an animal and she had become quite good at discerning those moods and the little signs of them. Right now Fenrir looked fatigued, as if he was in pain and trying to ignore it, like many predators were inclined to do, but he also had a glint of playfulness in his eyes. The unnerving snarl that showed just a little too much fang was back, as well. Fluttershy was more than a little confused and frightened by these signs.

“Mors lupi agnis vita.” Fenrir sat down on the ground after growling out this strange mix of words. Fluttershy thought that his translation spell was broken again, but the fact he was still smirking told a different story.

“Stop playing with me! You can only speak because of my spell, so stop speaking nonsense on purpose and answer my question!” Twilight took another step forward, but Fenrir stayed in place. Fluttershy was surprised, and kind of proud, that Fenrir hadn’t tried to intimidate Twilight into backing down.

“Why should I? Why do I have to enforce your prejudice? Why should I belittle myself, when all those who fell before look to me, as stars in the sky, beyond the blazing sun?” Twilight flinched as Fenrir glanced up at the blue sky and grimaced. Fluttershy hadn’t expected for Fenrir’s kind to have their own version of the afterlife and it seemed like neither had Twilight. “Or do you think I am lying? That I am simply making this up as I go along to have you back off? As far as I understand, your particular element represents trust. Does your trust in your friends mean that you are inclined to distrust me, or any other entity that doesn’t adore you? You lord your golden standard over me and expect me to eagerly strive to gain your –“

“Shut up, Fenrir.” Twilight Sparkle interrupted Fenrir’s speech before he could finish. Fenrir closed his mouth and perked his ears. Fluttershy saw some of the weariness fade from his eyes and be replaced with genuine curiosity. “I know you are only trying to embarrass and aggravate me into either backing down, or responding in a way you could further use against me. I’ve made the mistake of underestimating your intelligence before, but I strive to learn from my mistakes. This is not a debate, Fenrir; this is me asking you a question and expecting a straight answer. I know what you are; I want to know what your purpose here is.”

“Draco Dormiens nunquam titillandus.” Fenrir spoke in that strange language again, but this time he burst out in a barking laughter right after he finished the phrase. Fluttershy could see Twilight grit her teeth at the aggravating canine and Fluttershy wondered if she should step in before either one of them hurt the other. “I never thought I would get to say that to a magical talking unicorn, of all things… but in all seriousness; I see no reason to answer a question you think you know the answer for already.”

“That does not mean I am wrong, Fenrir, and your unwillingness to co-operate only makes you more suspicious.” Fluttershy grabbed the pail of lukewarm water and started rinsing Opal off while keeping an eye on the argument. She thought to have caught a genuine smile replace Fenrir’s smirk for a second, but it was hard to tell with his fangs. It was clear Fenrir enjoyed a good battle of wits as much as a successful hunt, seeing how he had been in a good mood after doing the same thing with Celestia.

“Oh, how very quickly you have learned the art of manipulation, Twilight Sparkle. I would be proud, if it weren’t so aggravating. It’s too bad for you that I have the choice of walking out of this conversation.” Fluttershy was sure that Fenrir’s toothy smirk was genuine as he got back up on his paws and started walking toward the Everfree forest.

“Wha – Fenrir, get back here! You can’t just walk away!” Twilight screamed at the smirking wolf, who had already turned his tail to them.

“I can and I will! Watch out for stuttering wizards with two faces!” Fenrir howled over his shoulder without looking back at them. He let out another fit of barking laughter at this strange proclamation. Twilight Sparkle was left there, working her jaw and obviously furious at the canine. Things obviously had not gone the way she had envisioned them.

“So… umm… What was it you wanted to talk to me about, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, trying to detach Twlight from the situation. By the look Twilight gave her, the question had the exact opposite effect. Fluttershy retreated into her mane and whispered out an apology under her friend’s furious glare. She saw Twilight Sparkle’s form deflate, even through her mane and could hear her groan out her frustration.

“Just dry off Opal, Fluttershy... I’ll go put some tea on and we can talk this over a nice, soothing cup of tea… sweet psychotropic tea…” Twilight Sparkle muttered as she started to trot toward Fluttershy’s cottage.

Dramatic Convenience

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So, I have no excuse other than enjoying thinking up stories more than actually writing them. I actually have the kind of sequel to this already thought out to the third chapter or so, but I had a whole other story thought out a few weeks before, so there a no promises. Enjoy

Dramatic Convenience

”It’s fine, calm down. They know of me, not about us, or anything we are planning. This might even work to our benefit, but I don’t see it working against us in any way that would stop us. All we have to worry about if we have enough time to prepare…” Fenrir muttered to himself as he jogged toward his cave in the Everfree. The human had left the walking to Fenrir, so he did not stumble when the wolf answered him. They still had to talk out loud to communicate, but they had come into agreement on how to do it.

“Your lies have changed their view of me. No pony with half a brain would have challenged me in such a fashion in the past… Nor would I have talked to them. Their misguided bravery will work against them, in due time.” Fenrir said in a low whisper. He hadn’t gotten a feel for how to change the tone of his voice for effect, but his vocabulary was growing by the minute. It was frightening how fast the beast learned to use his intellect. The point where the beast would not need him was fast approaching, so Twilight questioning him was a welcome excuse to speed things along.

“Twilight’s suspicious state of mind makes her easier to manipulate and predict. She’s sure to share her concerns with her friends. I doubt they will be convinced into taking action against us just yet, especially with Pinkie’s Element rendered ineffective. My guess is that we have until tonight to move freely.” The wolf muttered to itself as it leisurely walked through the shadowy forest. “If we take her at her word, then she will come to us with the intention of “saving” us from the darkness that holds us, like they did with Nightmare Moon. She has no reason to think the Elements would not work on us, as she is under the impression that one of us is controlling the other. We must prepare for that time when she comes to us with her friends.”

“What we should do is to motivate the Diamond Dogs to work faster. The Elements defeated my Mistress, I do not wish to face them unprepared.” The wolf whispered to itself softly, still loud enough to be distinguished by his keen ears. There were a few seconds of the wolf simply walking in silence before its head nodded up and down. The wolf’s fangs were bared into a crude imitation of the smirk The Liar had shown to the ponies before the humongous predator accelerated into a full run through the thick forest, somehow not disturbing the foliage any more than a passing breeze.

Fluttershy

Fluttershy sipped her tea gingerly as she tried to wrap her head around what Twilight had just told her. The idea that the Fenrir she had been talking to and that had come to her for help was nothing more than a lie constructed by an otherworldly entity… She didn’t have the courage to say it aloud, but it sounded preposterous and if it were anyone other than Twilight, she wouldn’t even have considered it.

“Why… Why would Luna do that to Fenrir?” Fluttershy asked aloud. From how Twilight had told the story, Fenrir had come to Luna out of a simple wish to protect her. She understood Luna’s attempt at healing him, but she had no right to force Fenrir to live beyond his years. “It just seems so… cruel of her.”

“Cruel of her? Fluttershy, Luna restored Fenrir to his prime and then set him free. She’s done him more favors than he deserves.” Twilight interjected, her brow furrowing into an annoyed frown. Fluttershy winced and drew back behind her mane at Twilight’s hostility. Twilight’s frown disappeared and Fluttershy could hear her sigh. “I’m sorry for snapping at you, Fluttershy. It’s just that everything’s been so hectic with Fenrir and all…”

“It’s okay, Twilight. I understand…” Fluttershy forced out and took the teacup in her hooves to occupy herself. She was becoming extremely self-conscious around the aggravated unicorn. She could understand that Fenrir had a tendency to rile ponies up, but Twilight’s aggression still unnerved the timid pegasus.

“Could you explain what you meant with Luna being cruel?” Twilight asked after a few silent moments, considerably calmer this time. Fluttershy carefully laid her tea cup down as she pondered Twilight’s question. It was so obvious to her, but now she had a hard time finding the words to convey that certainty to Twilight. Twilight waited patiently as Fluttershy stared at the table between them, trying to summon the words to explain her opinion.

"I've cared for countless animals here. They come to me when they are hurt, when their life is in danger from an ambitious predator, or when they've lost their direction..." Fluttershy paused, taking a calming breath and raising her head to look Twilight in the eyes. "They come to me, I care for their needs; I give them food, a place to sleep and all the affection I can spare, but... that doesn't mean they all leave."

"Sometimes they come to me after they've barely escaped a predator, or when a frightened pony has hurt them unnecessarily and... they don't leave." Fluttershy drew in a breath and averted her eyes. Twilight reached out and set a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder sympathetically.

“Fluttershy, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to…” Fluttershy smiled and set her other hoof on Twilight’s offered hoof and locked eyes with the unicorn again. She didn’t push the unicorn’s hoof away but she still shook her head silently. She had to keep going. She felt like it was important for Twilight to understand.

“No, no, listen to me... please... They come to me and I try to make them all better, but... they are never afraid of death. They accept my help, hoping to live, but I have never seen an animal afraid of death." Twilight furrowed her brow in confusion at this. Fluttershy shook her head as she realized what Twilight must have been thinking. “They fight tooth and nail for their lives and what they think as important, but they do not cling to a life full of pain… that is purely a pony thing.”

Twilight gazed into the depths of her half-empty tea cup and followed the tendrils of steam as she the meaning behind Fluttershy’s words sink in. Kamos had described the Fenrir that came out of Tartarus as a “beaten and scarred beast that had survived in Tartarus for a thousand years by his own power.” Twilight’s brow furrowed even further as she contemplated Fluttershy’s perspective on the matter. What if the wolf hadn’t sought Luna out to get healed, but to simply let go of the life that must have been long and painful in the hooves of the mare he had served?

Taking the lengths Luna had to go to keep the wolf alive, that theory was starting to make more and more sense. It would also partly explain the wolf’s hostility and why he had thrown himself at a dragon at the first chance he got. Twilight turned to Fluttershy as she arrived at the conclusion that Fluttershy had tried to convey to her.

“Fluttershy, we didn’t know what he’d gone through. You can’t blame yourself for caring for him.” Twilight whispered soothingly as she got up to wrap the pegasus in a comforting hug. Fluttershy quietly hugged Twilight back as she breathed unevenly, clearly on the verge of tears, but adamant on fighting them down. If she was right, then this was not the time to grieve the wolf, not yet.

“Thank you, Twilight, really, but we don’t have time for this right now. He’s still out there, confused and in pain, so I can’t start to grieve in his stead just yet, can I?” Fluttershy gave Twilight one last squeeze to reassure the unicorn before letting go and quickly wiping the moisture from her eyes. Fluttershy gave Twilight a sad encouraging smile and Twilight answered with her own.

“Yes, we need to be strong now, don’t we?” Twilight’s voice sounded a little choked, but she stood up with her head held high in confidence regardless. Fluttershy glanced at the tea-set on the table between them, but then decided against mentioning clearing it out, before embarking on another quest to save Equestria, or in this case, one broken soul. Twilight started walking out onto the path that led out to the road to Ponyville, Fluttershy moved to follow her friend, assuming Twilight would go tell the other elements what she had learned before possibly confronting Fenrir.

At least, she would have, if Angel, the high-functioning sociopath that the bunny was, didn’t decide to leap out from under the table and kick the lavender unicorn right on the cutie mark. The bunny then started chattering angrily and pointing toward the table and Fluttershy. Twilight then proceeded to levitate the tea-set away and magically wash them, insisting for Fluttershy to let her do it. Fluttershy discreetly handed the bunny a treat while Twilight was busy blasting the teacups with magic. Angel hopped away with the extra treat in his cheek after giving Fluttershy a firm nod.

Rainbow Dash

Rainbow Dash was flying around Ponyville’s airspace to try and get her muscles nice and warmed up for a trick she was going to try. After the first few times she had tried to shake her guards, they had come to an understanding. She would stop trying to shake them if they helped her with honing her signature tricks. It was so much easier to practice trick flying with a few other talented (not as talented as her, of course) pegasi helping her out.

George had actually begrudgingly started coaching her with some of the new tricks she had been working on for months. Turned out George was the chief instructor for pegasi guards up in Canterlot, because of his special talent in reading body language. Apparently it also could be used for spotting flaws in technique and his experience in shaping fledgling pegasi into members of the royal guard gave him the experience to know what Dash needed to work on and how to convince her to do it.

“You guys keeping up alright?” The colorful athletic hopeful shouted behind her shoulder and glanced behind her to see George and the two yet unnamed guards following a cautious distance behind her.

“Hooves together, for Celestia’s sake!” George barked back in a tone that brooked no argument. Rainbow Dash’s fore hooves snapped together at the pegasi guard’s order. She didn’t like taking orders that much, but the guard commander knew what he was talking about, so she swallowed back most of her snarky remarks. She could feel her body cutting the air more cleanly when she held her hooves together, yet trying to avoid tensing them up. She was aware that she looked like a particularly colorful wasp when she flew like this, but there was no denying the added acceleration.

Rainbow Dash decided to try and outmaneuver the three pegasi guards that were following her, just for the hell of it. She started speeding up in earnest after she turned to fly over Ponyville again. She didn’t want to clue George in too much, so she tried to get as much distance between her and his keen eyes, before she started doing anything. She grinned as she saw the three armored pegasi struggling to keep up behind her. She looked around for a cloud she could use and spotted one on the edge of the Everfree. It was about three times larger than her and looked to be solid enough.

Rainbow Dash didn’t dare to glance back to see if George had caught up. It was those kinds of obvious tells that had given him the edge to outmaneuver her before, probably. She sped into the cloud, but instead of smashing through it, as it was natural for pegasi going at the speeds she was, she smashed all of her four hooves on the side of the cloud. She could feel the mass of condensation shift under her and her knees bend to absorb the impact. Rainbow Dash’s grin widened into a full-blown smile as the cloud acted just in the way she had hoped and she flapped her wings upwards with all her might, kicking the cloud apart at the same time.

The resulting explosion of vapor and fragmented light hid her ascending form as she let her initial jump carry her above and behind the group of armored guards following her. She hadn’t mentioned this stunt to George, so he would have to be some kind of psychic to see through it. Rainbow Dash extended one wing lazily to turn herself over and gazed down toward the group of two guards rushing to where the destroyed cloud had been. Her smile faltered as she saw that the pegasi didn’t have their commanding officer with them, but was still smiling as she started hovering on the same height as the frantic pair of subordinate guards.

“That was quite a spectacle. I’m sure the crowds would love to see stuff like that.” George’s voice called out from her left. She didn’t turn around, but noticed a small cloud floating under her. She set down on the cloud to rest her wings and turned her head toward the smirking guard, resting on his own little cloud. He was really something else if he had the time to gather the two clouds while chasing her.

“I really thought I got you this time! What gave me away? I was really careful not to clue you in.” Rainbow Dash asked, feeling pleasantly sore from the exertion and a little more out of breath than she would have thought.

“A lack of visible tells is a tell itself. I knew you were trying to hide something and our past dealings clued me onto what it might be, so I decided to hang back for a moment.” George’s voice was as calm as could be, but RD could see the subtle twitching of his lips that signaled that he was holding back the biggest grin ever. The confident smirk he had on now was the professional way to go about this, but he was obviously fighting back the urge to gloat about his cleverness… Well, at least that’s what she thought it was. Her special talent wasn’t it reading ponies, unlike George.

She stared at the mirthful pegasus for a while, before noticing movement below them and to the left. She glanced down, unconsciously forfeiting the impromptu stare down she had started with George. The colorful athlete saw both Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle walking down the road toward Ponyville, Twilight’s guards trotting a respectable way ahead of the two, while Fluttershy’s guards where hanging back and watching the airspace. One of the pegasi actually waved at her when they noticed her looking in their direction. Actually, they were all looking at her, or the quickly evaporating rainbow spectacle she had created only moments earlier. Twilight also waved at her, but then kept on gesturing for her to come down to them. She saw no reason not to, so she lazily rolled off the cloud and floated over to the purple unicorn, setting down with a thud. “’sup, Twilight?”

“Rainbow Dash, I need to talk to you! It is of utmost importance!” Twilight stated, determination burning in her eyes.

“Okay, Twilight, lay it on me!” Rainbow Dash said and mirrored Twilight’s determined pose. The unicorn blinked and then promptly blushed after realizing how embarrassingly she had acted. The prismatic pegasus smirked at the unicorn’s reaction. It was fun messing with Twilight, but Rainbow Dash dropped the act and sat down on the road to let the flustered unicorn continue. It did seem to be important, to have the introverted unicorn acting in such a theatrical way. The only instances the bookworm had acted like this was just before they had to go and vanquish evil, or when she was especially excited about something she was studying. It was frightening how often those two instances correlated, though.

Twilight then went on to explain what Kamos had told her about Fenrir’s origin and why he had known to seek them out in the first place. She also mentioned how Fluttershy had proposed that Fenrir had not come to Luna to be healed, but to die. Rainbow Dash listened to the story intently, despite Twilight’s overly analytical storytelling enough of Kamos’ words got through to get the message across.

“Wow… I didn’t realize Fenrir was such a badass!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as soon as Twilight finished her story. The incredulous look on Twlight’s face made Rainbow Dash blush in return and awkwardly bring a hoof up to the back of her neck. “Uh, I mean… It’s not like I’m okay with what he did, but… I don’t know, what he did is just awesome, okay?”

“What are you talking about, Dash? Fenrir ran away from Luna as soon as she cured him!” Twilight said, her voice rising into a shout. Rainbow Dash didn’t understand why Twilight was getting angry about this, but she still felt like she had to defend her point.

“That could be because of the spirits Luna stuffed down his throat! Fenrir fought through Tartarus to come back to her, after a thousand years to boot! I don’t know why you’re against the idea, but that’s awesome in my book.” Dash shouted back and started to hover off the ground with her hooves crossed over her chest. She was too agitated to stay grounded without doing something drastic.

“The Fenrir we know is not the one that did that. The one we have come to know has been lying to us this whole time!” Twilight shouted back, her demeanor changing as soon as the words left her mouth. “What we have been talking to is a pained lie born from misguided kindness. I only hope some of that loyalty you admire is still in the Fenrir we know.”

Twilight deflated and sat on the ground glumly, with an expression that was a mix of sadness and anger. Rainbow Dash looked to Fluttershy for any input on how she should approach this confusing scenario. Fluttershy simply put her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder reassuringly. Had it been something she said, or was this all about Fenrir and his possible transgressions? She had got the impression that Fenrir was the victim here, so why was Twilight so against the idea of acknowledging his loyalty? And if the infuriating Fenrir they knew wasn’t the one that had been loyal to Nightmare Moon, then wasn’t that a good thing?

“So, we’ll just go to him and find out if he’s up to no-good shenanigans!” Rainbow Dash declared and did a flip in the air to land next to Twilight. The confident pegasus nudged the unicorn’s side with a wing to get her going. To her it just looked like Twilight was getting too caught in the minutia of things to actually see the obvious solution. It was either that, or she was missing some nuance of the situation, but she had given up hope on fully understanding the strange things that seemed to go on around them. “Are we getting everypony else, too? George can get the elements, just to be sure, you know. I’m awesome and all, but I admit that I might not be able to take Fenrir on, if it comes to that.”

George

“Azure, report!” George barked as he merged his guards with those of Azure with a few waves of his hoof. The ponies were well-trained and knew how to coordinate themselves without being told explicitly. Azure saluted quickly before answering her friend and superior officer.

“Valor told me that Kamos paid the Element of Magic a visit, by her request. Kamos then had three of his own unicorns cast a shield, barring all eavesdropping attempts and spoke with Twilight for a few minutes. It is both my belief and that of Valor that Kamos told Twilight what happened at the gates of Tartarus.” Azure Wind nodded at the end of her report and signaled for them to start following the three element bearers down the road toward Ponyville.

“Damn that zebra! Now the elements are trying to fix Fenrir, is that it?” George muttered, more to himself than anyone. Azure Wind still thought to answer the aggravated pegasus.

“I believe the Element of Magic is still unsure as to what they are to do. I believe she came to Fluttershy for advice, rather than rally her up to go against Fenrir.” Azure Wind then gave him a sideways glance, before quickly adding: “It’s not like I was eavesdropping or anything. She came to talk to Fluttershy, argued with Fenrir about what he was and then went inside to talk.”

“Wait, Twilight Sparkle told Fenrir that she knew what he was? Fenrir knows that the Elements know there’s something amiss with him?” Azure nodded and George let out a hushed expletive, before waving his two guardsponies over. “Find Kamos, get the elements from him. Bring them to Twilight Sparkle.”

The two guardsponies saluted quickly and flew over towards Ponyville. Kamos would have a few of his ponies in the town, the guardsponies just had to find them and they would call Kamos. George hated how Kamos did things, but he did agree with Luna’s decision on leaving the elements with him. The zebra had an aggravating habit of acting without letting anypony outside of his own group of shady ponies know, but George knew that the ponies working under the zebra were just as, if not more, competent than the best the guard had to offer. The only difference was that his minions did not respect orders from anypony else than the charismatic zebra.

George hated that once again Kamos had doctored the situation to play out according to his plan, the plan he had not shared with the rest of the guard assigned to the elements. The thought that Kamos could be playing against them was unlikely, but George could not help the small aggravating doubt in the back of his mind.

Rover

The great wolf had not left them alone since he returned from “testing the waters” as he put it. He had walked among them, giving pieces of his great wisdom to the grunts building his devices. His mere presence made the subordinate dogs work faster and actively avoid making mistakes, though Fenrir had not disciplined them physically, only pointing out the flaw in their work and telling them to do it again.

“Does the dragon bone act like a metal, or akin to a normal bone?” Fenrir asked a dog working with the forge master in making weapons from what they had scavenged from the dragon. The dog’s ears were down along his head and he looked confused. The great wolf growled and hunched his head closer to the dog. “Bring me an untouched piece of the bone and a hammer, now.”

The terrified dog scurried away into one of the new tunnels carved into the side of the mountain. The dogs had extended their mines to reach the mountain they had avoided in the past, to keep away from the dragon. Now that the great wolf had dealt with the reptilian menace, not only did they take the treasure it had hoarded, with Fenrir’s permission this time, they had hastily constructed workshops and new smelting rooms under the mountain and within it at Fenrir’s insistence. Many of the other dogs did not understand why they needed to change the way their ancestors worked metal, or why the wolf had them work on mixing acrid minerals until they became too volatile to keep near an open flame.

After the first demonstration of mixing these two ideas, the fear was only an incentive for them to work harder in making more and honing the ideas Fenrir had conveyed to them. Fenrir had not been lying when he insisted that it was not his size that made him strong.

“Rover, come here.” Fenrir simply commanded as the dog was scurrying back toward them with a shard of bone and a sledgehammer from the forge. Rover quickly made her way to the great wolf, trying to keep his fear of the larger predator at bay. Fenrir had taken to keeping Rover close for his opposable thumbs and the fact he was able to go into the hastily constructed tunnels to relay his commands and observe the smelting of the ore they had unearthed and not found any use for before.

“Here is bone and hammer!” The dog exclaimed, panting from his desperate sprint up and down the tunnels. Fenrir simply nodded and signaled for Rover to step forward. Rover thought he knew what the wolf wanted him to do, but he did not dare make the assumption. He took the hammer and the shard of bone from the subordinate dog and turned his attention to Fenrir for further orders.

“Take out your knife and try to cut the bone.” Rover did as he was told, taking out the short knife that Fenrir insisted he carried with him. The metal used in it was from the first batch of the “alloy” made out of a specific mixture of metals Rover had gone through the trouble of memorizing. The gradually smarter dog did as he was told, but was only able to chip the bone and make small cuts into it, before his blade became lodged into the tough material.

“Now, set it on a stone and try using the hammer.” Fenrir calmly ordered and kept those disturbingly intense eyes on the smaller canine. Rover quickly looked around and saw a stone large enough jutting out of the ground. The smaller dog had the presence of mind to try nudging the rock to see if it was a stable enough to work as an impromptu anvil. After making sure the stone was more of a boulder than a peddle, Rover set the piece of bone down and brought the sledgehammer up above his head.

When the hammer made contact with the shard of bone, there was a sharp “crack!” and a low boom that made his spine tingle. He had closed his eyes as the hammer made contact, to prevent shards of it from getting into his eyes and he was surprised to see the bone embedded between the shards of the boulder he had set it on. He could see a miniscule crack on the bone, but why was the stone he had set it on in pieces? The stone had broken in a way a hollow stone wouldn’t, so had it been the bone that split it, or some unseen crack in the boulder?

“Interesting, strike it again.” Fenrir ordered just as Rover was contemplating on if it were a good idea to be messing around with it in this way. He didn’t dare disagree with the great wolf, so he brought the hammer down again and the ground under the piece of bone exploded into a high-speed shower of shrapnel all around them.

Rover howled as more than a few decent sized chunks of rock hit his torso and legs. He had been right next to the point of impact, so the force behind the rocks was enough to draw blood. A pony would have broken bones and mangled limbs, but Diamond Dogs were built to be tough enough to claw through the earth. Rover might have been in unspeakable pain, but he would be no worse for wear in a few days. Still, he would be rolling around in pain for a while.

“This is definitely something we can use.” Fenrir growled out, with that frightening snarl on his snout. The wolf turned his attention the the whimpering dog, as if he had momentarily forgotten his existence. ”Rover, as soon as you’re done being a bitch, go tell the forge workers to try and avoid putting the bones to the anvil. Tell them to gingerly grind some of the bones to dust, or a paste, whichever comes out, and mix it with the gunpowder.”

Fenrir then got up and walked away, humming a strangely chipper tune as he passed the dog. Rover decided to try and let the pain subside before moving, as Fenrir seemed to have lost interest in him for the moment, but he felt the icy hand of fear grab him again as the wolf spoke up again, close enough for him to smell the putrid stench of his breathing. It was especially frightening how silently the wolf could move, given his gargantuan size.

“Oh, and you might want to mix it with one part of ground up bone and... well, let’s say 10 of the gunpowder. It might be a tad excessive, but we don’t have time to fine-tune the recipe anymore than this.” Rover immediately forced himself into a hunched standing position and bowed to the great wolf in response to his subtle threat. Fenrir did not have to be growling or barking to be intimidating and Rover had learned to not ignore even the subtlest of hints of the wolf’s aggravation. The three dead diamond dogs were more than enough proof of the wolf’s hairline-trigger when it came to acts of aggression.

“At once, great wolf!” Rover barked out and started limping toward the caves. The innovations and believes the wolf brought to the diamond dogs will undoubtedly help them grow out of their stale lifestyle of hiding in caves and hoarding gems. There was real power to be had in knowledge and Rover was sure not to forget this lesson.

The great wolf’s hurry did worry him, though. He had not told them why he forced them to craft his innovations so quickly and the fact that most of the things he’d had them build were things used for combat both worried and excited him. Who could the wolf be preparing for? Surely not the ponies, as the wolf had gone through great lengths to keep them docile. Why would he throw that away so soon?

Then again, it was not his place to question the great wolf. If he really was gearing up for a battle against the ponies, then the pack would stand with him. Those of the Light would learn what those in the Dark are capable of. It had been a while since the Diamond Dogs tasted pony flesh.

Applejack

“Are ya sure you haven’t seen them? Ah don’t want to go into the Everfree if they’re somewhere in town.” Applejack asked the increasingly worried Rarity, as she fidgeted in place, itching to run into the Everfree and drag her sister and her friends back by their tails. They should have known better than to go into the Everfree by now!

“Now, are you absolutely certain they didn’t get another ride from Fenrir? If those three are with him, I doubt anything would, or could, hurt them.” Rarity asked, trying to rationalize the situation into the best possible scenario. Applejack narrowed her eyes at Rarity, but fought back on the urge of doubting the big wolf. Fenrir was nice and all, but she would not trust her kin with him. Nothing could hurt the three little fillies if he was protecting them, but nothing could stop him from hurting them either, if he lost his wits again.

“Yes, I am. Fenrir disappeared at the crack of dawn, before Applebloom was awake and definitely before her two friends came over. There are only the fillies tracks going from the barn and into the forest, over Fenrir’s pawprints. Those three numbskulls followed him in the forest, the way I reckon!” Applejack huffed and made a move to barge out of the boutique and into the dangerous forest after her sister, before a hoof stopped her.

“It is ill-advised to go into the forest with the numbers we have, Applejack.” Regal Poise calmly stated, locking eyes with the frantic mare. Applejack looked like she was about start taking out her frustration on the diplomatic unicorn, but another stallion stepped in to calm her.

“As much as I hate to say it, he’s right. We’ll at least need pegasi guards to search for the fillies proper. I suggest we go get Azure Wind to help us and enter the forest from Fluttershy’s cottage. I can pick up their trail when we get close to where they entered from.” Stalwart Shield, the officer in charge of Applejack’s guard calmly stated, giving Regal Poise an annoyed glance. He was an earth pony about the size and build of Big Macintosh and had been nothing but professional throughout the few days he had been on the Apple family’s farm. He obviously felt responsible for letting the fillies out of his sight, but his calm way of going about going after them still didn’t sit well with Applejack. “A few unicorns wouldn’t hurt either, Regal.”

“Hey, from the way things are going, we’ll all end up going in there. All I’m saying is that it will be that much harder to guard the Element bearers in that forest.” Regal Poise then glanced at Rarity, who was glaring at the unicorn guard with the fury of a thousand suns. Regal flinched back and coughed into his hoof before turning back to Stalwart Shield. “But taking into account that two of these fillies are related to the bearers, we are honor-bound to see to their safe return. I, of course, volunteer to help you in your efforts, leaving my subordinates to guard Rarity.”

“You don’t have to worry about dividing your forces, Regal, since I’m going into that forest and dragging Sweetie Belle out of there myself.” Rarity announced and started trotting to the door. “The dragon might have been disposed off, but that horrid place is still too dangerous at night for three fillies, so I suggest we get going.”

With that said, Rarity calmly trotted to the exit and opened the door with magic.Regal giving her an annoyed glare. If it weren’t for the severity of the situation Applejack would have told the two of them get a room already.

“Celestia dammit, Rarity... Okay, you heard the lady, let’s go!” Regal ordered, muttering at the stupidity of it all while they left the boutique. Applejack set a brisk pace she hoped Rarity could keep up with as they started making their way to Fluttershy’s cabin. They barely made it to the edge of Ponyville when a pegasi guard flew over them, heading into town. Applejack didn’t think much of it and kept trotting, but both Stalwart Shield Regal Poise stopped to look where the pegasi was heading to.

“That was one of George’s, I think.” Regal absent-mindedly pointed out as they watched the pegasi in question flutter about the sky above Ponyville, until one of Kamos’ masked pegasi approached him, coming out of a cloud in the sky. Applejack trotted up to Regal and shook him with a hoof to gain his attention.

“We ain’t got time to be watching the scenery, Regal. Mah sister’s out there and we are going to get her out before anything happens to her, ya hear!” She never appreciated the unicorn’s way of trying to get into everypony’s good graces through flattery and big words. Now that she thought the unicorn was just stalling for time, just so that he wouldn’t have to go into the scary forest, she was right about ready to punch the stallion.

“Applejack, please calm down. We came to a stop because the pegasi that passed us is most likely retrieving the Elements of Harmony from Kamos. It would be unwise to separate the bearers if there is a situation that calls for them to be brought forth.” Regal Poise quickly explained, while taking a few steps back from the aggressive mare. Applejack still considered punching the smooth-talking stallion, but glanced at Stalwart Shield before giving into this impulse.

“I’m sorry to say that he’s got a point. I can’t think of another reason for a pegasi guard to seek out one of Kamos’ agents. If things with Fenrir have come to a head, then it would be suicide to go into the forest without all of the elements gathered.” Stalwart Shield said in a calm tone, turning his gaze toward the dark forest in the distance. If Fenrir had really turned on them, could they possibly beat him, even with the elements? He was huge, unnaturally fast and had proven to move quietly enough to sneak up on them.

“You don’t think that... Fenrir had anything to do with Sweetie Belle and her friends disappearing? I admit he is fearsome looking, but to attack three little fillies...” Rarity quietly asked Stalwart Shield, then turning to Regal Poise when the earth pony only averted his gaze. Regal Poise did not look like he was comfortable at all, but he still gave the distressed mares an answer.

“If the Elements are being brought out, then there has to be some reason for them. Either George believes Fenrir might become a problem in the near future, or there has been a development that sanctions the use of the Elements of Harmony against him. I would like to believe the three fillies disappearing at this time is a coincidence, but...” Regal decided not to finish his sentence, as the horrified expressions on Applejack’s and Rarity’s faces were proof enough that they had gotten the message.

“Ah’ll destroy that overgrown wolf, if he’s done anythin’ to those fillies!” Applejack forced out through gritted teeth. A small part of her mind reminded her that they were not sure that Fenrir had actually done anything, but the rest just ignored that part and continued on feeding the righteous fury inside her.

“We will destroy him, if that is the case, Applejack.” Rarity hissed out, staying somewhat more composed, but the cold fury she felt still seeping from her every word. Again, a small part of Applejack’s mind reminded her that they were jumping into a lot of assumptions here, but it was ignored yet again. She never had trusted the wolf to begin with.

“Now, we don’t know anything for sure yet...” Regal Poise cut in, before being interrupted by Twilight’s surprised voice.

“Rarity? Applejack? What are you doing here?” Twilight shouted out as she rushed past her guards and to her two friends. Applejack and Rarity shared a glance and turned back to Twilight with worry etched into their faces. Twilight opened her mouth to ask more questions, but caught on to the general mood of the meeting quick enough to hold her tongue.

“Twilight, Applebloom and her friends are missing. Please tell me this has nothing to with the elements being gathered.” Applejack rushed out, taking a step towards the confused unicorn. Twilight opened and closed her mouth several times, looking between her two distressed friends in confusion.

“Not that I know of, no. The elements were called out by George, just in case Fenrir became a problem. You think that Fenrir has something to do with their disappearance?” Twilight asked, stepping closer as the worry in her friends faces lessened somewhat.

“To be honest; we have no idea. The timing was just too much a coincidence for my liking. I would like nothing more than to be wrong on this matter.” Regal Poise stated with an authoritative tone in his voice, now that two distraught mares weren’t glaring at him with promise of murder in their eyes.

“I believe we need to gather the elements and ask the wolf in person to bring this matter to a close.” George stated and the other officers around him all nodded. Azure Wind, George and Shield Valor all knew of Fenrir’s backstory and his possible motivations in taking the three fillies, while Regal Poise and Stalwart Shield believed in helping their charges ease their minds, whatever the truth might be.

They had five of the bearers gathered, with only the physical vessels and the Element of Laughter missing. They all turned their eyes towards the town and to the pair of pegasi flying back toward them. One of them was one of George’s golden-armored subordinates, while the other was a dark-clothed pegasus with a dark blue mane, one of Kamos’ subordinates. They were carrying a large chest between them, presumably holding the physical presentations of the elements within it. Now, they just had to track down Pinkie Pie.

Applejack realized that it was not something she had any sure way of doing. Pinkie Pie did sleep at a spare room in the cake’s house, but there was no telling where she was between the time she woke up and went to sleep. Usually when stuff like this happened, Pinkie was already there, chatting excitedly about what they were going to do and the parties she could throw in celebration. Of course, the situation was more serious than it had been on any of their other excursions, but she had thought Pinkie would pop up somewhere like she usually did.

The two pegasi set down on the road in front of them and shook of the harness they had used to carry the box to the gathered ponies. The pegasi wearing dark blue cloth over most of his body moved to open the crate and Applejack and her friends drew in a breath in anticipation. The pegasi stopped and glanced back at them, probably confused as to why they would be pre-emptively admiring the elements, but tipping the box open with a wing all the same. Applejack leaned back in anticipation and folded her ears back to be spared from whatever noise PInkie would make when she burst out of the crate.

There was only a warm glow emanating from the box with the powerful magical relics resting inside. Applejack glanced around to see her friends looking just as perplexed at the lack of Pinkie in the box.

“This is usually where Pinkie Pie makes an appearance, isn’t it?” Rainbow Dash, quick to point out exactly what her friends were thinking. The royal guards looked at the mares, then at each other, before turning to the operative tasked with the protection of the Element of Laughter. The pegasi under the mask didn’t flinch at the attention, only nodded when he noticed all eyes were on him.

“We will ensure Laughter joins your group before you confront Fenrir.” The pegasi flapped his wings and hovered in place for a moment before adding a clarifying statement as an afterthought. “She will be carried or teleported to you if all else fails. Rest easy, we will ensure the success of this operation.”

They watched the pegasus fly away in stunned silence. Despite having seen Kamos, they had assumed Pinkie Pie did not have guards, like they did. To find that she actually had a whole unit of ponies that both dressed and acted like assassins guarding her was a disconcerting thought. After a moment, Twilight levitated the elements over to her friends, clipping PInkie’s element on her neck for safekeeping, as the pegasi had not taken it with him.

“I must press that we are not going into the forest to initiate hostilities with Fenrir. I know you feel concern for the three fillies, but blaming Fenrir for their disappearance, without compelling evidence, is only inviting trouble and very rude to boot.” George bellowed out in a voice every mare and stallion present could hear. Applejack had to reign in the parts of her mind that wanted to debate the issue, but she did nod her agreement after a moment. The wolf had been civil and nice to the fillies and as much as she thought it to be a ruse.

“Don’t kick Fenrir’s ass without asking first, got it.” Rainbow Dash stated and hopped up into the air, starting to impatiently fly circles above the group.

“Close enough, let’s go.” George said and hopped into the air, the pegasi guards following his example. Two of them and Azure Wind immediately jetted up above the tree line and scouted ahead as George sized up the group.

“Kamos’ operatives will catch up to us in the forest.” George fluttered in place as he peered at the path leading into the forest and back toward their diverse group. Applejack smirked as she heard the stallion snort in annoyance. “Regal, Valor, stay with your charges. Stalwart, take point. Unicorns stay close behind him and his guard. Pegasi are with me. At your convenience, elements.”

Applejack turned her eyes over to Twilight, who flinched at the sudden attention, but promptly adjusted her crown and started trotting along the path to the forest.

The Liar

Dramatic convenience, either that or just fucking magic, but there was no way that the Diamond Dogs should have been able to construct everything he had told them in the time he had given them. He did have some theories about the Diamond Dogs possessing some kind of innate magical ability for molding the earth, but the fact that they could master making metal alloys so quickly was still unbelievable.

He wasn’t even sure how he knew so much about metallurgy, but there was no denying that the knowledge was convenient. Maybe he had been an engineer, or something, before Luna tore his identity asunder.

True, those alloys had not gone through any other test than having his considerable weight applied to them and cutting through dragon bone, but it was enough serve the purpose he intended for it. Now, with the discovery that the bones of the dragon he killed acted as a kind of accelerator for kinetic energy... Well, the explosives were the only use they could get out of it in such a short amount of time, so it didn’t matter if his mind was abuzz with ideas.

“You might want to start making blades and brass knuckles out of the bone. making armor out of it is a horrible idea, though.” Fenrir’s mouth absent-mindedly pointed out as he lay about in front of the cave he had annexed from the dragon. Their agreement on the control of the body had started to become hazy, as Fenrir kept on saying his thoughts out loud, before he could even register that the wolf was paying attention. It was like someone looming over your shoulder while you were writing a letter and correcting your grammar.

“Great wolf!” One of the grunt dogs hollered out as he barreled into the scorched clearing. He could feel Fenrir’s anger flaring at the dog’s disrespect, but he was able keep a calm facade up as the dog slunk forward, clearly realizing his own mistake.

“Something to report, I assume?” Fenrir’s growling voice rumbled out as he leisurely raised his head to look down at the comparatively small dog. The dog only timidly nodded, his shaking hind legs betraying the fear that had muted him. “You either spit it out, or I’ll be the one spitting you out from between my teeth.”

“The ponies are coming, great wolf!” The scared dog blurted out hurriedly. This caused Fenrir to stop fighting to try and make his threat into reality. The wolf knew he was better suited to dealing with anything concerning the ponies.

“I see. I take it this was a large group?” The dog nodded his head repeatedly as a response. “Were the colorful ones wearing jewelry?”

“Yes, the ponies had trinkets, with shiny gems!” The dog was obviously trying to hide his excitement of this fact, but the thin rivulet of drool slowly making it’s way to the ground gave his thoughts away. He had to wonder about their obsession with gems, as he was pretty sure they didn’t eat them. Those with the IQ below double digits must have been conditioned to liken the sight of gems into being rewarded, or something. He would have asked the dogs about this, if there wasn’t a homicidal predator sharing his brainspace.

“Thank you, go make yourself useful somewhere around here. Rover!” The small nameless dog scurried away and it only took a few seconds for the slightly more intelligent dog’s green eyes to peek out from a strategically placed hole in the ground. The speed they could move in those tunnels was impressive and something he could use to great effect when the ponies turned violent.

“Tell the craftsmen to forego further manufacturing and bring what they have ready to me. Leave dogs to hammer and whittle out the bolts and spears and to bake the ceramics, but bring me the rest, now.” Fenrir’s rumbling voice said to the border-line catatonic dog. The dog’s luminescent green eyes stared at his from the hole from a moment before the dog remembered he was supposed to repeat the order.

“Keep making ammo for the fight, bring the weapons we have up.” Rover’s grating voice said from the shadows of the hole. Fenrir’s head nodded once in response and he spread it into a grin he knew they found uncomfortable.

“I knew there was a reason you were in charge before me. The ponies are coming and I’ll need you to relay further instructions to the mongrels... Actually tell the bolters to start setting up on the hill over there already, just send the one in charge to me.” He nodded to a hill on the side of the clearing they were on. If the ponies were coming for him, or for the fillies, this is where they would come. He was putting a little too much hope on the idea that the ponies didn’t know better than to march into a large open area, but if the Diamond Dogs could somehow build and work forges in hours, the ponies could be a little dimwitted.

It didn’t take long for dogs of varying sizes and breeds to start appearing out of holes dug into the mountain, carrying with them a small assortment of spears, mallets and a messy assortment of ropes and stones that were supposedly the bolas he’d told them to make. He nodded to the empty space in front of him without a word and the dogs set the objects down, the one with the bolas surprisingly having the sense to start untangling the ropes, before being specifically told to do so.

“7 spears, 5 hammers, a bunch of bolas and a yet undetermined amount of bombs. I believe these are not weapons you are all familiar with, but it is not the weapons that will make you dangerous, it is how you are going to use them.” Fenrir calmly stated, nodding at each pile of weapons as he mentioned them. The dogs in front of him were listening intently. The smaller former alpha was there, but he could not for the life of him remember his name. It was either Spot, or Fido, something equally cliché, but he didn’t care enough to ask the dog. He was in charge of the spear squad nonetheless.

“The bombs are not designed to be deadly, you lacked the means and the time for shrapnel grenades but they will be used as a means to disorient the ponies as the bolters and the spear squad launch their attack. Given the strength of the unicorns in the group that is heading our way, they will be your primary target if hostilities begin.” Fenrir paused and the dogs nodded, an excited glint in their eyes that unnerved one part of him and made another nod in approval.

“These spears are not to be thrown, but used to stab ponies from underground, hence the long shaft and narrow head. They have been fitted with a piece of dragon bone between the blade and the pommel, which will hopefully add to the force of the thrust. If that is not the case, switch to your old spears. You will initiate hostilities only on my command, which will be three barks in quick succession, not two, or four, exactly three... You can all count to three, right?” The small dog nodded immediately, while the other dogs gathered started counting slowly with their fingers. Fenrir let out an annoyed growl that made them flinch.

“Okay, I’ll howl then! You better fucking be able to tell a howl from a conversation. The ponies are on their way here and I will try and buy us some more time. If I do not give you the signal, you are not to attack the ponies.” Tiis time all the dogs gathered nodded their heads. Fenrir turned back to the gathered tools of war on the ground. “These hammers are very simple to use, but the dragon bone they are crafted from gives you the ability launch projectiles at breakneck speeds by hitting them with it. In simpler terms, use the hammer to hit rocks at the ponies, or scrape at the ground while charging to disorient them with a shower of pebbles.”

“The bolas are a tool you might not be familiar with, but they can be used to incapacitate either pegasi or earth pony, do not bother trying to use them on unicorns, as they do not need free reign of their limbs to use magic. You use them by grabbing one of the weights, whirling it above your head and then letting it fly toward the legs, or wings, of whatever you want to trip. You, go stand over there while the craftsman demonstrates.” He nodded toward one of the taller dogs, that wasn’t the one that had made the bolas. It would be far more effective to show them how the bolas worked, than trust the idiotic dogs to figure it out from a simple explanation.

The dog that had made the bolas grabbed one and started to whirl it above his head. The action looked comical with the ridiculously long forelegs these dogs had. The dog let the bola fly and the flapping sound the weights made as they flew across the field made some of the dogs look around, confused as to what was making it. This included the dog he had ordered to act as a target and caused him to stumble and fall as the bolas whipped around his legs and stretched forelimbs, demonstrating the bolas’ purpose and function in one fell swoop.

Fenrir’s mouth smirked, dramatic convenience for the win.

“Take one bola each and the rest for the dogs under you, practice hitting moving targets on each other, until the ponies get here. The bombs are self-explanatory and are to be used first when I give the signal. Roll them, do not throw them; the ceramic casings need to stay whole for them to have any effect. Dismissed.” Fenrir watched the small former alpha gather the spears and jump down a hole, his dogs would not need bolas, as they would be underground for most of the battle. The fact he realized that on his own was something that brought him some amusement; the cliché of the weakest and smallest compensating with intellect was as true and tested as anything could be in fiction.

It was forming out to be a nail-biting climax to a disorienting story of trying to accept a monster. Maybe the lesson Twilight would choke out at the end would be the sobering truth that there are real monsters out in the world. There is not always a silver lining to a cloud, or a happy ending to a story. Sometimes the Big Bad Wolf eats both the Red Riding Hood and the grandmother, leaving the Hunter to drag out the eviscerated remains out of the slain wolf.

Before the simple woodsman is put to death for killing the two and consorting with the devil, as the story takes place in medieval times. Luckily, that was not the case for the ponies, as a thousand years on the moon does not drive a pony insane beyond repair. Oh no, just zap them with rainbows and they’re fine within 8 to 10 weeks. Not to mention the whole “The Night shall last forever! BUAHAHAHAH!” being completely forgotten and forgiven, for dramatic convenience, what else?

There was no god in Equestria, there was only the force of Dramatic Convenience.

Something a little too far-fetched to be believable? Oh look, there’s a Lord of Chaos fucking with ponies through hilarious pranks and enticing monologues! Look at that, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! We’ll even make him flirt with Pinkie Pie, so you shippers don’t have to think of intricate plots to your clopfics! LISTEN AT THE VOICE TALENT WE PAID FOR! BUY OUR SHIT, GOD DAMN IT!

He was brought of his furious thoughts as Fenrir’s head shot up and his ears swiveled about. A wordless question to the wolf made him aware that the wolf had thought to have heard laughter, distant and unfamiliar, but still enough to put the great wolf on edge. Neither he nor the wolf could hear anything now, but Fenrir was not one to distrust his senses and The Liar was not one to care if there was someone laughing at him from afar, as long as they didn’t have a high-powered rifle.

He had assumed that the concept of a sniper was something he would not find in Equestria, but now he was not that sure. A pegasus hiding in a cloud with a Dragunov was a terrifying thought.

“Fenrir! Fenrir, are ya here, I’ve gotta talk to you!” Applejack’s distinctive southern accent cut through the sounds of Diamond Dogs throwing pieces of rope and rocks at each other. The dogs had the presence of mind to stop what they were doing and hurry to positions, at least, leaving only Applejack’s determined trotting as the only sound in the surprisingly quiet forest.

Fuck Dramatic Convenience, the silence was hurting his ears.

“Hello, Applejack. I am sorry for sneaking out from your barn with no notice, I needed to clean up the dragon’s hoard before moving in, ya know. The Diamond Dogs nearby were kind enough to volunteer their services, for some odd reason.” He smirked in a way that didn’t show much of the sharp parts of his fangs, but bared his teeth nonetheless. He hoped the ponies would interpret this as a friendly smile. Rarity actually looked around nervously and pressed herself closer to her guard at the mention of Diamond Dogs. She must not have been as stupid as the show made her out to be, she was aware that the Diamond Dogs would hold a grudge.

“Applebloom’s missing, Fenrir. You wouldn’t know where she’s at, would ya?” Applejack trotted up to him, separating herself from the protection of the group of royal guards and seriously OP unicorns without a second thought. The Element of Honesty at her finest, people!

“The small yellow one, with the bow?” He asked, leaning his head back as Applejack strained to glare at him as close as possible. She blinked and after a moment simply nodded in response, still looking suspicious. He responded to her obvious apprehension by roaring “Rover!” at the top of his lungs. It took a few moments for the slightly smarter former alpha to pop out of a hole in the ground. He looked apprehensive about the whole situation and confusion was clear on his face, but he hoped to work past that.

“Rover, tell the element of Honesty here where our three fillie guests are.” The diamond Dog blinked once, twice, and a third time, before jerking his head toward Applejack and then back to him jerkily. It was amusing to see an idea form in their little heads, but he only hoped the dog would have the presence of mind to stay as close to the truth as possible, given the obvious clue of talking to the element of Honesty.

“The small ponies are in tunnels, yes. They see much gems, they take the grand tour of caves! They see our halls and our slides, the young love the slides!” Rover excitedly finished, jumping up a little at the mention of the slides.

“Yes, they are given a tour of the intricate cave system of the Diamond Dogs. As Rover said, they are probably enjoying the slides the dogs use to travel down into the lower chambers quickly, but the climb up takes much longer. In conclusion, the young ones are indisposed at the moment.” He quickly finished for the Diamond Dog, before he could slip into an easy lie. He wasn’t sure if the Element of Honesty had magical bullshit detecting powers, but it didn’t hurt to assume as such and prepare. Applejack looked a lot more uncertain in her approach now, along with the rest of her fellowship. He couldn’t help but smirk at the comedy of the situation.

“Say, as long as you are here, with all of your guards and the wretched magical artifacts that destroyed my Mistress, would you like to hear a story?” He casually asked, standing up in an excited manner that made some of the guards bristle. Being tentative around them at this point would be suspicious, after all. “It would pass the time as we wait for your young to stop torturing the dogs with their youthful, borderline monstrous, energy.”

“I... I reckon we could do that, sure.” Applejack tentatively answered, glancing at her friends, clearly confused at the turn the situation had taken. She had trotted up to him fully prepared to buck his teeth out to get her sister back safely, but now she had promised to sit down and listen to a story.

“Perfect, now sit down wherever you like and I’ll tell you all about how, my life got flipped-turned upside down. I’d like to take a minute and - No, don’t sit there, there’s a hole - God damn it...“ He paused, unable to remember how the song went after the interruption of one of the guards almost falling into one of the many holes the Diamond Dogs had dug on his command.

“Well, anyways, I’ll tell you about the real history behind Nightmare Moon’s rise and fall. I was there, so I’m as infallible of a source as you can get.” He glanced at the sun before continuing his story. He deduced the time had to be around 7 or 8 in the evening. If Celestia didn’t sneeze particularly violently or just forget to lower the sun, then night should fall in about an hour or two, hopefully. He had an hour or so he had to entertain the ponies for it to be dark enough for the battle to be both terrifying and dramatic.

“Let me start at the very beginning...”

Watch this, or you are not a pleasant person. Trust me, you need it in your life!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEQ_6geAKwE&list=FL43ve81tIyAwTkJZM-VDCuA&index=1

Endgame

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Chapter 10

Endgame

“The first thing you’ll have to understand is the fact that Equestria is not alone in this world. Equestria has grown in power and influence from the time I knew it, but still there are the griffons to the north, the zebras to the south and Dragons and Diamond Dogs all around. Things were... a whole lot more grimm in my time. Ponies only had the land at the base of Canterlot mountain to call their own. Ponies were too ostracized to form a nation that could go against the other nations.” Fenrir glanced at his audience and was glad to notice that all but one were paying close attention. The one inexplicably called George was peering at the hill he had ordered the bolters to set up on suspiciously. The pony had not let any of the other ponies know of his suspicion, so the dogs must have been able to hide the armaments well enough.

“The pegasi were the ones most eager to go against the other nations and that was their fundamental flaw. They fought for the control of the skies, but their opponents were usually either griffons, or god forbid, fucking dragons. It was no great surprise that their numbers were kept low through their constant losing battle against races overwhelmingly superior in physical ability.” This tidbit of information got George’s attention. He clearly had not expected his rank of “general” to mean anything more than that he was stronger than any of the wolves under him. Of course, he was mostly right, but the human intellect he could use now had collected the fragments of memories the wolf had already known and woven a lie that was close enough to the truth to be convincing.

“Now, the unicorns had a great system going for a while. They had their magic and they were always pushing the boundaries of what they could do with it. It all came to a head when they figured out how to control the sun and the moon, and as any sentient race is ought to do, enslaved others to grow them food and tend to their petty needs. I am of course referring to the earth ponies of old. Earth ponies were third class citizen and unicorns were the first class citizens. Whoever the unicorns employed to beat the earth ponies into submission fell somewhere in between.”

“That is not true! The princesses would never allow that!” Twilight Sparkle objected without thinking. Fenrir had the urge to jump up and roar a counter-argument, but the human intellect suggested staying calm and letting the unicorn piece it together herself, with a bit of help.

“I hope you understand that Neither Celestia or Luna actually are the sun and the moon. The very epitome of unicorn magic was what guided the sun and the moon in ancient times; these spells would later gain sentience and personality, as a means to bring down Discord. Of course, the unicorns that achieved this didn’t think that the avatars would rise against them to rule all of ponykind, but such is life.”

It was amusing to see this new idea take root in the studious unicorn’s mind. He could imagine her going over every bit of lore and fact she knew of the princesses and their origins, trying to find a flaw in his argument. The princesses were obviously beings of magic, but to think that it had been ancient unicorns that created them? Oh, the absolute mind-fuckery it would cause if The Liar’s argument could hold water against the facts Twilight knew.

It was almost as satisfying to see the purple unicorn sit down dejected, than it would have been to taste their blood and crush their bodies between his jaws. He couldn’t keep down an amused grin that made the ponies bristle. There was some real entertainment to using words, rather than his power to get by.

“Now then, Celestia and Luna take over, their right to rule being the same power to control night and day that gave unicorns their authority, yet the unicorns had lost this ability with the princesses’ rise to power. If Luna hadn’t brought the pegasi under Equestria’s flag, then the earth ponies would have probably slaughtered the royal unicorns that had lorded over them to that point.” He paused for a moment to lock eyes with both Applejack and Rainbow Dash, causing them to flinch back.

“The ability to control the weather makes it laughably easy to grow crops, so the earth ponies were busy befriending the pegasi and processing their bountiful harvest, so the nobles got off with only a few casualties. You know, the sexually abused maids sticking sharp objects right where a stallion don’t want them, and such.” Before any of the ponies could object to this insunnation, he flicked his eyes to Rarity. She flinched back, but still braced herself, probably seeing what was coming. Not nearly as stupid as the human thought her to be.

“Before you object; Rarity, what would you think Blueblood would have been like in the times before Celestia and Luna, when he would have been the highest authority in his small corner of the world? Would he have seen the earth pony maids around him as anything more than walking masturbation-aides?” He inched his head to the side in a way that his human side knew would aggravate the ponies.

“You disgust me.” Rarity hissed back, giving him a glare that had the promise of much pain and suffering. Really, if that glare could be put into words, there would be grand plays exploring the depths and nuances of the hate contained within. The unicorn mare stared at him with those eyes filled with such deep fury for a few seconds, before breaking eye-contact and groaning in frustration. As much as she would have liked to dispute him, it was entirely possible, in her biased perspective, for ponies like Blueblood to sink to such lows. The human in him didn’t believe it to be the case, but riling the ponies up with such outrageous claims would keep them listening, if he didn’t go too far, that is.

“So, the two royal sisters are building their ponies an ideal place to live around Canterlot mountain. They built a castle for themselves right where the Everfree will sprout. I think this went on for a few generations, the ponies’ antics going largely unnoticed by the other nations during that time. The griffons were the first ones to notice that the majority of pegasi that they had been fighting had moved under the flag of Equestria and were making alliances with the unicorns. They had no reason to believe that the militaristic pegasi would not attack with the help of their new allies.”

He noticed the guards listening to the story and a few of the elements turning to the unicorn guarding Rarity as he told them this. The unicorn nodded solemnly, maintaining eye-contact with him the whole time. He had to assume this was either the strategist, or the historian of the group.

“Now, this is where I have actual personal experience on how bad things were. Equestria was not like it is today, beasts rivaling me were all over the place, but I and my pack happened to be the ones to slaughter the first reconnaissance party the griffons sent. You see, The Princess of the Night always did have sway over the predators that would have threatened her ponies, so we attacked anything else, but her ponies. This led to early Equestria having a ring of bloodthirsty predators patrolling its borders.” He paused and observed the group. Who should he focus on while he let this next bit of information out? Fluttershy would not like the idea of animals being used in such a fashion, but Twilight was the one who yearned to understand this.

“The zebras did not take kindly to this, as they saw it a perversion from the natural way of things. You see, the great predators they had learnt to live along with were becoming more and more violent as Equestria’s lands bled further south, driving the striped tribals from their homes. The zebras were just as ready to start hostilities with Equestria as the Griffons were ready to snuff them out before they became a threat. Equestria was sandwiched between two larger nations that did not take kindly to its continued presence.” He glanced at Rover, who had decided to stay and listen to the story. As long as the other dogs stayed in position he saw no reason to stop him.

“The diamond dogs were hanging around, ready to turn the war into profit. I think the dragons initially refused to take sides because they didn’t like the power Celestia and Luna had over them through controlling the sun and moon, while not showing their seniority the respect the great lizards felt they deserved.” He paused his story on the human intelligence’s insistence. He had to draw this out a little more, so he didn’t object. He saw the ponies getting impatient, glancing at each other to figure out who was going ask him to continue. It should be no great surprise that Rainbow Dash beat them all to the punch.

“The history lesson’s great and all, but what does this have to do with Nightmare Moon?” Fenrir sighed deeply at this, in part to aggravate the pegasus, but mostly just for the fact how everything he’d been building up had gone way over her head. He shifted his gaze to Twilight Sparkle and inclined his head in a way that could be read as him raising an eyebrow. The unicorn flinched back and put a hoof to her chest, as if asking “Who, me?”. Fenrir simply nodded and jerked his head toward Rainbow Dash, and the rest of friends and guards sitting behind her.

“Uhm... What I think Fenrir is trying to set up is an alternate viewpoint as to what happened before Luna became Nightmare Moon. I have suspected that the story we have been told is overly simplified and glosses over most of the nuances of what led to Nightmare Moon’s rise, but... I never could gather the courage to ask either of the princesses.” Twilight Sparkle had turned to address her friends and had to whip toward him to deliver her closing statement. Fenrir had used the chance to inch his head closer to the mare and grinned at the unicorn flinching back at his sudden proximity.

“What you are telling us might be the truth, or it might be all lies, but it is most definitely only from your extremely biased perspective! I refuse to believe anything you say at face-value; not before asking the princesses.” Twilight Sparkle clearly thought she had outsmarted him with the obvious realization that he might not be wholly truthful all the time. Both the human consciousness and the wolf started to chuckle at the unicorn’s naívete. The human consciousness was already thinking of ways to knock her off the pedestal she had set herself up on and Fenrir couldn’t wait to kill the condescending mare. They both knew not to lunge at the mare’s throat, even though he could close the distance fast enough to kill the unicorn.

“Oh my, oh my; the little unicorn has deduced that a general of Nightmare Moon’s army just might be a tad biased when it comes to the war he fought in? I don’t think my body can convey the appropriate amount of sarcasm for this, but Rover here happens to have hands. Rover, clap your hands together, slowly.” The wolf could not help but smirk at the unicorn blushing and deflating as Rover started to awkwardly clap his paws together. The looks her friends were throwing his way were also humorous and it was clear that he had the attention of every guard there. They were just waiting for an excuse to pounce him, not paying nearly as much attention to what was happening around them.

“So, now that we’ve established that I am not omniscient, shall we continue?” The ponies around Twilight were giving him the dirtiest looks possible, but the purple unicorn eventually nodded before meeting his eyes again. She was embarrassed, but she still didn’t want to throw away the chance to learn something new about the princesses.

“Your Queen of Light was too busy caring for her little ponies to see any of this and too stupid to take Luna’s warnings seriously. War was inevitable, the ponies would be annihilated if the other nations attacked; the only choice was to attack first, but open war against the other nations was just as suicidal. Luna only had Celestia’s love for her ponies and her own power over the night to work with...” The human intellect suggested pausing the story there for the ponies to connect the dots themselves. The following questions and disbelief would serve to draw out the story.

“I still don’t see why that would make her turn into Nightmare Moon. Threatening to make the night last forever would surely make everypony attack.” Rainbow Dash thought aloud. He could see recognition in the eyes of some of the guards and Twilight Sparkle. Fluttershy was looking dejectedly at the ground and the other ponies were still waiting for him to continue.

“Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon and tried to make the night last forever, just so that Celestia’s victory would be that much more grand. Celestia had to go against something that the other nations could not defeat. If we are to believe your story, then she started a brutal war she fully intended to lose.” The unicorn guard with Rarity stated. He sounded calm, but he could see the anger in his eyes. “Even if I am to acknowledge that you probably did not have a full understanding of the situation and that your story is biased, it would still not make sense to start a war on the off-chance that the ponies, or the other nations would raise Celestia on a pedestal, as your story suggests they did.”

“Hmm, yes that is a fair point, but let’s keep in mind that we are talking about the same mare that healed me by using means she learnt from Discord. This is the same mare that has had a thousand years taken away by the same elements you wear around your necks, only to have her personality torn asunder and pieced back together to fit the image that Celestia painted through a millenia of folklore she doctored to paint her sister as a victim to a separate entity, The Nightmare.” Fenrir could see where the human consciousness was going with this and had to admit that he was genuinely looking forward to seeing their reactions.

“What, you wield the most powerful magical artifacts known to ponykind and you don’t know how they work?” He paused, systematically looking each of the elements in the eye. Pinkie was the only one that didn’t look surprised or confused. The pink mare was only staring at him with a disconcerting look in her eyes. The mare was obviously privy to information she did not fully grasp the meaning of.

Also, she was able to sneak behind the group of mares without anyone noticing. The way the guards flinched ever so slightly as they followed his gaze to find out why he had paused suggested that she had just appeared. A quick glance at Twilight Sparkle putting a hoof to her bare chest confirmed that the pink mare had obtained her Element of Harmony within the same second she appeared. The rational fear he had developed for the impossible mare peaked right at that moment, as she bore down on him with those impossibly old eyes.

“This is all real, this is not part of a show. We are as real and mortal as any creature from your side.” The pink mare blinked and that sage-like calm disappeared from her eyes. “If we leave things as they are, we will be nothing more than extensions to Fenrir’s sad tale!”

Pinkie Pie was hyperventilating and looked to only now become aware of the group of ponies in front of her. Fenrir forced his visage to convey confusion, even though he wanted to strike against the ponies, before they had the chance to do the same. What he would do hinged on how the ponies reacted to Pinkie’s words. On one hand, her precognitive powers were a fact, but she also had a habit of over-reacting to anything new. If the ponies didn’t freak right the fuck out, her grim prediction could be explained away by frayed nerves. Admitting to frightening Pinkie with the story about what had possibly happened to his pack would support this claim.

“I believe I know what triggered this mental breakdown.” Fenrir evenly stated, gaining the attention of everypony present. Rover was inching toward the hole in the ground, probably expecting him to order the attack soon. He gave the dog a glare that froze him in place before continuing.

“I shared some rather morbid details about my past with Pinkie earlier today, while she watched the dragon getting butchered.” Twilight looked suspicious, Fluttershy was mortified and the rest of Pinkie’s friends were looking at him disapprovingly. He couldn’t tell what the guards thought about it, but they had not moved into positions to guard for an attack yet. “I understand in hindsight that this was unnecessarily cruel of me and downright petty, but I did not have the patience to deal with our resident pink party pony at the time.”

“So... Celestia didn’t kill your pack?” PInkie asked, her hair inflating slowly as hope glimmered in her eyes. Twilight leveled a downright venomous glare at him for such a blasphemous claim.

“Celestia would not kill your pack just for the -”

“As far as I know, she did.” Interrupting Twilight’s holier-than-thou rant felt extremely satisfying. “I only know that I was locked away in Tartarus and there was no trace of my pack in our old hunting grounds when I came back. You might think of her as a benevolent goddess, but she is more than capable of slaughter, if it means helping her little ponies. She is the one that used the elements against her own sister, after all.”

“But you don’t know that she did! Your pack probably relocated in the 1000 years you were gone. I believe they might be the arctic wolves I’ve read about. They grow to be around your size and hunt in packs on the tundras.” Twilight answered his speculation with some facts she must have read up on after his appearance. He didn’t even have the energy to smirk at her annoyance, this was starting to get tiresome.

“So, it is either that my kin was butchered in the hunting grounds I fought tooth and claw for, or that they were driven out into the frozen wastes? I think I preferred the option where my hardships were not in vain.” His speech regressed into an aggressive snarl as what Twilight suggested sunk in. His kin, the young ones he had shed so much blood for had been banished into the frozen tundras. Not only had the ponies disgraced him and his pack by sparing their lives, but they even stole his children their birthright!

“But we are not talking to Fenrir right now, are we? Not really; you are what Luna summoned to heal him.” Twilight finally pointed out. He had known that this was part of the reason they came to him, but he had hoped to guide them off the subject with the history lesson. Surprisingly Twilight didn’t look too smug about knowing this, only kind of sad and annoyed. Her friends looked leagues more confident and confrontational behind her, sans Fluttershy.

“And are you expecting me to deny or admit this? Am I to reveal to you my true name and plans to dominate the world, just because you figured out an ancient wolf couldn’t know about Rarity’s brief meeting with Blueblood, or many other things I’ve let slip?” Now the ponies just looked confused, trying to blink away their confusion at his strange forwardness.

“Your dear Princess of the Night tore my soul away from my own body and forced it into the body of her old pet. I know your names, I know how you all got your cutie marks and I know that I’ve been an outsider looking in for a long time. I know next to nothing of myself, or what I have become, but I do know Fenrir’s pain and his past.” The look of compassion from Fluttershy was aggravating, as the human mind shied away from it. Without its help he couldn’t make the words come out as easily, so he avoided looking at the yellow pegasus as much as he could.

Then again, looking at the shadows, he didn’t have to keep talking for long. Staging this battle to take place at twilight made both of them chuckle inwardly. He found the idea of killing the Elements of Harmony when both Princesses were equal to be the ultimate insult to the princesses, while the human simply thought the idea of Twilight dying at twilight to be the pinnacle of irony.

“Why didn’t you ask us for help? I’m sure we can help you, if you will let us.” The human mind had gotten a little out of hand and let some facts slip that Fenrir would have rather not have the ponies know. Now the ponies knew that the human truly was a separate entity to him and that would influence the possible effect the Elements of Harmony had on him. Again, the human mind took control of his body and let out a loud barking laugh at Twilight’s words.

“You think you can help me? I take it you are going to use the elements on me and hope to save me from within this colossal beast, thinking I am the same as Princess Luna was within Nightmare Moon?” Fenrir pulled his muzzle into the unsettling grin the ponies had started to get used to.

“Make no mistake, Twilight Sparkle, you tore Nightmare Moon apart and then put her back together with the pieces that fit your image of the Princess of the Night. Your Elements are powerful magical artifacts that bend pure arcane energy according to your will, nothing more. Think hard on the time you used them on Discord; the elements created a shield that undid Discord’s magic, something you had witnessed your own shield do mere moments ago.” He took a step toward the purple unicorn, the guards all around her readying their spells and weapons. Rover had already snuck into a hole in the ground when no one was watching.

“You use the power of your friendship to bend the world to your will alone, Twilight Sparkle. Your friends did not know Nightmare Moon was Luna, yet she was saved by the elements when you called them out for the first time.” He lowered his head slowly toward the unicorn, until their eyes were on the same level. Twilight Sparkle did not flinch, nor did she look like his words had gotten to her. There was a determination in her gaze that both sides of him appreciated.

“We are frighteningly similar, you and I. The only difference is that while my power is my own, you use something entrusted to you by those that trust you. While I do not blame my claws and fangs for the deaths I caused, you think that the weapon you wield is responsible for the things you have done. The Elements of Harmony did not tear into Nightmare Moon, you did. The elements of Harmony did not turn Discord into stone, you did.” He paused to turn his head toward where the setting sun would have been if the Everfree didn’t absorb any bit of sunlight trying to pierce through the canopy. He did not care for Twilight’s reaction to his words, as the human intelligence only insisted on them to make her using the elements that much more difficult, or dramatic.

“I hoped we could part ways in less grim circumstances, I really did. Still, I am nothing more than a puppet that sees the strings. Well, at least I am not naked and blue, so thank the lord for small mercies.” The human barked out a laugh and took a few steps away from the ponies. He could hear the guards relax somewhat as he turned his tail to them. He stopped at the edge of the circular clearing the dogs had cleared out. The ponies were not quite in the middle of it, but they were close enough.

“I think I never finished Rorschach in Equestria... Meh, C’est la vie.” Fenrir pulled his snout into a wide grin before turning his head up and letting out a long howl that rattled the wildlife in the forest around them enough to mask the sounds of the dogs striking matches to light the fuses. He could hear the dogs kicking up the gravel as they ran up to roll the bombs toward the ponies. PInkie Pie looked like she was having a seizure and her friends were concentrated on her, nearly missing the round urns bouncing toward them.

“Shield!” George shouted as he noticed the bombs rolling toward them. Fenrir saw few horns light up before the first bomb threw up enough gravel and smoke to obscure the ponies. One of the bombs was on a shorter fuse than the others for this reason. Fenrir calmly walked over to the trees and swiftly disappeared into the shadows as the rest of the bombs detonated.

“Bolas at the ready! Target the pegasi only! Bolters, fire into the smoke! They couldn’t have moved that much!” The ancient part of him hated the fact he was not tearing the ponies to pieces by now, but there were enough OP unicorns in their little group that he couldn’t be confident in a straightforward attack. He would have to attack when they least expected it and break their ranks. The flashes of light and the high-pitched sound of the bolts hitting something told him that at least one unicorn had been able to throw up a shield in time.

“Spears, listen for the hum of their horns!” He roared and after a moment heard a pony cry out in pain and saw the smoke shift. He grinned and tore at the ground to charge at the group of ponies. The smoke had barely started to clear at this point but Fenrir still aimed at what he remembered to be the center of the group of ponies. Even if he couldn’t see them clearly enough to crush them, he could still break their formation with his size alone.

To be fair, it was pure luck that George chose that exact moment to try and gather his bearings by raising above the smoke. His first instinct was to go for his spear, Fenrir’s first instinct was to open his jaw and crush the pony between his jaws.

George wasn’t fast enough.

Twilight Sparkle

The acrid smoke from the bombs Fenrir had prepared made all of them cough and squint their eyes as the shield blinked out of existence. Twilight tried to focus on a shield spell to protect her friends from the bolts that were still fired in their general direction. Valor was still on the ground after he was impaled from below by a spear. She didn’t have time to check on him, as the bolts were still whizzing past them, either crazing them or barely missing them. She didn’t have time to be amazed at their luck.

“I knew it! Oh, that wolf is so dead!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed and moved to jump into the air and find Fenrir. The hot-blooded pegasus was able to jump into the air before George appeared above her and smacked her back down. Twilight saw George open his mouth to berate the blue pegasus mare, before his ears flicked to the side and he went for his spear in response to something he had heard or seen.

Pinkie tackling her out of the way of Fenrir’s huge paw answered that question a second later. If Pinkie had not pushed them out of the way, then Fenrir would have crushed her under his considerable weight. Twilight pushed herself out from under the jittering Pinkie and frantically searched for her friends. They had to end this, but if even one of them was hurt, or if Fenrir had taken them, or if they had been shot by the Diamond Dogs…

“Everypony, gather around me! Don’t pursue Fenrir!” Twilight screamed frantically, blindly staggering forward to where Valor still lay. She kept her eyes closed as she poured every bit of concentration into a shield spell that would protect them, something that would cover the earth under their hooves as well. She could feel the ponies around her jerk as more bolts were fired at them and could hear them either bounce off of the guards’ armor, or whiz past them. Why hadn’t they hit any of them, when the smoke should have cleared already?

She released the spell just as she hear a loud “snap!” right next to her right ear and felt something warm start trickling down her neck. The pain only hit her after she opened her eyes and was able to relax when she saw the purple shield around her friends and the group of guards surrounding them. Out of pure reflex she brought a hoof to her ear and immediately regretted it as she poked at the tattered side of her ear, making the pain flare up with a vengeance.

“Twilight, you’re bleeding!” Rarity exclaimed and rushed over to her side, forcing Twilight’s head to the side to look at the wound. “Oh dear! Don’t you worry, it will be fine, just fine! There will be barely a scar! One of you unicorns knows healing magic, right?”

“No!” Twilight exclaimed and took a step back, as some of the unicorns tried to step up. “I’m holding the shield up, your magic so close to my horn could disrupt the spell. I’m nowhere as good at shield magic as Valor…”

She paused and turned her eyes down to the silent figure of the unicorn in question. The ponies around her followed her gaze and saw the still unicorn. The unicorn guard next to Rarity quietly used his hoof to nudge Valor and nothing happened. There was a pause as this unicorn swallowed a shaky breath and started to levitate the helmet off of Valor’s head.

“The game stands at two to nil, ponies! You better step up your game, or this will get boring!” Fenrir’s growling voice jeered from the shadows of the trees around them. The dogs had not been firing bolts at them while Twilight’s shield was up and the shock of Valor’s condition almost made them forget their situation.

“Valor… you little idiot, still playing the hero.” Regal Poise muttered as he knelt down next to his brother, showing no sign he had heard Fenrir’s jeers. Valor’s helmet clattered to the ground as the extent of his injuries became apparent as the helmet’s enchantment lifted. The spear that had actually pierced through his enchanted armor had made a sizeable dent on the saddle part of the armor, despite the underlying armor and physiology it would have had to go through. The wooden pommel of the spear had snapped as Valor fell to his side and Twilight could only see the broken tip, as his forehooves were curled on top of the wound. From the noticeable dent and the angle of the pommel Twilight imagined the spear would have either gone through his lungs or heart.

A cold rational part of her commented it would have to be the lungs, as he had enough time to cradle the wound and he had lacked the capability to scream cry out. He had probably drowned in his own blood, the enchantment on his helmet stopping anypony from noticing the crimson spittle forming at his mouth.

Her friends recoiled back and sought comfort in each other, while the guards stood around them solemnly, keeping their eyes on what happened outside Twilight’s shield. Twilight couldn’t move from the centre of the shield in fear of disturbing it and giving Fenrir a chance to break it, so she witnessed the grief settling in the eyes of the unicorn guard that had to be Regal. She wanted to look away or close her eyes, but couldn’t.

“Get up… Come on, walk it off, you wimp…” Regal Poise strained out as he poked his brother weakly. There was no heart in his words, he obviously was not under the delusion Valor would get up, but he clearly hoped he could believe such a lie.

“I find it strange you are shedding no tears for the other casualty, but who am I to judge if you value an unicorn over a pegasus. You racist little ponies, at least I hate you equally!” Fenrir let out a cruel barking laugh at his own joke as he stepped out from the shadows of the forest.

“Why? Why are you doing this?!” Fluttershy choked out through tears. The sight broke Twilight’s heart, but further hardened her resolve on stopping Fenrir. He had shown his true colors without any room for debate. He was a monster that deserved his eternity in stone, as a warning to those after him. A flick of the ear was the only indication Fenrir had heard her, before he began talking in his rumbling voice.

“I owe you no explanation, little ponies. Your concept of fair play is greatly detached from reality and I do not plan on indulging you.” Fenrir started circling them in the clearing they had been attacked in, deftly stepping over the craters his bombs had made. If he was not indulging them by playing fair, then why was he talking to them? “The flying one was quite tasty, by the way. If only he had not whimpered at such a high pitch.”

“Be calm, he’s goading us to attack, while trying to distract us from something. I can see no other reason he would show himself without attacking us.” Regal Poise sternly said as Rainbow Dash looked like she was ready to force her way through the shield to hurt Fenrir. Fenrir had brought the fact that George had also died only moments ago to light. Two ponies had died and Fenrir was throwing insults at them. Regal Poise straightened himself from looking over his brother’s body and turned to glare at the smirking wolf.

“Warn the stars in the clouds, the wolf sees beyond the mirage.” Pinkie Pie suddenly blurted out and stood at a relaxed and calm stature as the words flowed from her lips. She had been crying silently while following Fenrir’s circling form before, but now she had stopped and her eyes held an eerie certainty to them. Twilight noticed how Fenrir’s circling halted for a moment, before he stopped entirely.

“I knew you would be the most trouble out of all of them, with the possible exception of the zebra.” The wolf sneered and moved to resume his circling of the group of ponies, but several flashes of light at his feet caused thick branching vines climb up his form. The vines rendered him completely immobile as they grew into trunks of trees snaking up his legs. Even through the shield Twilight could hear the trees creaking as they tightened their grip on the gargantuan wolf.

There was no order to attack, but pegasi clothed in dark uniforms dove down from the scattered clouds above the clearing and some even detached themselves from tall trees to attack the wolf with curved daggers affixed to their hooves. Twilight, along with her friends could only watch as the pegasi silently rocketed towards the wolf.

At their first pass of attacking the wolf, two pegasi aimed to blind the wolf, but the great wolf violently thrashed against the tree holding him as they approached and was able to snap his jaws on one of the pegasi’s outstretched hoof. Twilight watched with morbid admiration as the pegasi’s partner did not stop his attack, but stabbed one of his daggers in the wolf’s eye, then twisting in the air to straddle the wolf’s snout, facing his partner dangling from the wolf’s clenched jaw. After only a moment’s hesitation and a few words possibly exchanged between the two ponies, the pony swung his remaining dagger down to sever the mangled hoof, before Fenrir could swallow the rest of the injured pony.

This series of events could not have taken more than 10 seconds, but Fenrir was now blind in one eye, with a curved dagger embedded into it. The two ponies flew away from the wolf, with the injured pegasi supported by the one that blinded Fenrir’s right eye. Rainbow Dash started pumping her hooves in the air and cheering for the pegasi, while Fluttershy and the rest of her friends just averted their eyes. The other pegasi did not seem to be able to cut very deeply into the wolf, as his fur was too thick and his paws were covered in the vines keeping him in place.

“Fire on targets!” Fenrir roared and again thrashed his head around as something small flew into his mouth. The guards and her friends looked around, waiting for whatever Fenrir had been planning to hit, but nothing happened.

“Hah! Seems like your dogs abandoned you, Fenrir!” Regal Poise sneered, clearly enjoying the homicidal canine’s suffering. Everything beyond the shield was muted in both detail and sound, but Twilight noticed a change in the movement of Kamos’ pegasi. The zebra himself had not shown himself, but she was sure he was nearby, commanding his troops.

“I hope you enjoy standing around looking menacing, since that’s all you’re going to do from now on!” Rainbow Dash jeered triumphantly, motioning the rest of the elements to get ready. Twilight Sparkle was just about to comply when a low and silky voice spoke up.

“Do not take down your shield, Twilight Sparkle. Fenrir might seem beaten, but he has not lost hope. He still thinks he can hurt you and I do not plan on letting him have the chance.” Kamos calmly stated and trotted out into the clearing. Fenrir focused his one eye on the zebra and the unbridled hate in that glare was something Twilight hoped she would never see again.

“With all due respect, but go buck yourself, Kamos. It’s your damned plans that got us into this mess and got my brother killed.” Regal Poise spat out as the zebra calmly trotted over to the shield’s edge, with Regal Poise meeting him on the other side. “Let these girls stop this now and prevent any further blood being shed.”

“Letting the elements out of the safety of that shield would be idiotic. The elements are rendered ineffective by the three hostages Fenrir has, or have you forgotten the reason you confronted him?” Kamos scanned the ponies within the shield with his steely eyes and Rainbow Dash’s bravado wilted at the reminder. Twilight had to admit she had forgotten about the CMC being the reason they were drawn into Fenrir’s trap, but it was true that there was no reason to think Fenrir had been telling the truth about what happened to the three fillies.

“Gah!” A stallion’s pained cry sounded out from somewhere above them and Twilight could see something moving in her peripheral vision. She turned just in time to see a pair of Kamos’ pegasi catch a shimmer in the air, with a pommel of a spear jutting out of it. It only took Twilight a moment to remember the camouflaging cloaks Kamos’ unicorns had worn and realize what had happened.

“Stars in the clouds… Kamos, you had your unicorns hide in the clouds?” Regal Poise blurted out, watching the pegasi take their wounded comrade away. Kamos turned to glare at Fenrir’s still form, but nodded in response. “Ugh, you and your cloak and dagger bullsh… This is not the time. The point is that Pinkie Pie predicted that your cloaked unicorns were going to get hit and if you had been with us to guard her, then you could have prevented this!”

As Regal Poise argued with Kamos, another pained cry could be heard and another pair of pegasi caught a falling shimmer of an unicorn. Even with a cloud-walking spell, a unicorn could not maneuver in the air well enough to dodge something like a spear aimed at them.

“For Celestia’s sake, have your unicorns retreat! Fenrir’s dogs are using the glow of their horns to aim for the clouds they are on!” Regal Poise shouted as he glanced at the retreating pegasi. Kamos was still wearing his mask of calculative confidence, but there was fire in his eyes, probably for being played. The zebra made a quick gesture above his head with a hoof and a few of the pegasi hounding Fenrir broke off to the clouds above.

“Hammers!” Fenrir suddenly barked out, gaining the attention of the gathered ponies and zebra. Just as the question of what the hell he had meant was about to form, the ground around him exploded, as a group of Diamond Dogs jumped out of the ground. Kamos moved faster than the rest of them could follow and one of the dogs had a blow dart in their neck before the rest of them landed from their leap. The remaining dogs swung their strange hammers at the vines holding Fenrir down and 3 of his legs were blown free with more force the small hammers could possibly produce.

It didn’t take the wolf long to twist his neck around the remaining collection of vines and tear them off. The homicidal wolf then swung his head back around and the eviscerated bunch of thick vines slammed into the side of Twilight’s shield Kamos had been standing against. Fenrir’s remaining eye burned with cruel joy as he leapt into a the air. Twilight had but a second to brace herself before Fenrir’s whole weight slammed onto her shield. She couldn’t risk screaming out because of the sudden strain on her horn, she had to keep the energy constant. Any fluctuation in an enclosed shield like hers would cause it to visibly crack, prompting Fenrir to press his attack and kill her friends.

“Come out, come out, little ponies!” Fenrir roared as he casually hopped onto his hind legs and brought his paws down on her shield. Despite, or maybe because, the ever intensifying pain on her horn, the memory of Winona doing the same thing on her squeaky toys flashed across her mind. Was Fenrir doing this because it was fun for him? Could his motivation be so simple?

“Or I will huff...” He jumped on her shield again. Twilight’s eyes were becoming unfocused and her friends sounded hysterical. She closed her eyes to block out the distractions. “And I will puff…” Another hit on her shield, her horn felt like it was burrowing into her head now. “And I’ll blow your house down!”

Twilight briefly wondered why Fenrir’s words broke through to her, when her friends were just needless distractions. There was something wrong with that, but all she had to do was keep the shield up and them alive. At least Fenrir was just mindlessly roaring at the shield right now, maybe Kamos could take the opportunity and jab the dagger in his eye the rest of the way to his brain.

“It works both ways, I guess.” Twilight didn’t have the energy to open her eyes, or to even begin deciphering Fenrir’s words. Her head was just a big lump of meat with freezing shards of glass in it and her horn was a red hot piece of metal stirring it up with everything Fenrir did. “Fine, stay there cradling your dead red shirt, I’ll go kill the zebra.” Twilight felt how Fenrir jumped off of her shield as another jolt of pain scraped at her brain.

Kamos

Kamos had underestimated Fenrir’s intelligence. He had thought it was only knowledge he had acquired through Luna’s spell, but there was a real intelligence there. The way he had used himself to be able to target his unicorns strongly hinted toward an understanding of strategy and a will to forego self-preservation to achieve victory. It would take minutes to summon replacements into the battleground he had set up, but given the situation, that would be too slow.

“Or I will huff… and I will puff… and I will blow your house down!” Fenrir roared, as the monster jumped on Twilight’s shield with insane glee. Kamos couldn’t believe he had been so blind to Fenrir’s true nature. To assume your enemy couldn’t surprise you was something he had warned those he trained about, yet he had fallen for Fenrir’s juvenile tricks.

“Damn.” Kamos whispered as another blow dart disappeared into Fenrir’s thick fur. Fenrir was powerful enough to break Twilight Sparkle’s shield and Kamos no longer had unicorns he could call to stop him. His fur had probably been magically enhanced during Nightmare Moon’s war, making it impenetrable by conventional arms. To make matters worse most of his pegasi were busy with escorting his wounded soldiers to safety.

“It works both ways, I guess.” Fenrir growled and absently scratched at the shield he was perched on. Fenrir’s dogs might not have been as strong or intelligent as him, but they fought with a fanatical fervor Kamos though he would not see within Equestria’s borders. His pegasi had suffered a few losses because the dogs ignored their diversionary tactics and charged them without a care for their own safety. The bolas might have been crude in design, but they did serve their purpose in trapping his pegasi on the ground for the few seconds it took them to cut the ropes, giving the dogs time to rush in and overpower them.

“Fine, stay there cradling your dead red shirt, The wolf growled out and jumped off of Twilight Sparkle’s shield. “I’ll go kill the zebra.”

Kamos had underestimated their enemy and now ponies were dying. It had been his plan and his decisions that had caused the deaths so far. Kamos drew his own dagger halfway out of it’s sheath and opened a small vial with a practiced flick of his other hoof. Positioning the vial on the dagger’s curved blade and let the contents trickle down along it and into the sheath. His weapon of choice had failed him, so he had to try a more direct approach.

“What could you possibly hope to achieve, Fenrir?” Kamos asked as he dropped down onto the ground. Fenrir had locked his one remaining eye on him the moment he landed, so Kamos had decided to forget trying for a surprise.

“Really? Are we seriously doing this?” Fenrir scoffed as his gargantuan form somehow bled from shadow to shadow as expertly as Kamos did. The wolf had started to circle the zebra counter-clockwise, to keep his good eye on the zebra. Kamos started to circle the wolf in response, begrudgingly letting the wolf know that he did not have ponies waiting to attack Fenrir.

“You seem to enjoy talking and I am genuinely interested.” Kamos curtly answered. The wolf had shown a flare for drama, but Kamos did not think the wolf would waste the little time he had to end the Elements on monologues. His ponies had sent word of the Elements being deployed to Canterlot. He thought it was unlikely that the princesses would trust the elements to solve the problem. Not if it was Fenrir.

“I guess you could say I am doing the same thing you are; following Luna’s orders.” Kamos had to catch himself from tripping over a root in the forest, as the wolf suddenly answered his question, instead of attacking. He really didn’t think the wolf would answer him, but if he could keep him talking…

“Luna did not order you to attack the elements. You will not convince me otherwise.” Kamos tracked the wolf’s one glowing eye and heard him chuckle.

“I had no intention of doing so, but I am not lying. I believe you were not ordered to stab me in the eye, but it is what the orders you were given are driving you to do.” Fenrir’s voice drowned out the noises of Kamos’ ponies fighting the wolf’s scattered dogs in the forest around them. Kamos was reminded of the situation further as one of his pegasi strayed too close to Fenrir and was swatted down like a bug with one swipe of Fenrir’s head. Fenrir hopped over the groaning pegasus and a grey dog in bloodied armor pounced on the stunned pony with claws and teeth bared.

“You are delusional if you think Luna wanted this. She gave you a new lease on life and you are letting your anger control your actions.” Kamos answered and jumped back to avoid Fenrir’s sudden lunge. Kamos heard his jaw snap shut and stabbed his dagger where the wolf’s head had been, but Fenrir’s form dissolved into the shadows before he could make contact. It could still be because of the wolf’s speed, but Kamos thought it was likely due to another enchantment placed on the wolf during the war.

“Luna wanted me to understand, rather than to serve. She gave me no choice in the matter. The bitch thought that I was a hurdle she could surpass in her road to absolution.” Kamos could hear the bitter hate in the wolf’s growl and saw the wolf quicken his pace slightly.

“She did not want you to die worshipping her. She thought it was disrespectful, taking your admirable loyalty to her. You deserved the truth, at least.” Kamos answered the wolf and had to flatten himself to the ground to avoid the wolf’s speeding form. He was exceptionally lucky, as Fenrir did not step on him as he passed. He quickly zeroed in on the wolf’s location and ran the other way, while hoping for the wolf to keep talking, instead of running after him wholeheartedly.

“I understand forgiveness, I understand her guilt and the reason for her actions! I understand what she wants from me and I refuse to give it to her! She ordered us to fight a losing war! She sent me to die at the hooves of her sister’s forces!” Fenrir roared and charged at the calm zebra, all attempts at stealth forgotten in his anger. Kamos felt fear build in his chest as the wolf charged through the forest, the great trees surrounding them blown into smithereens from the unnatural force of the wolf’s charge.

Kamos waited for the wolf to open his mouth before rolling to his blind side and bringing out his poisoned dagger. He felt the blade cut into the side of the wolf’s mouth, but he was flung away from the wolf immediately afterwards. He curled his legs under him and braced for impact. The force he hit the unrelenting mass of an ancient tree still took the wind out of him, but at least he had not broken anything immediately crippling. Kamos fought to ignore the pain and staggered away from the tree, locating the form of the wolf smacking into another gargantuan tree, without going through it. There was some magic he didn’t know about at work here.

“Yet you still use the gifts Nightmare Moon bestowed upon you, despite claiming to hate her.” His head was swimming from the impact and his side ached with every breath. He had to keep the wolf talking. If the wolf stayed fixated on him, then the elements and their guards only had to deal with Fenrir’s dogs. If it weren't for the three fillies, the elements would have been used on Fenrir already. “Yet you resort to the same atrocities you damn Celestia for.”

“The three fillies’ continued wellbeing keeps the elements inert. You have not given me reason to flay them into steaks quite yet.” Fenrir brought a paw up to rub the small wound Kamos had inflicted on him. He sniffed the blood on his paw and growled at Kamos as anger flared in his eyes. “I see you have poisoned me. I will assume it is the strongest stuff you have, taking your earlier failures at doing so.”

“Hammers! Focus on the shield!” Fenrir bellowed out and started making his way toward the clearing, ignoring Kamos, not seeing him as a threat anymore. The Elements and their guards were trapped inside the Element of Magic’s shield. Kamos did understand that the elements had not been in situations such as this before, but the guards should have known better. He had to assume the personal protége of Celestia had kept the shield up in her panic.

“Dogs, when the shield fails, aim for any of the ones wearing jewelry.” Fenrir’s snout was covered in blood on his blind side and the cut to his cheek was both bleeding profusely and making it look like he was snarling permanently on one side. The elements did not look like they were in any condition to go against the bloodied beast and even the guards inside the shield looked hesitant at the sight. Kamos rushed to get in range to use his blowgun on the dogs bearing those strange hammers. If the elements refused to go against Fenrir, then it would be better for them to stay safe until reinforcements arrived.

“THIS ENDS NOW!” A familiar voice boomed above them as the dark clearing was suddenly bathed in blinding light. Not only did Celestia shine bright like a miniature sun, Kamos could hear the air crackle with the heat and magical power she radiated in her fury. Fenrir didn’t act surprised at Celestia’s appearance, but Kamos was pretty sure it was because of the paralyzing effect of his poison was starting to kick in.

“Break the shield!” Fenrir roared at the gathered dogs around him, only to see them collapsed on the ground. The great wolf turned his head to and fro to see the same fate had befallen all of his dogs. The wolf had not felt it, but Kamos had known the battle was over when he felt Luna’s soothing whisper wash over him. The wolf had used the forces he had available well, but the exhaustion of battle and breaking so many taboos was easy for the Princess of the Night to exploit.

“Et tu, Luna?” The great wolf chuckled tiredly and staggered in place, his eye finally starting to lose its crazed focus. Kamos knew the wolf was extraordinarily strong-willed and probably enchanted to be a weapon of war, but he should not even be breathing with the amount of poison in his system. The wolf still started to stagger toward the forest, where he could use the shadows to his advantage. Celestia landed next to Twilight Sparkle’s shield and wordlessly shot a tendril of fire out of her horn at the wolf. The elongated flick of flame wrapped itself around the wolf’s throat and Fenrir was savagely yanked back, landing in front of Celestia.

“You have lost, beast.” The usually kind and regal Princess Celestia hissed at the broken wolf. Kamos was one of the few beings that had seen Celestia angry, but he had never seen her enraged to the point where it was obvious she wanted to kill someone, slowly. The zebra had to wonder why the wolf was still alive.

The ninja zebra didn’t hurry in walking to the clearing Fenrir lay beaten in. His breathing was more labored than it should have been and his head was still swimming. He was pretty sure he had a concussion and at least a fractured rib or two. Despite his condition, he still saw the tall figure mold out of the shadows and fall into step next to him.

“I underestimated Fenrir. I take full responsibility for the losses we suffered today.” Kamos admitted in his usual stoic way. He could see the tall figure next to him look in his direction briefly, before averting her gaze.

“You did your best to solve a problem We brought into being.” Kamos glanced at Luna and saw the alicorn hanging her head slightly as they slowly made their way to Fenrir. The zebra assumed Celestia was not killing Fenrir because Luna had something else planned. It might have been the probable concussion, but he couldn’t quite figure out what.

“How are you planning on solving this problem?” Kamos asked bluntly as they stepped into the clearing. Luna had absolved him from the use of her title, but the Princess still gave him a brief glare at his rude demeanour. Kamos glared right back at the princess. There had been too many deaths in the ponies under him there to any ambiguity in the wolf’s fate.

“We… I owe you an explanation, at least.” Luna sighed as they approached the wolf. Luna’s horn took an indigo sheen as Fenrir’s shadow snaked all around his body to keep him in place.

“Luna, this has to end here.” Celestia boomed out, still in full-on rage mode and radiating both heat and blinding light from her very form. Her tendril of fire flickered out of existence as Luna’s shadow binding was complete. Kamos had to avert his eyes as the avatar of the sun glared at the Princess of the Night.

“I know, sister.” Luna replied and after a moment of Celestia staring at them silently, she turned to trot over to the Element of Magic’s shield. Kamos turned back to Luna and saw sadness etched into her features even more so than before.

“I did not only heal Fenrir and give him intelligence, Kamos. In my selfish desire to have him understand, I bound another living soul into his psyche. I will attempt to undo what I did and send the soul home, if I can.”

Kamos stood there quietly and allowed this new piece of information sink in. If there was another soul inside of Fenrir, then some things the wolf had said started to make sense, but some made even less sense.

“Luna, I believe this another soul is not someone you have to save. Everything that happened here, happened because Fenrir was ready for us. The other soul was not necessarily trapped inside Fenrir; it is far more likely he was helping the beast. If he is not downright evil, then he is insane.” Luna nodded slowly at his words, stepping toward the wolf’s unconscious form.

“I will still try. I will not condemn a soul I forced into this horrific situation to death, just because it is the easy way out.” Luna calmly stated as she bent her head down toward Fenrir. Luna’s horn started to glow in a silvery light that grew brighter by the second. Kamos watched as Luna lowered her horn toward Fenrir, until he saw the silvery glow of her horn jump into Fenrir’s still form and disappear.

“I hope you succeed, Luna.”

In The Light of The Moon

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So, this will be streching out longer than I thought, sorry about that. The next chapter is already underway and so on. I do not dare to make any promises, but I will try.

Chapter 11

In The Light Of The Moon

Princess Celestia glanced over her shoulder at the sudden jolt of magic behind her. Luna was too gentle for her own good, but she could not admonish her sister for trying to undo whatever part of her mistake she could. Kamos had been right; the spirit inside Fenrir was most definitely insane, if not malicious. It would have been easier and kinder to simply end the wolf’s life and set the spirit free from this world that way, but Luna feared Fenrir was too deeply ingrained for the spirit to return to their own world.

Celestia had never understood the veil, or the intricacies of the mind to the extent her sister did, but she knew Luna well enough to know when she was making excuses. The gentle little fool wanted to try and save something she had wronged on such a personal level. Luna had been the one to invent soul magicks and one of the few beings that knew how to use its power and the dangers in doing so. And even then the trick of splintering her own petty jealousy and hate into a separate entity had left her broken for a millenia.

The unicorns studying magic at her school often argued over the difference between their power, but it was rather simple. Her role as the avatar of the sun meant she was more adept at extreme magicks, when her sister had a more profound understanding of the intricacies of the arcane arts than any other being. Celestia could face down an army and not necessarily lose, whereas Luna could weave a song to win the army’s favor and discourage the invading party by marching their own army back to their doorstep. The power to use emotion and the sub-conscious was something not easily attained, but if you had the required knowledge and a bit of power to your name, then you could face opponents far stronger than you and come out on top.

It had been a guilty relief of Celestia’s that Luna had not been around to teach her secrets during the last 1000 years. Any of the grimoires she had left behind only helped better understand the physical ways of magic, something Celestia could easily handle. Luna had never seen the point to write down something she knew by instinct. The magicks thought to be abilities innate to the avatar of the moon, in Equestria at least, had to either be taught directly, or truly come as naturally to the pony, as they did to Luna.

“My little ponies.” Celestia addressed the group of ponies within the wavering shield. She could see admiration, fear and anger staring back at her, as she allowed her radiant power to simmer down into a dim glow about her coat. Twilight Sparkle had condemned her friends and the guards assigned to guard them to watch Fenrir’s crimes, when they wanted to act. This might have hurt the pride of the guards and some of her friends, but Celestia was glad the shield had been there as her anger had flared upon seeing what Fenrir had done.

The sun might have seemed like a distant and constant thing to the common pony, but Celestia knew that the thing that she represented was also a rampaging inferno of destructive power contained only barely by its own mass. She did not wish to be a very accurate representation of that power, not when her ponies were anywhere nearby.

“Lower your shield, Twilight Sparkle, it is over.” Celestia assured the frayed unicorn. Her senses might not have been as keen as Luna’s, but she could still tell Twilight Sparkle had overexerted herself, even with the element of magic giving her strength. Celestia was both proud of her student and afraid for her safety, as she had seen things like Fenrir tear through unicorn magic like it was merely an annoyance. The toll it must have taken on her mind to keep something like Fenrir from hurting her friends was inconceivable.

“Twilight? Darling, you can lower the shield now, Princess Celestia is here.” Rarity tenderly said and moved closer to the purple unicorn. Twilight Sparkle blinked slowly and her brow furrowed ever so slightly, but she showed no other signs of acknowledging her friend. The rest of the ponies inside her shield were now paying her condition more attention, now that Fenrir was no longer distracting them from it.

“Twilight, it’s over! Chill out already!” Rainbow Dash hollered, thinking her aggravation and sheer volume will break through to the unicorn in a pain-induced trance. In any other case, it might have, but with the element of magic bolstering Twilight Sparkle’s reserves of magic, she wasn’t so sure. Celestia bowed her head and touched her horn onto the shield Twilight still kept up. She carefully prodded the field with her magic to both reach out to her student and safely dispel it.

“Twilight, we need to save mah sister! Drop tah shield!” Applejack pointed out and bolstered her statement by casually kicking the shield with her hoof. Celestia could feel the kick go through the shield and and nudge her magic just slightly. She could also feel how it affected Twilight Sparkle. She could feel the constant pain the small nudge stirred and saw Twilight’s legs nearly buckled under her.

Fluttershy quietly admonished Applejack for being so inconsiderate and Applejack countered with a logical need to get moving, but Celestia paid them little mind at the moment. Twilight Sparkle’s eyes had taken a glassy sheen and started to slowly emit light as her pained mind sluggishly moved to a some kind of conclusion. Celestia concentrated on her magic to soothe the unicorn before the elements would grasp onto her building determination and act on them.

“Twilight Sparkle! The battle is won, there is no need for this!” Celestia shouted, trying to reach her student while struggling to dispel her magic. The element of Magic was already reaching toward the other Elements for power. Twilight Sparkle’s eyes shone in a blinding intensity as her lips moved in a silent mantra of obsession. For all her supposed strength and years of experience, she couldn’t stop a single scared filly from making a mistake…

Nor could she let herself make another, as much as it might hurt to do the right thing.

“Guards, relieve Twilight Sparkle of her element!” Celestia ordered as Twilight’s hooves started to raise above the ground and her friends had a glazed look to their eyes, as their necklaces started to glow. The unicorns gave her a brief glance before jumping into action, knowing what it could mean to disrupt a spell of such power, but the pegasi or earth ponies had no such discipline, they bowled Twilight’s less than considerable form to the ground. Despite their strength and swiftness, the Element of Magic refused to part with its wielder, until the unicorns entered the fray. There was an unassuming whisper of air going past her ear as Twilight’s shield came to nothing and the Element of Magic was wrenched from its wielder.

Slay the beast.

Celestia’s own magic was still attuned to Twilight’s when this happened, so she felt the purple unicorns magic wash over her and continue on beyond her. She immediately turned to follow the wave of magic, but only saw the forms of Luna and Fenrir behind her, not feeling any trace of Twilight’s dissipated aura.

There was fraction of a second where she felt the dread of losing her prized student because of her actions, but Celestia realized just as quickly what the complete lack of Twilight’s energy meant. If Twilight’s consciousness had dissipated as the element’s spell was interrupted, then the area would be saturated with the remnants of that energy. The spell had been interrupted, but the unfinished construct had stayed coherent long enough to transport the energy to somewhere outside Twilight’s body, most probably into Fenrir’s body and mind.

“Princess, may I inquire as to what the hell happened just now?” One of the unicorn guards spoke as they stepped closer and out of the undisturbed circle the barrier had formed. Twilight’s fate could not be helped immediately, but the other ponies inside the circle were ponies she was perhaps able to help.

“Let us see if I can help your brother first. Anypony else hurt?” Celestia said as she trotted to the fallen guard and enveloped him in a golden aura. Healing magic had been her forte since ancient times, as it took tremendous amounts of energy to do, if you were not skilled, so she had been in an uniquely advantageous position to get good at it.

“Fenrir ate George and Twilight Sparkle did that to herself, but the wounds among the rest of the guard are minimal. The armor stopped most of the weapons the dogs threw at us. What they used on my brother must have been special to pierce it the way it did.” Regal Poise continued in a calm monotone. Celestia made a mental note to have the colt put on suicide watch after this. It looked like he had lost his brother and there was a chance he would feel personally responsible for the fact. Celestia moved her horn in a slow arc and the golden glow on Valor’s body spread out to flow into the ponies still surrounding him.

“I am sorry, but there is nothing to be done for your brother. He will receive a hero’s funeral for his service and sacrifice in the line of duty.” Celestia stated in a morose tone, letting the fact she had been too late to stop the tragedy from happening be conveyed through her tone. Regal Poise was silent for a moment, struggling to swallow down the grief and anger that much be surging through him in a situation like this. Celestia would not blame the colt for any outburst, but his composure in not doing so impressed her.

“Thank you, Princess Celestia. I witnessed Kamos’ soldiers receiving many grievous injuries that might be beyond the capabilities of his own healers. I believe your highness would be best served in tending to the living and in agony, while the surviving guards will accompany the elements into the Diamond Dog’s caverns, to save three fillies Fenrir has supposedly kept captive.” Regal Poise met the alicorn’s eyes without faltering.

There was no doubt his defiance was bolstered by her inability to save his brother, but under normal circumstances she would have to discipline the colt for such frank words, but Celestia had made it into a habit to value competence over complacency. She had made the mistake of getting that backwards after the disagreement with Luna came to a close all those years ago and she was rewarded with a guard filled with annoying gits like her nephew Blueblood. It had taken a few centuries to sort that mess out and weed out most of the cowardly glory-hounds from her personal guard. Celestia turned her eyes away from the defiant colt and toward the cave entrance. Her horn pulsed with golden light as she concentrated in the life inside the caves.

“They are deep inside the caves, asleep, same as the dogs. Luna has forced the dogs to sleep, but they can still awaken, if you are not careful. I will tend to things above ground; go save those fillies.” Celestia turned back to Regal Poise with a serious edge to her eyes. She could see that the colt was getting nervous about his borderline insubordination, but still understood to follow a direct order. The colt barked out an affirmative and trotted over to the rest of the guards and the waking element bearers.

“Cell, ask Fluttershy to coax some kind of animal to track down the fillies in the caves, a fox, or something. I take it she will know best. We are not going in there blind.” A female pegasi guard Celestia knew to have the name of Cerulean Wind nodded and started to prod Fluttershy awake gently. The elements were disoriented from the interrupted activation of their elements, but they would surely be hurrying to save the three fillies. She hoped Luna would have answers about this strange tragedy by then.

“They are going to wake up the whole den if they go in there with such a big group.” Kamos commented as Celestia stepped next to him. Celestia had not been happy when Luna introduced the zebra as her knight and told of the network of spies and undercover operatives the zebra had within her court and guard. She still shuddered to think what the zebra could accomplish, if it weren’t for his loyalty to Luna, or if Luna became ambitious. The fact that the zebra was alive was a sign of trust, as Luna still suffered a lack of public power.

“Give my guard some merit, Kamos. Regal Poise is one of the top students out of the guards officer academy. He knows his strategy, even if he lacks your experience.” Celestia took a look at the zebra, but refrained from using her magic to heal the zebra, no matter how easy it would be. The zebra was in pain and taken the fact he had directly confronted Fenrir, it was a safe bet to say he had broken something.

“I could have the zebra inhabiting this very forest fetched to tend to your wounds, if it would make you more comfortable. I’m sure Zecora would not mind having her sleep interrupted, if it meant helping somepony in pain.” Celestia offered as she turned back toward her sister and a huge weapon of war sleeping in front of them.

“My injuries are not severe enough to disrupt a shaman’s rest.” Kamos stated in his calm and silky voice. The suppressed cough was something most would miss altogether, but it was there. So, at least a rib, then, probably some kind of injury to a hoof by the way he held himself, sitting in his rigid way. “I shall have one of my pegasi lead you to the wounded, Princess.”

With a flick of a hoof, a pegasi in an enchanted bodysuit landed in front of him. Celestia didn’t bother wondering where the pony had come from, as Kamos made it his business for the enchantments in those battlesuits to fool everything and anything to some degree. The pegasi had probably been close by, staying just out of the way enough for the enchantment to make him or her hard to see. The unicorns in Kamos’ employ wore cloaks with a similar, but decidedly stronger, enchantment, one that had to either be maintained through unicorn magic, or would not mesh well with the kind of jobs pegasi, or earth pony operatives took part in. Kamos had made quite a show out of demonstrating his capabilities way back when Luna had introduced him.

“You heard us; escort Princess Celestia to the wounded.” Kamos ordered and the pegasi simply nodded, before turning his or hers enchanted eyes toward Celestia. Celestia had to assume the pegasi avoided speaking to keep their identity concealed.

“Lead the way.” Celestia stated and the Kamos knew that it would be a simple thing for her to force the enchantment away with a slight shove of her considerable arcane mass, but he also knew doing so meant she didn’t trust Luna’s judgment. She had not been able to persuade Luna into disclosing the identities of Kamos’ operatives, so even being allowed to heal a part of them was a sign of greater trust from the zebra Celestia had ever received in the past. The pegasi jumped into the air and started flying over the tops of the trees. Celestia unfurled her wings to follow, but paused for a moment before taking to the air.

“Keep my sister safe, Kamos.” Celestia said, letting the concern she felt for her sister seep into her voice only Kamos could hear. Kamos looked up to her as she took to the air and said nothing, but Celestia still heard him answer her just a moment too late, probably thinking she couldn’t hear him.

“Now and forever.”

Luna

“I am Luna.” Luna repeated to herself. She was intruding in a mind that was not hers, so keeping her sense of self definite was important. The loss of self was the reason Fenrir had been able to subjugate the human’s mind to his whims so easily. Losing even a smidgen of her own power to Fenrir’s rampart aggression would not help anyone.

“I am the Princess of the Night.” Luna opened her eyes as the space around her bled forward to touch her consciousness. It was a wholly different experience to walk through dreamspace and most of those rules applied to intruding into other minds. The world was not really there, just as your body wasn’t there to see, feel or hear it. If you did not have a firm grasp on your identity, if you did not know how to keep yourself separate from the mind you were touching, then the contact would harm both.

“I am oil, you are water.” Luna let out a breath and felt her hooves touch on some kind of level rocky surface. She could not see anything of note, but she could both hear and smell the sea somewhere closeby. She closed her immaterial eyes and focused on the sounds of the sea and could hear creaking of steel and the sound of ropes chafing against posts. Creaks of wood followed muted sounds of hoofsteps and muttered intelligible words.

“Ah, a harbor. An incomplete memory of the sea and boats.” Luna muttered to herself as she opened her eyes. Now that she knew where the sounds and feelings were supposed to belong to, her own mind had started reaching for images shared between her and the human whose memories she was in. The darkness around her abated slightly as the flickering impression of moonlight reflecting off the surface of the water was added to her surroundings. She glanced up and saw no sky, nor did she see a moon. So, the moon was different in their world, so the image was not something she could see.

Luna set her eyes down to look for pitfalls, as the mind she was touching was damaged, it was more than possible. She took a few steps forward and stepped on dark wood glimmering in the light of the moon. The planks of wood had set in unevenly, so Luna had to raise her hooves a little more than normal to avoid tripping on an edge of a warped plank. She kept trotting forward along the wooden pathway, but despite the sounds of creaking metal and the sound of water licking the sides of ships both small and large, she saw none. Even nautical vessels were too different for them to translate correctly into her consciousness.

She had no set destination she could follow in this world, as she was the intruding party. She had probably summoned the memory of this harbour by uttering the word “water”, but to induce other memories would only mean getting farther away from the mind’s centre. The fact she had induced the memory in the first place meant that the mind she was accessing was at least active, so to follow the memory’s landscape to the most vivid and “real” scene, would open ways to go further in. As she kept trotting over the old, yet sturdy docks the sounds of the boats around her became more clear, the salt in the air became more pungent and details about the docks she was walking on started jumping out at her.

Such a shift in perspective meant the host mind remembered the place and time she was intruding especially vividly. Every detail and sensory input that jumped out at her was a set piece of a particularly strong memory. Things that Luna experienced as unwelcome shifts in her perspective were the little things someone remembers of a particularly significant event. The wooden dock creaked just so and there was the delicious smell of something Luna did not have a name for in the air. The things you usually notice, but don’t pay any particular attention to at the time.

"Haide, omule! Ne cunoaștem de când eram copii. Poți să mă lași de data asta!'' A panicked sounding male voice called out across the barren mindspace. Luna looked up and saw two strange bipedal figures some ways away from her. The one that was supposedly talking was backed up about something she didn’t have a mental picture of. The other was slightly taller and brawnier than the other one.

Luna closed the distance between them and saw the strange ape-like faces of the creatures. They lacked any significant fur on the parts of their body Luna could see, but the fact both were more or less completely covered in kinds of clothing suggested the uniform lack of it. The human she heard talking earlier was holding a hand toward the other one and Luna noted how delicate and spidery the human’s fingers looked like. They had no claws and the lack of fur or hair only made them look too fleshy and soft to serve any purpose for self defence. The other human was holding a strange thing of iron she assumed to be a weapon in one of its glowed hands. Luna had to assume from the pleading human’s reaction and the other human’s air of confidence that it was a lethal weapon.

The pleading human raised his other hand to the hat on his head and brought it over to his chest in a gesture Luna understood to mean sincerity. He started to move his outstretched hand, but a deafening bang interrupted his movement and whatever he was about to say. Luna saw the brief flash of light from the gun a fraction of a second later. Everything didn’t have to make sense in a memory, or in dreams. The man had perceived sound before the flash had registered, so that is how the memory played out if scrutinized by an outsider.

There was nothing she could do to change a memory, but she still flinched at the sudden loud sound and felt a pang of righteous fury as the other human calmly deposited the iron weapon in a pocket of one of his garments and watched the other man fall to his knees. She could not make out any features on the human, or anything specific about his garments, as she had never actually seen a human with her physical eyes. The memory was incredibly strong for her to even see anyone other than the one the memory belonged to.

''Îmi pare râu. Am o familie. Ştii ca nu pot.'' This time the words were distorted and muted almost to the point of being incomprehensible. Luna stepped between the two humans and saw the downed man still holding his hat to his chest, but now there was a small round hole in the rim of the hat. Blood had already darkened the garments the man wore on his torso and there was a small trickle of blood coming from the hole in the hat and staining the hand still clutching the hat. The other man stood over the body for a moment, before turning away and walking into nothingness. The dying man crumpled against a nautical vessel Luna couldn’t perceive had stopped paying attention to him, so the memory didn’t reach him anymore.

“As a way to go, this isn’t so bad, you know.” Luna heard the same voice she had heard earlier, but now she could understand the words. She arched a brow when the man leaning on an invisible boat stayed still and breathing shallowly. It was definitely the same voice, but it had not been the man lying crumbled in front of her speaking them.

“Did I force you to relive something painful?” Luna asked aloud as she kept watching the dying man hold onto the ever darkening cloth of his hat. His grip was starting to loosen and the seemingly grey fabric was dyed a dark brown in the silver light of the moon.

“Painful? Sure, getting shot is plenty painful, but after the first minute you just feel cold and numb. I’m lucky that Ion is such a good shot for it to be as fast as it was, I guess.” The voice of the man dying in front of her said in an emotionless tone. Luna leaned closer to hear the man’s possible dying words. The Princess of the Night saw the arm holding the hat in place slacken and a wooden handle of some kind of tool peek out from under the folds of the human’s clothing. There was a splintered edge to the handle, as the projectile that had killed the man had passed through it before penetrating the human’s chest. “He had every right to shoot me; I was going for my gun, after all.”

“în lumina lunii…” The dying human rasped out with a ragged breath as he leaned his back on the thing Luna couldn’t perceive. The world around the man started going out of focus and everything about the man whose last moments she had just witnessed came into startling focus. The boards under her hooves no longer creaked, light no longer flickered from the gentle waves around them and she could not hear the movement of the invisible nautical vessels all around her, or the city it was affixed to.

Luna had not seen a human before, but there was something about the human’s appearance she did not trust. It might have been the abundance of layered clothing and what looked like discreet pockets and strange tailor-choices on his clothes that spoke of places designed to hide things. It might have been the fact that a human’s eyes were vastly smaller and less expressive when compared to a pony’s, but it was most definitely there. Even in his short conversation with his murderer Luna had seen the man compensate for his inability to emote through his ears, or the far more expressive eyes of a pony by moving his hands about and changing the posture of his body, along with facial expressions that translated over to Luna nearly unchanged.

“Do you still not know your name?” Luna asked as the last details about her surroundings faded away. Now it was only the man’s dying body and Luna’s immaterial presence in a dark void. Luna followed the dying man’s eyes and saw the image of the human world’s moon come into existence as the body faded away with the human’s life. The moon of their world looked battered, dirty with countless dots and discolored spots, but the otherworldly sheen it gave off was the same.

“We have no idea.” Luna could hear the laugh in the immaterial voice around her as she wrenched her eyes away from the alien moon. There was nothing around her now, as the memory she had conjured with a careless word had played out. She scrunched up her brow as she turned her gaze back to the alien moon. The memory had played out, the moon should have disappeared with the rest of the images.

“We?” Luna asked the darkness. The moon’s light was blinding in the nothingness she found herself in. Could this be a continuation of the human’s memory of death, then? Maybe this is how he remembered her spell bringing him to Equestria? Luna turned her attention to the void around her and wondered what a small eternity with only the image of the moon for company would do to a spirit who was used to a linear passage of time.

While she was pondering this, she heard a metallic thunk to her left and spun around frantically to see what had made the noise. She saw a strange grey pineapple rolling away from a wall that had not been there before.

“No voi perkeleen kuustoista!” Luna heard a hoarse male voice shout out behind her, right before she was tackled right off her hooves by the supposed owner of this voice. She could feel something hard dig into her side as the human forced both her body and his own through an opening in the wall, most probably a window frame. She would have ordered the human to unhand her at that instant and then wonder why the spirit was able to physically handle her without their energies mixing, or even perceive her for that matter, but the world hitting her eardrums with nail hammers rudely interrupted her. She was unceremoniously dragged to the side from the remnants of the window frame and pushed against the stone wall by the human, while she was still dazed. This human raised a significantly larger strange looking iron weapon and a series of lesser pangs of pain shot through her aching ears as the end of the weapon flashed rapidly.

“Nyt sitte o’ poneja nurkissa kyyläämässä! Ei helvetti voi olla totta, ei vittu voi…” Luna heard the human muttering, despite the tinning in her ears. This spirit still followed some of the rules, while somehow forcing her to ignore others. The human was dressed in strange garbs the colour of sand and dust, carrying his strange weapon on a strap and his uniform adorned with more pouches and pockets than any tailor in Canterlot could possibly conceive.

“What is the meaning of this?! Why have you manhandled me in such a manner?!” Luna’s immaterial body rose up and admonished the human before her conscious mind could quite catch up. That was one of the dangers of sleepwalking, your impulses could take the lead if you were not careful. The human turned one very blue and calculating eye toward her for a few seconds and Luna could see the discipline of a soldier, or a guard, in the way he sized her up. The flash of a white set of teeth spoke of a personality beyond the veil of duty, at least.

“Princess Luna, I presume?” The camouflaged human said aloud while peering through a scope on his weapon. His voice still sounded as disjointed as the other human’s, but Luna could clearly place the voice coming from the human in front of her. That meant he was manifesting his own consciousness in his own mind, which was impossible.

So, there we are, I'll come back to you whenever. I don't want to make promises I might break.

Moonspeak:

Romanian, The Smuggler:

"Come on, man! We've known each other since we were kids. You can let me go this one time!"

"I'm sorry. I have a family. You know I can't"

"In the light of the moon..."

Finnish, The Soldier:

"Oh, fucking hell!"

"Now we got ponies lurking around! This can't fucking be happening, no fucking way..."

Identity

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Identity

“That is impossible. There is no way you could manifest in your own mind!” Luna’s immaterial body once again blurted out without checking with her mind first. It was clearly not impossible if it was happening in front of her and finding out how it was possible was crucial.

“If you say so.” The human answered without looking away from the scope in his weapon. He was squatting against the wall and poking his weapon through the hole he had tackled her through moments before. He was not even supposed to be able to see her, so to even suggest he had physically tackled her in his own mind was something that she knew to be impossible. “How did you end up here?”

“I linked my own spirit with that of a beast called Fenrir, to undo the spell that ties you to him and my realm.” Luna blurted out without thinking. She could still hear the impossible tinning in her ears and feel a bruise forming where the human’s weapon had pressed onto her body. This human had the ability to affect her spiritual self directly, so could his words circumvent her mental defences as well? Whatever the case, she couldn’t stop herself from talking.

“I did not expect there to be more than one of you, so I am not confident in my ability to help you. My mere presence might be hurting you and the other one right now and if I even attempted to help you the way I devised, I would be merging your two souls irreversibly and bringing your psyches great harm I could not undo. I am so -”

The human’s weapon suddenly barked out sharply and made Luna jump. The human followed with two more booms of his weapon, before crouching down to lean his back on the wall next to her. distant cracks of similar weapons followed and Luna could hear small projectiles embedding themselves into the wall they were leaning on.

“I don’t know about any of that, but any help in getting out of here would be nice.” The human detached a part of his weapon with a mechanical click and then slammed it back in place after glancing at some kind of brass cylinders in it. The human soldier then whipped back to lean against the edge of the hole in the wall and he fired his weapon a few times. The noise was deafening and would be painful if she were in her physical body, but as things were she could ignore the phantom pain with little difficulty.

She couldn’t move around recklessly, if this human’s ability to affect her spiritual projection also applied to the world he inhabited, then getting hurt by whatever the human was fighting would be bad for both parties, not to mention the ponies in the real world that would be subjected to the backlash of the disrupted spell.

“Can you tell me what you are fighting against? I believe there is a chance I could assist you if I were to know that much.” Luna asked as she gathered her imaginary hooves under her. The soldier gave her a quick sidelong glance, before firing his weapon a final time and crouching back down next to her. The human would be more than a head taller than her if standing on his two legs, so his crouched position didn’t make the conversation too uncomfortable.

“Werewolves, I guess. The original monster movie kind, though. None of that overgrown dog nonsense in Twilight.” The human answered without hesitation. He spoke as he ejected the same part of his weapon again and collected the few remaining brass cylinders with a few practiced motions of his hands. He then placed the empty detachable part of his weapon in one of the pouches about his person and pulled out an identical one out of another, adding the few brass cylinders he had collected from the other one, before attaching it back into his weapon and pulling some kind of lever affixed to the weapon’s side.

Just as the soldier finished maintaining his weapon, there was a sudden burst of purple light outside the building the human had tackled them into. Luna felt a surge of magic wash over them as the light faded and to her horror she recognized it. The human was bracing himself down on the ground, expecting there to be a shockwave. He was also yelling at her in that strange language, but Luna ignored him and jumped over him to the hole in the wall with a beat of her wings.

“That was no incendiary device, human! Calm yourself!” She barked at the human in frustration, as he was trying to pull her down to the ground and away from the hole in the wall. His worry for her safety was appropriate, as the projectiles his enemies threw at him were just as deadly as he thought them to be and he clearly believed they were dangerous. She was not worried about being hit now, as it was obvious the werewolves had more pressing matters to see to. “That was Twilight Sparkle!”

“YOU WILL NOT HURT MY FRIENDS!” A purple star in the guy screamed as bolts of silent purple light incinerated strange bipedal wolf-men wearing rags and carrying weapons similar to those of the human’s. Their forms shifted constantly in the bright purple light. Wolves the size of Fenrir jumped and darted around as the purple lightning incinerated the things around them, while some still leapt around awkwardly on two elongated legs, howling in anguish.

“Okay... That’s Twilight Sparkle, the nerdy unicorn?” The human soldier asked, peering at the mass of light through the scope in his weapon. He was now crouching next to Luna, still staying behind the tattered wall. “Sure, it’s purple, but that’s no pony.”

“Yes, that is indeed her, but I am afraid that will not be the case for very long, if things continue on their current path. She has forced her own consciousness into this space you and Fenrir share. She threw all of her will into the purpose of destroying Fenrir and now the spell created from that is burning away her mind to accomplish this task. I had hoped my sister could have prevented this from happening.”

“So, just let her kill Fenrir. Problem solved.” The human proposed, peering at the scurrying figures of the werewolves being incinerated by Twilight’s spell. The ball of light had waned noticeably already and there were still more werewolves coming out of hiding. Luna didn’t know how long the human had been here, fighting Fenrir on a battleground his own mind had become, but he didn’t show any signs of being disturbed by the werewolves’ grotesque appearance.

“You do not understand. What you perceive as werewolves are indeed parts of Fenrir’s influence upon your psyche, but the buildings all around them are a part of your mind. It is your memory and will that sustains this place. Twilight is indiscriminately destroying both your psyche and Fenrir’s influence upon it. I don’t know how you have learned to manifest within your own mind, but every little thing she destroys seeps life out of you. We have to stop her, before you perish!”

“Okay… So, how do we stop her?” Again, the human didn’t show any overt signs of being disturbed by his view of reality being questioned. Luna had never seen, or conversed with a human, so there might have been some physical cues she missed. The human lowered his weapon and turned his face toward Luna.

The face that she saw was nearly identical to the human she had seen, but upon further inspection she noticed small differences in the bone structure of the human’s face and the proportions of the eyes and other parts of the face. It was the eyes that convinced her it was another human, though. Where the first human had brown eyes, this one had a light echo of blue that appeared to shine in the purple light of Twilight’s spell. Luna quickly averted her eyes from the human’s steady gaze. There was frighteningly little of the person he had been left in that sharp glare.

“I think I can force the spell to stop and contain Twilight Sparkle in a way that would allow me to take her with me. She is not disciplined enough to roam freely in this place, so there is no other way.” The Princess of the Night forced herself to face the human and lock eyes with him. It would not be right to ask what she was about to ask in any other way than directly. The human’s eyes looked at her with a guarded sincerity of a guard, or a soldier, as it seemed to be in his case.

“I will need to get close to do so, but we are both out of options and short on time, so I am forced to ask you to distract Twilight long enough for me to get close enough. The spell will be quick, but she cannot interrupt me. Will you do this?” Luna kept her eyes squarely on the human’s beady blue eyes and expected there to be anger, fear, or even surprise. The human simply blinked and nodded his head as he realized she was done talking

“You need a diversion, I can do that. You should exit through the door over there and move to her right flank, I’ll redirect the werewolves to her left while you do your thing. I would recommend you stay in cover, or magic a shield around yourself. I doubt the werewolves hesitate to fire on non-combatants. Use your spell at your own discretion.” The human twisted his neck and dislodged the strap of his weapon from his neck, tying it to the part of the weapon that rested upon his shoulder. After he was done with this, the human jumped out of the window without another word and Luna could hear his running footsteps on the gravel outside. It was quiet for a few moments, before the human started shouting in his strange tongue to get the werewolves’ attention.

“Perkeleen kullinlutkuttajat, täällä mä oon! Tulkee syömää kuumaa luotia, vitun sekasikiöt!” Luna heard the aggression in the human’s shout even without the added volume and she shuddered at the elation she heard in his tone. He clearly enjoyed this, the thrill of battle gave him joy and a fiercely forgotten part of her understood the notion completely.

The building around her was more defined now that the human had given her instructions directly. It looked to be made of earthly materials, but with the clear corners and modern windows of modern architecture, futuristic by the standards of her world, to be honest. There was a door leading out of the room now, a thick metal behemoth, still blown off its hinges by something she did not dare speculate on. She jerked into action as she heard the human’s weapon rattle out in short bursts somewhere behind her. He was putting his life in danger for her convenience, it would be rude to dawdle.

It had been abundantly clear the human had not possessed wings, nor was there any indication of a magical affinity for flight, so she shouldn’t fly if she were to navigate the human’s mind. To do something impossible to the host consciousness strains the connection and she didn’t want to risk tipping the human over the edge, taking into account how Fenrir had been assaulting his mind without pause.

Running along narrow alleys in a strange city made up of the moonlit memories of a pragmatic soldier was a disorienting experience. If she ran down a dark alley for what seemed like a hundred meters, then she appeared a hundred meters closer to where she needed to be in a whole different neighbourhood and city. It was an interesting peek into the soldier’s mind and the culture of his native world, but Luna had no time for sightseeing. This disorientation was commonplace when intruding in anothers mind, but it was the echoes that gave her pause.

Some of the more darker of Equestrian philosophers theorized that killing another living being leaves a stain upon the soul, breaks it in a way that cannot be repaired. They are only half right, but she had not been there to tell them that at the time, so she let them think what they wanted. Intentionally killing another pony, or any other sentient being, is a traumatic experience, no matter how desensitized you might think you are. It is not the soul that suffers, it is the mind forced to experience it.

The first time is the worst, just for the shock-value, but you will not forget a single life you deliberately ended. Luna had called these imprints of memory “echoes” and they were a clear-cut piece of memory that crossed over between the mental barriers necessary to go into another mind without undue damage to either party. She had used this fact to condemn murderers in days past, but in modern times such breaches of privacy are seen as rude.

She ran through the mismatched city and saw dozens upon dozens of echoes frozen in the moments of their deaths. Bipedal primates wearing various garbs and carrying weapons similar to the ones the human wielded, large and small metal tools crafted to kill from afar. She leapt over a stand selling some sort of foul-smelling produce she had no image of and came upon a bazaar of sorts. Tables stood within darkened alcoves and cloths were set above them to spare potential customer from the glare of the sun. She could smell dirt, sweat and burning copper in the air. It had been a common fixture to the places she had run through and it had intensified every time the human fired his weapon.

She had reached a point in the city where she had to start going toward Twilight and stop her. She had to go along the abandoned road and find a way through the city in a way the human could have travelled. If she ended up wandering into a place the human had not been in, then she could appear somewhere hours away from her goal. Taking the way Fenrir had already destabilized the human’s mindscape, such detours could severely hurt the human soldier’s psyche. She had to try and go along the exact path the human took in the original memory.

The path split into two at the end and more earthen houses spread in front of her as the splitting paths devolved into nothingness. The house directly in front of her was in a stark focus, while those around it blurred into the background. The door was wide open and Luna could see two echoes already, holding weapons in their hands and halfway crumbled to the ground. Luna trotted in carefully, staying quiet in a misguided attempt at respect. This was a memory, the humans she saw were already dead and at least one reality over, she was only seeing the mental imprint their deaths had left on the one that had killed them.

Luna rushed past the still figures and poked her head into the next room. There was a corridor to her left, but there was a open door with a echo wearing armor similar to the human to the doorway to her right. It was suspended in mid-air and the front of the human was red mess of tearing fabric and flesh. The echo covered the doorway, so Luna went left. She found what looked like a kitchen and another room with bedding and a few more echoes, but no other way out.

The only way out of the house and to the next part of the human’s mindscape was through the echo blocking the doorway.

Now, echoes were just that, only echoes of strong memories and emotions left behind in a mind and they had no more substance than they did in the real world. The fact that they carried over to the invading mind was just extremely uncomfortable. You experienced what the person whose mind you are in felt at the time and sometimes you really didn’t want to know any more of a killer’s mind than absolutely necessary. At least the human soldier had seemed to be a nice person, so it might not be that bad. Luna took a steadying breath and stepped through the echo of a long since dead man.

“Clear!” She could feel the human’s strange physique moving and the unfamiliar suffocation of his many layers of clothes. She could feel the excitement in the human’s body and the sense of lightness the adrenaline in his system gave him. The weight of the weapon and his uniform was a reassuring presence, whereas Luna couldn’t have moved with such agility in such constricting garbs.

A whole eternity of time passed as the human soldier turned his head to check on his compatriot, standing in the same doorway Luna’s mental projection was. The other human soldier gave him a nod and kicked the door in front of him open. There was a barely audible click and then a wall of light and sound tore the other soldier to pieces.

Luna’s imagined hooves hit the room beyond the echo of the human’s compatriot. There were beds and a hole in the wall leading to another part of the soldier’s mindscape. Judging by the shadows Twilight’s undisciplined intrusion cast, she was not too far from where she needed to be.

Luna stopped at the hole in the wall and glanced at the echo in the doorway again. The human had felt guilty enough to blame the death on himself, but nothing in the memory suggested the soldier had been the one to cause the explosion. The human was more than an unrepentant killer, the echo’s existence proved that. She knew nothing of the world the human came from, but there had to be something more to it than all the death and pain she’d seen so far.

“ It is no matter whether they are virtuous or villainous. I have to do the right thing, I have to be better.” Luna reminded herself as she wrenched her eyes away from the gruesome details of the unknown soldier’s demise. She stepped out into what looked like a frozen plain of some sort, snow obscured the ground too thickly to know if the field was used to grow crops, or if it was a particularly level meadow. She took another step into the snowy landscape and her hooves sunk into the pristine snow. The sudden cold shocked her and she could feel the freezing air stinging her throat as she inhaled in surprise. She could feel the slight, yet bone chilling, breeze on her coat and could feel heat seeping out of her as the snow started to melt against her coat.

“I am Luna, the Princess of the Night.” Luna closed her eyes and fought to ignore the biting cold around her. It was dangerous to let the human’s mind affect her mental projection too much. If she began thinking of the mental landscape the human offered her as real, then there was the real danger of their minds and memories entangling, especially with the human’s loss of identity. The entangling itself was not dangerous, it was the strain of separating the two entwined minds that put both parties at risk. It was far more sensible to avoid becoming invested in the memories presented to her. “I am Princess Luna, Alicorn of the Moon and the Night.”

Luna opened her eyes and her hooves were touching the immaculate white snow, but she felt no cold radiating from it, nor could she feel even a whisper of a breeze. The pristine landscape still retained its beauty, but now she could make the mental distinction between reality and a memory presented to her. Parts of the landscape bled away and revealed the mismatched ruins of the human soldier’s mental landscape. Twilight’s mental projection was almost directly above the determined alicorn and seeing the diminished state of the cloud of magical energy she didn’t have time to get to a better vantage point.

Controlling magical energy was relatively simple in theory, it was the base of nearly every spell and magic, but to do it while within a mind of a foreign species, who was without a sense of identity, while you had to keep your own considerable energy from mixing with either the mind around you, or the mass of energy you wanted to contain… Well, it took a natural affinity towards the finer branches of magic, considerable magical reserves to stabilize the spell in such conditions, while keeping your sanity.

Luna started to construct the magical formula while she contemplated her sister’s protegé’s reasons in using a type of magic she had most definitely not been trained in. She had to have known about the human spirits inside Fenrir for her to even think of attacking the wolf mentally, but did she blame them, or wish to save them from the wolf? The spell that was using up the energy in her mental projection was definitely hostile, but she could not read a definite target in its design. It was either too weak to register to her at this point and in such extreme circumstance, or she would have to worry about Twilight Sparkle’s sanity.

Luna released the spell and the purple light in the sky quickly shrunk into a hoof-sized orb of light and dimmed considerably. It might not have been very dramatic, but the lack of fireworks told her she had contained the energy correctly. The orb started to slowly float toward her, as her attention was brought to her right by a strangely echoing sound.

“Perkele! Perkele! Perkele! Avita pikkasen, poni!” The human soldier was sprinting through what looked disturbingly similar to a graveyard at night and vaulted over a fence separating it from the snowy field and sunk into the snow to his knees. He was clearly not surprised or bothered by the deep snow, but his progress did slow down to a healthy jog. The bipedal werewolves following him moments later stumbled in the snow and could not find stable enough footing to shoot at the human, but the full wolves were just as unbothered by the snow as the human, but with the added benefit of having bodies large enough to not be slowed down by it. They would catch up to the human in a manner of seconds.

How is he any different from the monsters following him? He finds the same kind of elation in battle as Fenrir’s kin, but does not have the excuse of the instinct to hunt those he fights.

Luna watched as the human skidded to a halt and whipped around in the snow, going down to one knee in one fluid motion to aim at the closest of the wolves with his weapon. After a few flashes and echoing blasts of sound the wolf’s right eye exploded into red mist and its gargantuan body crashed into the snow. The other wolf didn’t hesitate to use his pack mate’s body as a stepping ladder to leap at the human.

Who would know if you let this happen? All those echoes would have some justice brought to them at long last. To let an unrepentant killer die is nothing short of a good deed, while letting one live is a liability.

“Get out of my head.” Luna hissed as she slammed the leaping wolf with a hammer of energy, shattering the mental projection and saving the human from a mauling. She shot the magical energy towards the bipedal werewolves and quickly destroyed them as well. The human soldier watched her do this, before collapsing in the snow, disappearing from Luna’s sight. He was still alive, as she could see his breath puffing out in clouds of steam from where he fell, so she didn’t hurry in making her way to him, levitating Twilight’s uncontrollable mental projection next to her.

“Nice save, Princess…” The human panted between big gulps of air and spread his hands out in the snow. The sky above them came into clearer focus as the human caught his breath and looked up at the stars with his empty eyes. The stars were wrong and the moon was just as riddled with scars as in the other human’s memory.

“I’ve noticed that it’s always night here and the moon is always full. After the werewolves appeared, I kind of figured you would show up at some point.” The human turned his gaze to her, the emptiness in his eyes even more apparent in the barren landscape. His eyes followed the glowing orb slowly orbiting around her horn for a moment, before he spoke again.

“... I prayed for all of this to be a dream. I wished for the monsters to go back to their shadows and let me wake up. I prayed for whatever force that brought me here to send me back…” The human brought his arms to his side and propped his torso up in a sitting position. There was a ghost of genuine mirth in his empty blue eyes and a relaxed smile on his lips as he opened his mouth. He didn’t know, he didn’t understand who had brought him here and now he was about to thank her for helping him.

“Thank -”

“Stop! Don’t…” Luna screamed with more volume than she had intended. After the first exclamation though, her volume tapered out into a mumble. Those empty eyes stared back at her in the cold light of the moon. The shadow of warmth and real emotion that had been in his eyes had disappeared at her reaction. He might not have put it all together, but she could see the human starting to get up.

“You… The moon, the night, Fenrir’s aggression…” Luna took a step from the human. He had demonstrated the ability to affect her mental projection, so any aggression from the human could be disastrous for both of them. He was now standing in front of her, staring at her silently. She could hear his spidery fingers cracking as his hands balled into fists at his side. After another long silent and awkward moment Luna gathered the courage to look up at the human’s eyes. She had come here to meet those she had wronged and try to help them, so she should not shy away from it because of some juvenile awkwardness.

“Why? Why the hell am I here, fighting fucking werewolves and dying over and over again?! What purpose does my suffering serve, Luna?” The words were hissed through clenched teeth and it was obvious he was trying not to scream at her. Whatever insult he was keeping back, she felt like she deserved it. It was not the obvious anger in the human that made her pause and want to look away, it was the confusion and hurt in his eyes. He had trusted her, thought her to be his savior, when she had been the one to damn him.

“Are you trying to teach me something by doing this? Do you want me to learn the error of my fucking ways by making me die over and over again in the claws of monsters? Is that what I am to you, a fucking monster?!” The human took a step toward her and she took a step back. The anger was coming off the human in waves, literally, as in his mind the strong emotion caused everything around him jump into clear focus and become increasingly difficult to ignore as illusions.

“No, I -” The human took another step towards Luna and pushed her back roughly with the metal of his weapon. The push itself was not enough to topple her, but the physical contact made everything about the memory they were in rush through her defenses, so she stumbled as the snow under her hooves gave into her weight and the sudden dry and cold air made her cough. The human had started to pace in front of her, muttering curses and threats in his native tongue while giving her furious glances all the while.

“I never meant for any harm to come to you, or anyone. I was tricked into using a spell I did not know to save a life. Your suffering and what happened because of my decision is all wholly my fault, I am not denying that. You have every right to blame me.” Luna said as she ruffled her feathers and got back on her hooves. The cold and the molten snow on her coat, coupled with the near constant wind, made it impossible to detach herself from the memory without giving the human a chance to attack her again.

“Was it Discord that tricked you?” The human asked, his voice still sounding strained with repressed anger, but his movements had already slowed down from the manic need to keep moving a moment ago. The human fiddled with a strap of some kind going accross his chest as he talked.

“Yes, it was. May I inquire as to how you know of him, or anything about our world?” The human glares at Luna at this question for some reason. He just grunts something very rude sounding in his native tongue before responding.

“In my world you are part of a show for children. I know of a couple of years of the Elements of Harmony’s shenanigans, along with the associated backstory, simply from watching this show. You are not supposed to be real, this is not supposed to be happening and you are not at all what I expected.” The human snapped his beady eyes at her in the dark and cold night and scoffed at her incredulous expression. “In short; It’s magic, fuck you.”

“As… As preposterous it might sound to you right now, I am here to help you. The spell that binds you here is also giving life to Fenrir, a monster of my design. I would like your co-operation in stopping this mistake of mine from doing any more damage.”

“You mean you would like to not kill me to get what you want.” The human stopped his pacing and faced her. The aggression in his demeanour was not wholly gone, but it had become something the human had under his control, a malevolent edge to everything he said and did. His initial outburst of anger had subsided, but it had become a cold grudge separating them from amicable discourse.

“What I want is there to be no more deaths. You are part of the spell, so you will need to be part of dismantling it.” It was hard to keep her voice calm in the face of the human’s spiteful comments. The fact the human distrusted her to such a degree was hurtful, but the fact he had a very good reason for it was worse.

“No on vittu ihan päätöntä touhua…” The human brought his hands up to his helmet and massaged his forehead, before spreading his hands to his sides in an universal sign of “what the hell”

“Okay, I’ll help you. It’s not like have much of a choice. What do you need me to do?” The human asked and shouldered his weapon again. Luna suddenly realized the human soldier had avoided even touching the weapon while he was visibly enraged toward her. He had quickly moved the weapon to hang on his back by the strap when he had started pacing in front of her. Luna had not thought much about the human fiddling with this strap during their conversation, but now she realized he had been fighting back the urge to shoot her.

“I know you still harbor ill feelings toward me, but -”

“What. Do. We. Do?” The human interrupted her with a raised hand and said each word slowly. He clearly would not listen to anything Luna had to say and either of them had the time to argue about it, so Luna swallowed the heated response to the man’s rudeness.

“We need to move on from your mind and find the nexus of the spell. There should be tears and folds in this place, things that are out of place, or that you have no recollection of. If we can find one that is stable enough, I can get us to where we need to go, but given your situation, finding such a pathway might be difficult.”

“Yeah, I forgot to ask about that. You can’t just zap my memories back, then?” The human asked as he started marching through the snow. Luna caught up easily, as she could take the time to concentrate on walking on top of the snow, while the human trudged through it.

“You have not lost your memories, you only lack the way to distinguish your personal experiences from the knowledge you have. You know all that you did before you came here, but you have no way of seeing how you fit into these memories. You do not remember how to operate your weapon, your mind has the information and your body uses it.” It was relieving to talk about something she knew about.

“So that’s a no, then?” The soldier asked in a deadpan tone. He either chose to ignore what she said, or genuinely couldn’t wrap his head around the concept. She could believe either possibility, taking the human’s lack of magic and his views on violence as the go to solution to problems.

“Yes, regaining your identity is a far grander concept than it may seem. There is a chance of it returning when the spell is undone, but it is far more likely that it is what binds you to this plane… It will have to be broken to end this.”

“Perkele…” The human mutters in his strange tongue as they make it out of the snowy field and into a paved path in the cemetery he ran through before. There runs a paved path through the rows of headstones, all neatly in rows and among well kept plants. For a good while the only sound is the human’s muffled footsteps and the shuffling of his clothes.

“Where are we going? It is your mind, but do you have a destination in mind?”

“I heard some music while I was leading the werewolves along. I can remember the song and where I heard it and it has something to do with you. Seems like the natural place to start.” The human keeps his eyes on the buildings beyond the cemetery, probably looking out for an attack.

“Yes, that is unusual, but not unheard of. It is a place to start, if nothing else.” Luna admitted as they walked through the cemetery gates and stepped into a street paved with a smooth and black stone, slick and shiny because of non-existent rain. The human stayed on a raised walkway on the side of the street as they followed the cemetery wall to the end of the block. The wide road must have been reserved for carriages of some sort. There was another stretch of silence as Luna followed the human navigating the maze of his own mind.

“Do you know at which part of your world we are in?” Luna asked as they walked through another street lined with tall buildings built from stone and metal and large rectangular windows. The human stopped walking for a second and looked up to the mostly intact buildings around them. There were a few broken windows and blown out doors, but it was far more intact than any other place Luna had seen.

“Finland.”

“How do you know that?” For him to be so sure, he would have to remembered it, so the loss of identity was really only on the part of their names. The human pointed a finger to a wall behind, which sported a rather crude depiction of a male reproductive organ painted in bright orange paint with stylized letters around it.

“Because that says “Suck my cock” in Finnish” The human smirked as cold mirth entered into his small and empty eyes. The picture was crude beyond belief, there was no artistic value to it and it was obviously only a juvenile grab for attention by someone with access to orange paint…

Luna still felt her cheeks turn hot as blood rushed to her cheeks, if they had just kept walking, then she could have easily ignored the graffiti, but the human refused to keep walking in silence. He just stood there, watching her with those beady little eyes and smirking at her discomfort.

“Hey, you’re the one that asked, princess. Actually we’ve passed street signs with finnish words on them and as I know the language and it’s what I default to when upset, so I guess I’m Finnish myself.” The human nodded at her with a small smile before turning back to walking down the street. Luna took a few steps to follow him before he suddenly turned around on his heels, a move that looked wholly unnatural to a quadruped like Luna “Why can’t I fly?”

“You lack wings.” Luna’s subconscious answered without checking with the rest of her. Her inability to control her responses to sudden questions would be worrying, if the human had the mind to take advantage of it.

“Yeah, I know that, but this is a dream, I’ve flown all over the place in dreams.”

“This is not a dream; this is a projection of your mind. The places we’ve walked through are all memories of yours. Things will work the way they did in the memory this place is based on.”

“Plus werewolves, courtesy of you.” Luna could feel ears folding back at his jab at her. He was a petty one, wasn’t he? She knew getting angry at him would be just as petty, but she couldn’t help getting aggravated by it.

“... Yes, plus werewolves, for which I am responsible. Let’s keep going, we are pressed for time.” Thankfully the human nodded and turned to walk down the street again. The Princess of the Night followed behind, easily keeping up with the human’s brisk march. After another excruciatingly long while, until the human stopped and raised his hand up to level with his head in a fist, Luna assumed this meant for her to stop as well and waited for the human to say something, staying a safe distance away from him.

“Hear that? That’s the song I heard, the only music there is to hear in this place.” Luna swiveled her ears to and fro, not really expecting to hear anything, as she was concentrating on not letting the human’s mind affect her, but she did hear a muffled sound of music in the distance regardless.

“I do believe we are on the right track. The fact both you and I perceive it to any extent means it is not of your mind, as I am consciously keeping it from affecting me in such a way.” She turned her head from side to side, trying to discern where the music was coming from. After a moment of this she pointed a hoof toward a different street, this one paved with cobblestone and kept alight by street lamps painted black to give the illusion of old iron, while the bright electrical light bulbs betrayed their modern nature.

“I am Luna, the Princess of the Night.” Luna muttered as the human strode right onto the street, humming along with the music he heard. She should not have known what she did about the street lamps. She had to endeavour to make the excursion into the human’s mind as short as possible, before more and more trivial pieces of information and memory could take root any deeper. “I am Princess Luna, Alicorn of the Moon and the Night.”

As she moved to follow the human down the cobblestone street she felt something akin to a warm breeze wash over her as she stepped onto the warm stones, still bleeding out the warmth of a summer day. As she looked down at the street to try and distance herself from the sensation, she heard the song the human had been talking about.

“I am Luna, the Princess of the Night.” She tried to focus on who she was and distance herself from the sensation, but the volume of the ong wavered only for a moment, before coming back again. She knew the street could have been the domain of another mind, but why was the memory so much more powerful than the soldier’s? “I am Princess Luna, Alicorn of the Moon and the Night.”

“You okay, Princess?” The human soldier asked, as he moved to help her. If the soldier’s ability to affect her mental projection was still in effect, then he could very well push her over the edge and make her unable to distinguish reality from the human consciousness.

“Don’t touch me!” The human stopped and jerked his extended hand back. The human whose memory this cobblestone street was, she had to find him, before she succumbed. The strength of the memory also meant the nexus of the spell was close. She had to stay separate to dismantle the spell and put an end to this. “We have to go where the music is coming from and -”

And then the song playing got a lot louder and fast-paced, impossible to ignore. She had liked the fast piano playing, but the sudden change in instruments and tempo took her off-guard. Was this what music in the human world was like? If the circumstances were more favorable, she might come to appreciate the strange sounds of the instruments and the fast and heavy tempo of the song.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Luna shouted over the music as she bolted down the street. The fact she could hear her hooves hitting the cobblestone under them should worry her, but if it drowned out some of that unnervingly tempting music, then all the better.

“The song’s not that bad!” The soldier argued as he caught up to Luna. The song sounded like it was coming from around the next bend, so Luna flapped her wings to overtake the human and to take the turn in the air, rather than stumble in the cobblestone street. There was an old style brick tavern a few doors down the street, with the door to it ajar and illuminating a slice of the calm night with golden light. It was definitely the source of the music, but should she really charge in there, when just a song was almost enough to drag her down as part of the memory?

The human soldier had no such reservations, as he shouldered the door open and rushed through the door with his weapon at the ready. Luna landed just in front of the door, seeing the human soldier pointing his weapon at two other humans.

“Turn the music down, you’re upsetting royalty!” The soldier barked and made a hastening motion with his gun.

“Fine, no need to shout! I thought it would be fitting, is all...” A man wearing a fedora grumbles as he leans to touch a small device with a rectangular glowing screen, cutting the song off. He leans back and fiddles with an expensive looking tie as he glances beyond the soldier and locks eyes with Luna.

“Hi there, Luna. Come in, come in, the beer’s cold and the wine’s older than my father. I believe we have some matters to discuss.” The human Luna had seen die in a dock of an unknown city said as he beckoned her to step forward. The human soldier gave her a questioning glance over his shoulder, but Luna was not in a state of mind to answer his unspoken question.

Luna stood there, transfixed by this sudden revelation. This human had not disappeared as the scene of his death played out, he had sent her to the soldier by distancing himself from her and she had interrupted the scene of the soldier’s death by appearing in his mind.

“I knew we should have gone with the piano version, Criminal.” Another male voice said in a smooth and low voice, with the slightest hint of a Fancé accent. A hand extended from beyond her narrow view of the tavern and picked up the rectangular screen from the rest of the device.

“Well, I can’t quite remember the piano version, Pedophile.”

“We agreed on Priest, remember?” The accented voice said in a strained “Not this again” tone. Luna had a feeling she didn’t want to know what the word “pedophile” meant. It sounded slimy.

“We agreed on Smuggler, remember?” The fedora wearing Smuggler said, in a “exactly this again” kind of tone.

“Who are you two and what is going on here?!” The human soldier cut into the brewing argument with a “Enough of this shit” kind of tone.

“You tricked me!” Luna shouted in no particular tone, as she was fed up with all the tones in the room. There was also the fact that the human calling himself Smuggler had mainoulated her into doing his dirty work.

“Tis a lie! Your backside is whole and - Fuck!” Smuggler shouted and slammed a fist on the table in front of him. The still confused soldier took a quick step back and readied his weapon and the glass of wine and the pint of beer on the table both spilled on the table and onto the floor from Smuggler’s sudden outburst. “Aww man, I was drinking that! I did not trick you to do anything, Luna. I just helped you along a little, I just neglected to mention the fact… Priest, could you, you know… Do the thing with the thing?”

“Since you put it so elegantly…” The man presumed to be Priest said and Luna could see the same hand move over the table and stay there for a moment. Luna was about to wonder what was the point of such practice, as the hand withdrew without seemingly doing anything, but then she saw the pint of beer and the glass of wine back on the table, filled and upright.

“Impossible! How could you possibly know how to… to…” Luna looked down and saw her hooves on the inside of the tavern. The impossible act of one of the humans consciously changing things in their mindscape made her unconsciously step forward to see the human in question and she was now standing inside the tavern. She could feel some kind of energy surge around her as she stood there and it was making her head spin.

“I can’t - What are you doing to - doing to me?” Luna slurred out as she felt the individual hairs on her coat stand on end in waves and a cold discomfort build in her head. Why was she here, getting tricked and assaulted by weird ape-things with impossible mental faculties. She should have just incinerated Fenrir

“Is this you? Are you hurting her?” The human soldier placed himself between Luna and the two men.

“Soldier, calm down. We hold you no ill will.” Which one was that, the fedora or the Fancé guy? Luna chuckled weakly at their obvious alias for the human soldier. It was so much easier than thinking him as an nameless human, yet gave no other identity from the obvious.

“Is this you?! Stop it!” Luna wondered why the Soldier even asked, there were no other beings in the whole realm, of course it was them. Her fingers felt cold and numb, but that doesn’t make any sense, it’s so warm here that… Wait, no. What are they talking about?

“I have nothing to do with this, it’s all on Priest. Go ahead, Soldier, shoot him, shoot him in the eye.” That annoying fedora guy, Smuggler, said with a little too much cheer for the grim subject matter. Luna had never wanted to punch someone in the throat so much, as she did at that moment.

“I am the cause for Princess Luna’s ailment, but I hold no power to alleviate her discomfort.” Luna stood up shakily and had to grab onto the doorframe to stay upright. Her head swam in every direction and her legs and arms tingled painfully. It felt like she had slept on every inch of her body at once. It was intensely uncomfortable and the room spinning every which way every time she moved her head was beyond disorienting.

Luna brushed a hand through her hair and put her forehead on the cool glass of the mirror next to the door. Something wasn’t right here, she knew it. Drinking dragon spirits that one time hadn’t been this nauseating and those would have killed a normal pony…

“I am Luna, the Princess of the Night.” Luna reassured herself of her identity. She was her, she still knew who she was and what she came to do, so why did everything feel so wrong? “I am Princess Luna, Avatar of the Moon and the Night.”

“What the hell? Did you do that?” Soldier asked, his weapon hanging loosely by it’s shoulder strap. Yes, it was a valid question. What did just happen? Did the two other humans attack them somehow? There didn’t seem to be any wounds on either of them. Her light brown skin was unblemished still, her nose wasn’t bleeding or crooked from any kind of impact, not even a scratch on the rest of her body, despite a few old scars from long-forgotten battles near her collarbone. Luna paused for a second and blinked as she stared at her body. She might not be hurt, but there was definitely something wrong with this picture.

“Why would you magick away my clothes and nothing else? If you think such a petty hindrance will incapacitate me in battle, you are surely mistaken!” Luna scoffed as she turned to the men, hands on her hips and eyes challenging them to attack. There was a tense silence as Priest carefully took his jacket from the back of his chair and made his way to offer it to her. As Luna took the jacket with a nod of thanks she saw Smuggler pick up his pint of beer and take a few hearty gulps before raising it up toward her, as if to make a toast.

“Well, it was worth it for the view alone, Princess! Am I right, or am I right?“ The boisterous man glanced between his comrades and got a absent-minded grunt from Soldier and a small nod from Priest. Really, men were the same wherever you went...

Solar Eclipse

View Online

Here you go. Possibly the second to last chapter, plus an epiloque. I would hate to set anything in stone, as my plans as to where and how to end this fic has been destroyed time and time again, by my own imagination.

Solar Eclipse

With the most powerful healer in Equestria, Princess Celestia herself, tending to the wounded in his squad Kamos could breathe a little easier knowing there would likely be no more casualties in this great failure of an operation. Sure, there was more than enough blame to be thrown around as for letting Fenrir even get this far in his homicidal plans, but Kamos had a responsibility to not lead those under him into undue danger. It had been his hubris that caused him to ignore the Element of Laughter’s potential as a tactical asset and led to whatever deaths came from fighting Fenrir in his own terms.

“Kamos, I’ll leave the rest of the guards here to guard Luna. I’ve given them orders to rush into the caves if the dogs wake up, so I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t pull rank on them.” Kamos looked to the side and saw Regal Poise next to him. The fact he hadn’t been aware of the unicorn approaching him spoke for the severity of his supposed concussion. Kamos glanced behind the upstart colt and saw the conscious elements grouped behind him, along with the earth pony guards and the unicorns, Cerulean Wind being the only pegasi guard in the group.

“Your raiding party is still unwieldy if the dogs do regain consciousness. Leave two more earth ponies up here and the ones you have will not get in each other’s way in the cramped tunnels. You should also leave a few unicorns here to run in with the earth ponies, as they would have to force their way through the whole den in the worst case scenario.” The colt had the common sense not to get insulted by critique and nodded to the ponies behind him. The commanding earth pony officer pointed out two unicorns and two earth ponies that detached from the group and trotted over to them.

“I appreciate the advice, Kamos. I’ll make sure there are no more casualties in this - Uh…” The colt might have realized just what he was going to say in front of a superior officer and one of the princesses, or he might have just been at a loss for words. It didn’t matter either way, Kamos was more than happy to finish the thought.

“I believe the word you are looking for is “clusterfuck”. Fenrir should have been stopped before he even reached Ponyville, but there is more than one pony that is to blame for that oversight.” Kamos turned his attention fully on the armored colt and the enchantment bled away under his gaze. The effect was only apparent to him, but he knew ponies felt him looking them in their real eyes, even if they did not understand it. Kamos had to commend the colt for not breaking eye contact, as he’d seen guards far senior to the colt avert their gaze at the unfamiliar feeling, probably thinking he was using his zebra magic on them or some such excuse.

“Right now you have a duty to bring those three fillies to safety. Whatever blame there is to throw around for this fiasco will be addressed after Fenrir and his machinations have been dealt with and civilians are in no direct danger. It is your duty to make that happen, as it is my duty to ensure Princess Luna’s safety.” Kamos suppressed a cough as he raised a hoof slightly toward Luna’s prone form. Her eyes had drifted closed, but the silvery glow of her horn made it apparent that the alicorn was in the middle of whatever spell she had devised to save the victims of her selfishness.

“Thank you, sir.” The colt said while meeting his eyes without flinching. There was real promise in the colt if he could be so level-headed after watching his brother die. No doubt he would be grieving and unable to think clearly as soon as the situation settled somewhat, but to be able to put that on hold was commendable. The disillusioned guard trotted back over to his unnecessarily large rescue party and had them move toward the entrance to the caves with a few hushed words. Kamos noted the Element of Kindness and a ferret leading the group. There was some credence to those special powers as well, it seemed.

“I wonder what else I have ignored because of my own stubbornness…” Kamos muttered to himself, quietly cursing his more and more obvious concussion as one of his operatives landed next to him. Well, he would probably have called him over a moment later regardless, so there’s no harm done. He turned his head toward the pony ever so slightly and started talking before the pony could utter a word.

“Gather those of you who are still able to fulfill their duties and those who Celestia clears to do so. We should make sure all dogs above ground are restrained. Also, order one of our healers here, if Celestia has no immediate need for them.” The pony jumped into the sky without any further ceremony. Kamos had never really cared for useless ceremony like saluting and those who worked under him knew it and only did it if they were based in the guard, or felt like it. The military minds in Equestria couldn’t grasp the concept that forcing a quadruped to raise one of their legs off the ground impaired their ability to do pretty much anything the following seconds, magic or no magic. Upset an unicorn’s balance and they’ll be too busy on getting their feet under them to stop the knife going into their neck.

“I... Luna... the night… Alicorn… Moon…” Kamos perked his ears as Luna muttered the words weakly. He could not make out the full sentence, but it sounded like Luna had to reassert her identity while she was inside the wolf’s mind. Kamos knew very little about the mechanics of the kind of magic Luna was working with, but he knew more than most. If she was really reaching into Fenrir’s mind to extract the foreign consciousness, then she needed to assert her own identity to differentiate between Fenrir and the other soul.

“I am Luna, Princess of the Night.” This time Kamos could hear Luna whisper the words out, barely disrupting her calm breathing and nearly inaudible. “I am Luna, Alicorn of the Moon and the Night.”

Could Fenrir really have enough of a mental presence to overpower the Princess of the Night? Kamos kept an ear directed towards Luna, as he glanced over at the prone form of the great wolf. Well, Fenrir was the most obvious threat in the real world, but the other soul was the one that had changed Fenrir from a simple beast into a real threat. They could very well have a reason to attack the princess, if not for any other reason than being subjected to Fenrir’s insane anger.

“12 pegasi active as of now, sir. The unicorn healer will arrive shortly.” Kamos flicked an ear towards the pegasi and nodded slightly while keeping his other ear pointed at Luna. Externally terminating the spell would be too dangerous, so he should focus on keeping Luna’s body safe. Repeating Luna’s affirmation of identity could also help her cement herself further.

“Stay silent, as not to awaken the other dogs prematurely. Try and keep the dog’s paws off the ground, as their magic allows them to manipulate it.” The pegasus he was addressing nodded and sped off to relay his instructions to the others. Good underlings were hard to find, but they were invaluable assets, when you actually stumbled on one. He was proud to say that most of the ponies and other races in his network excelled at being excellent underlings and some even showed promise at leading others, if given the proper motivation and training.

“I am Luna, Princess of the Night.” Luna muttered in a strained voice as her wings quivered and her legs fidgeted in her sleep. Kamos shuffled a little closer to his Princess, so he could hear the rest of the mantra clearly. “I am Princess Luna, Alicorn of the Moon and the Night.”

“You are Luna, Princess of the Night.” Kamos said in a clear voice in response to his princess. Luna’s horn shimmered back into life as her face contorted in discomfort. This couldn’t be his fault, could it? He decided to finish the mantra regardless, at least this one time. “You are Princess Luna, Alicorn of the Moon and the Night.”

For a few moments Luna’s features calmed somewhat and her body unwound the tension that had been building up. Kamos noticed these signs and sighed a little in relief, but he also noted that the glow of Luna’s horn had only become brighter. He should probably step back if there was a backlash from the spell coming.

All such idle thoughts of self-preservation were pushed out of his mind as the silvery glow of Luna’s horn suddenly intensified into a flare of white light and obscured the alicorns form for a good 20 seconds. He briefly wondered why he wasn’t in more pain if this was the backlash from the intricate spell Luna had cast, when the light dimmed enough for him to see what had happened. He could feel his underlings stopping what they were doing to stare at what had happened to their monarch of the Night, he couldn’t blame them for it though, as he was also struck speechless for a moment.

Where there had once been an alicorn painted in the colors of the night she ruled over, now there was some kind of elongated ape thing lying on their side. It didn’t have any fur that he could see, apart from places he would rather not let his eyes wander and the head. Kamos stood there in shock, taking in the details of this surprising transformation in numb amazement.

The elongated ape thing had long and muscular hind legs and two shorter forelimbs with less obvious musculature, ending in delicate and long-fingered hands with four fingers and a thumb, curled into loose fists on the ground. Strangely, the breast muscles were abnormally well developed, when looking at the relatively thin forelimbs. The muscle was strangely limp while in rest, though...

Nope, those were teats, definitely the mammaries of this strange form, if the appearance of a dark perky nipple was any indication. Now, Kamos might not be the fairy tale variety of knight in shining armor, but he did assume his knighthood still came with some guidelines of behaviour he should follow. He quickly emptied his cloak of anything overtly poisonous and sharp and slung the dark cloth over the unconscious body of his princess. Luna fidgeted in her sleep and used those dexterous forelimbs to pull the cloak closer and curl up smaller on the ground. Kamos almost missed the mantra she was muttering while she curled up under his cloak, but quickly leaned closer to see what he could learn.

“I am Luna, Princess of the Night.” The strange form of his princess moved one forelimb under her head and kicked at his cloak with those long legs. Kamos idly reasoned the ape must be bipedal for the length of the legs and the relatively dainty forelimbs. “I am Princess Luna, Avatar of the Moon and the NIght.”

“Sir, is this why you called me here? If so, then I don’t think I will be much help.” Kamos snapped his attention from his transformed princess and to the cloaked unicorn next to him. He was well aware that no unicorn in his forces could help Luna out of whatever trouble landed her in such a predicament. He doubted anypony other than Celestia would even know where to start.

“A pegasi will immediately rush to inform Celestia of what transpired here. Whatever she orders is what we will do. Keep restraining the dogs and make sure there is a perimeter around the princess.” Kamos spoke in a calm voice to the dark woods around him. He did not raise his voice, as to not awaken the dogs still not restrained. “And no, I called you here to heal me of the injuries I got in the fight against Fenrir, so if you would.”

There was a crisp “Yes, sir!” from both the unicorn next to him and the pegasi volunteer somewhere among the trees. He would have admonished them from their volume, but his head was hurting enough as it was. They knew the folly of their actions, if any shred of his training had stuck with them.

Spot

“Yes, Sir!” A pony somewhere above ground shouted and jolted Spot awake from his unnatural sleep. He reminded himself to stay still and quiet, even if his first instinct was to jump up and get back to the fight. He remembered being the last dog to succumb to the magical sleep, so the the battle was most likely over. It would not do to alert ponies to himself, wait and strike when it suits you best, is what Fenrir had told them.

He waited for a whole of one minute, which he counted second by second in his head, and opened his eyes when he neither heard or felt ponies moving in the tunnels near him. There was a faint feeling of many hooves striking stone deeper in the den, but no ponies on the level he was in. He put his paws under him and straightened himself from leaning on his spear. he picked it up and noted that it was one of the dragon bone kind. The bone even amplified sound, it seemed.

The small diamond slung the spear on his back on a bit of string he had hastily tied on the pommel before going to sleep and started to carefully make his way through the unusually quiet den. The battle up top was most likely won by the ponies at this point. Waking the rest of the dogs would only cause undue chaos. Chaos he could use to turn the tide if there weren’t two alicorns helping the ponies. The battle had been lost, but the war was far from seeing its last casualty.

“Nothing is true, everything is permitted.” Spot whispered thoughtfully as he nudged a grunt awake carefully. He was deep enough in the caves to be out of hearing range for any pony on the surface and definitely far enough from the group in the den. The ponies were probably going for the three little fillies. Fenrir had specified them to be mostly unharmed, as long as the ponies didn’t use the Elements against him. Spot didn’t know if the Elements were what had knocked his fellow dogs unconscious, but he couldn’t see the point in harming the little ponies if Fenrir had already been beaten.

“Silence, dog. I need you to carry something for me. Stay quiet and follow me. We will not bow to the Light.” The dim-witted dog blinked blearily before straightening his more impressive frame from the ground and grunting an affirmative. Spot grinned at the thoughts whirring in his head. In the past, when they still thought the Light to be absolute, he would have been the first groveling at Celestia’s hooves and begging for mercy, not anymore, never again.

The Dark was no omnipotent deity they were supposed to revere and sacrifice their dim-witted devotion towards. The “Dark” Fenrir had introduced them to was a way of thinking, an ideology, without a god to unnecessarily limit their thoughts and actions into a predetermined mold. The Dark he revered could very well mean something else to another dog, but he wholeheartedly believed that the Light Celestia so obviously represented only brought stagnation and a subservient mindset to his kin. They needed to claw out a place in this world, by any means they could, even if that made the whole world an enemy.

Fenrir had given them the purpose and the means, now it was up to him to carry that creed onto others. Yet, there was something he had to do before that could be possible. Fenrir had lost in his gamble against the Elements, but there were other ways to hurt the Light, means far more direct than what Fenrir had done.

Spot dropped down from the tunnel leading to the old forge deeper in the den than the ones they had cobbled together up above to work on the dragon bone. The more intricate and large metal crafting had to be done here and it was the reason the thing he was looking for was out of the reach of the ponies. He was only a level above the ponies rescuing the three fillies and sound carried well in the caves, so he would have to stay quiet. He grinned from ear to ear as he saw the great shiny cylinder of polished metal sitting on one of the stone work tables. A knocked out forgemaster laying closeby.

“Bitches love cannons...” The forgemaster mumbled as Spot nudged him awake. The dog snapped his eyes open and was up on his paws and clutching a long and heavy wrench in the next second. The old and smart dog relaxed after seeing the two other dogs and his work still undisturbed. Spot bowed respectfully towards the old dog before speaking.

“We need the cannon. How fast can you make it ready to fire.” Spot simply asked, as the old dog stretched his limbs. The old dog’s eyes traveled across his workstation and the materials in the forge for a moment, before he scratched his jaw, obviously contemplating the question carefully.

“If you mix the boom-powder, ten minutes. We have only one of the shells for it, one shot, propped against a tree or rock. No time to make a stand for it, yes?” Spot nodded and tapped the ground with a paw. The old dog put a paw on the ground and felt the ponies in the den below them. “Noisy work, ponies will know. Wake up half the den.”

“We know den, ponies will be busy with the rest of the dogs.” Spot answered after a moment of contemplation. He had hoped to grab the cannon silently, but the rest of the den waking up would have to serve as a distraction instead. The old dog only shrugged before grabbing a fist-sized chunk of metal from the red-hot coals in the forge and starting to pound and twist it into the shape he needed with a hammer and his bare paws. Spot quickly hopped into the adjacent room and started to mix the acrid smelling gunpowder with the grounded up bits of dragon-bone, extremely carefully.

Regal Poise

The group walked gingerly through the den’s tunnels, carefully sidestepping any dogs the found laying on the ground, taking their weapons with them if they could disarm them without waking them. It was unfortunate that most of the dogs tended to snuggle their weapons, but miraculously none of the ones they had decided to disarm had woken up. They still left more than a dozen armed dogs behind, and that was only the tunnels they used to go down towards where the fillies were.

“He thinks we’re getting close.” The quiet pegasus mare whispered to him as the ferret leading them chittered something toward them. Fluttershy kept her head hunched close to the little critter to catch his directions, while Cerulean Wind to her right kept her ears and eyes on a swivel to catch any possible attack before it reached the obviously terrified mare. Regal Poise was walking along on Fluttershy’s left with a quick directional shield halfway charged in his horn. He would stop any possible attack, while the unicorns behind him would incapacitate the attacker, if it was a lone attacker. If they were to be assaulted by a group, the earth ponies would charge the dogs, to give him time to cast a spell to put them back to sleep. His brother had been the magic geek, but he knew some uncommon spells from his time in ambassadorial duties.

“Good.” He curtly answered with a nod. He was aware of the Elements being worried for his change in demeanour and he was pretty sure they could figure out the reason for it. He could feel the anger and dumb-founded sadness over the fact that his brother had died because of the misplaced ire of some eldritch abomination from the literal Tartarus. He knew his brother had died a hero and that accepting the risk of personal harm was part of joining the guard, but he would have rathered for him to live as a coward, rather than die while protecting six naive mares from the dangers of trying to talk down a monster.

“We… We’re all sorry for your loss.” One of the aforementioned mares tentatively said. He probably could have deduced which one from the voice, but he was too preoccupied in not venting his frustration on them to bother. He didn’t turn around, or respond in any way that indicated that he had heard the comment. He was not in the mood to deal with condolences and this was really not the time for them.

“He knows, now’s not the time, though.” Cerulean Wind whispered back to the mares with a disapproving glare toward him. He knew he should at least have the manners to address them himself, but he didn’t trust his temper enough not to blame them for his brother’s death. Starting down that road now would not help anyone involved.

“Uhm… we should maybe stop.” Fluttershy piped into the uncomfortable silence after a few more disorienting turns in the tunnels. Regal Poise snapped his attention to the ferret and saw him bounding this way and that in the dreary and nearly identical stretch of tunnel they were in. He signaled for the group to stop silently and watched the ferret keep going to and fro with his nose to the ground, before stopping in front of a blank piece of wall and tapping on it with a paw confidently.

“Not tah be rude to yer little friend, Fluttershy, but that there’s a wall.” Applejack commented in an annoyed tone. He could understand her worry for her sibling, but her attitude was annoying. He breathed slowly and cleared his throat; his rational mind reminded that he could probably find anything the mares did annoying for a good while.

“The Diamond Dogs have magic that allows them to both dig through the earth and mend it if need be. The sparsity of support columns in these tunnels should be proof enough of that fact.” A part of him admonished him for his tone towards the mare, noting that he could just as well mentioned that the master masons keeping Canterlot castle together employed Diamond Dogs for that reason and that he had seen more than a few working at smithies around Equestria. He didn’t feel that it was fair of him to be so petty when the mare’s sister had come very close to sharing his brother’s fate, but he couldn’t stop his anger from trying to find something, or somepony, to vent it on.

“I will hold a muffling spell in place around the wall. One unicorn and an earth pony guard; make a hole. I will not hear anything while keeping the spell up, so step away from me and keep your ears and eyes open.” The group of guards nodded and led the Element Bearers a little ways back, while the indicated guards stayed behind to break the wall and Cerulean Wind stepped past him to stand guard on the other side of his spell. After a couple of nods between the other guards he closed his eyes and focused on the spell, making sure it spread out to encompass the wall in itself, as the vibrations in the rock could wake up dogs just as effectively as the sound from breaking the wall.

He couldn’t have maintained the spell more than half a minute when he felt a panicked prodding on his side from the side Cerulean Wind was guarding. He opened his eye and slowly turned towards the mare, still keeping focus on the spell. Cerulean Wind was hovering next to him in the cramped tunnel and used a rear hoof to prod him while brandishing her spear with her fore hooves. He edged his head to the side and saw the diamond dog she was so worried about standing at the bend of the tunnel.

He glanced at the two guards working on the wall and saw that the hole was large enough and the two guards were motioning toward the rest of the group to help them grabbing the fillies. He turned back to the diamond dog to see him charging and Cerulean Wind preparing to meet it halfway. Without blinking he poured every ounce of magical energy he had been using to maintain the muffling spell to wrench the spear out of Cerulean Wind’s hooves and to propel it at the charging diamond dog. Sound rushed back to the world and he could hear the spear impaling the dog in the neck with enough force to both stop its charge and for the spearhead to knock the dog’s helmet off. He used the falling dog’s weight to slide the bloodied spear back out through the hole it had made and placed it back in Cerulean Wind’s hooves.

He had just killed another living, thinking and feeling thing. His rational side pondered on the possibility that he might be haunted by that fact in the future, but the rest of him just wondered if Cerulean Wind would be terribly upset if he were to hand the sullied spear back to her. Right at that moment he just knew that he wouldn’t let the dogs take anymore lives and didn’t care if he had to strangle them all personally to do it. After a moment of deliberation, he levitated his own spear to Cerulean Wind.

“Can you use an unicorn spear, or do you want your own back?” Cerulean Wind gave him a strange look before sizing up the shorter and thicker spear. Unicorn spears were made to have more weight behind them and to be more maneuverable through magic via the special wood the pommels were carved out of, but the differences in the build of the spears were minimal just for situations such as this. Cerulean Wind simply nodded and grabbed the spear out of his magical aura.

“Good, let’s try not to wake the foals and move toward the exit. The non-combatants in the middle, standard escort formation, we will engage the dogs only if absolutely necessary.” The rest of the group fell in line behind him in silence, the three fillies miraculously still asleep, despite the howls of the waking dogs and the sound of metal banging against metal in the tunnels around them.

Celestia

Kamos’s group of cut-throats and spies had received some rather gruesome and debilitating injuries when they had fought Fenrir and the dogs. She had always had enough power to pour into crude healing spells to get results and now she had a thousand years of experience, so what had been a field hospital full of groaning and suffering ponies had been swiftly turned into a haphazard circle of levitating ponies being bathed in a general anaesthetic and healing spell to keep them stable, while Celestia attended to their injuries one by one. She had no patience for half-measures, even if her sun was not in the sky to continuously restock her reserve of magic.

“The healers at Canterlot would frown upon me doing something like this, so I hope you can keep this between us. It’s hard enough to try and get them to realize that they need more than one unicorn for the spells I show them.” Celestia idly mused as she reconstructed a pegasi’s leg while the stallion was unconscious. There was a murmur of acceptance from the ponies she was healing and the few unicorn healers standing on the sidelines. The unicorn healers of Canterlot had a reputation for being quite arrogant, as a good portion of them came from noble houses.

“I mean, I have nothing against a healthy amount of confidence in my little ponies, but it is both unhealthy for them and their patient if they overestimate themselves. Give me one of those acupuncture needles, would you?” Celestia saw the unicorn closest to her flinch a little, but eventually the pony levitated a long and thin needle to her. She nodded a wordless thank you and poked the needle at the base of the freshly grown limb. She noted with some interest that one half of it was covered in a rubbery substance, so that races other than unicorns could manipulate them. She then levitated the unconscious pony over to the cloaked healers and saw the pony she assumed to be an acupuncture specialist take hold of him with their magic.

“You should make sure that needle stays in for at least four hours. It simply dulls the tingling enough to keep him asleep, but you can add to it if you wish.” Celestia turned back to the ponies floating around her, gently floating down the ones that had been healed while she focused on reconstructing a limb. There were still a few nasty gashes from the diamond dogs’ claws that would be infected if not tended to, but nothing on the scale of a missing limb. Her initial healing magic had already reduced the wounds to not be life threatening, but as long as she was here she might as well heal them to completion.

She was nearly done with this, humming an old melody while Kamos’s unicorns watched in what she presumed to be admiring silence, when one of the pegasi appeared in front of her from the sky. She felt a little proud for not flinching at the pegasi’s sudden appearance and calmly turned her head toward the pony. The pegasi glanced at the few floating ponies, then back to her and then took half a step towards her, as if to say something, but glanced at the floating ponies again.

“Go on, say what you were sent to say. None of your comrades are in any danger if my concentration wavers. I simply decided to heal them to completion, while I was still here.” The pony’s wings relaxed somewhat at this and Celestia saw the pony nod, either to himself, or as thanks to her.

“Something has happened to Princess Luna, your highness. She has been transformed into an unknown form by her own magic. We await your command.” Celestia snapped her head to the pony at the news. She cut off the magic she was using to heal the ponies still floating around her, their wounds comparable to papercuts at that point.

“What was the color of her skin? Did she still have her wings and horn? Is she still unconscious?” Celestia asked with a little more intensity than necessary.

“Princess Luna is still unconscious and seems unharmed. I did not see her close enough to be certain of her physical characteristics, other than she is no longer a pony, nor was she a wolf.” Celestia nodded towards the sky and spread her wings. The pegasi understood the message and took to the sky, leading her back towards where her sister was.

The spell Luna had created placed a mental projection into Fenrir’s mind and body, so killing the beast at this point would hurt her sister immensely, but she was nowhere near as practiced in mental magic to know how to pull her sister out safely. This was bad, very bad. If the human was able to overpower Luna in her own domain, what could she possibly do to help her sister? The transformation was a sign that Luna had failed to separate herself from the mind of the human to a phenomenal degree, possibly even suggesting the human had attacked her with some kind of mental magic to confuse her identity to such a degree.

“Kamos, tell me what you know.” Celestia bellowed out, barely able to stop herself from shouting at the zebra. The solemn zebra turned to her and nodded.

“Princess Luna transformed into this form about 7 minutes ago, she has not asserted her identity via mantra, as she did before, since right after the transformation. The only difference in this mantra from the other two before it was that she called herself the avatar of the moon, rather than an alicorn. No noticeable change on Fenrir.” Celestia nodded curtly and walked up to her sister’s body with a grim frown on her face.

She levitated Kamos’s cloak from Luna’s form and did indeed see a wholly human body under it, no wings, no horn and no tail. Her coloration and body shape was even different than the otherworldly equivalent they knew about, so this meant that the human had forced his own perspective of her human shape onto her sister. The act of such a forceful perversion of her sister’s psyche enraged her and the fact that the human was even capable of it frightened her somewhat.

“Also, the den woke up with five of the Element Bearers still inside. I sent guards inside to clear a path for them, but I thought you should know.” Kamos said after a moment. Celestia very nearly growled in frustration. Why couldn’t anything just go right for once? Luna just wanted to be nice and merciful and now that little misjudgment was shaping up to be quite a political incident, with at least two deaths in her guard and who knows how many among Kamos’s ponies.

“Enough of this.” The air around her crackled as she concentrated on detecting the life forces inside the cave, while gathering her power for what she was about to do. The Elements had retrieved the fillies from wherever the dogs had been keeping them, but they were trapped behind a portion of the tunnel leading above ground the dogs had presumably collapsed to trap them. She concentrated on a point between the ponies and the dogs she felt charging towards them and released her spell, causing an oval portal as tall as her appear before her. The portal only opened on one side, so the charging dogs ran straight into a pure concentration of her magic, incinerating them in the moment they made contact.

“Come, my little ponies, you are safe.” Celestia assured the stunned faces of the rescue team. She could see her guards panting and sweating under their enchantments and she could also see the weight of what the Elements had seen and done taking an effect on them. They universally had bags under their eyes from the stress of having their lives on the line and Rainbow Dash even had some blood on her hooves. She had hoped for her ponies not to be forced to such extremes in order to ensure the lives of those they cared about.

“Thank you, your highness. Things were starting to look rather dire for us.” Regal Poise admitted, as he crossed the threshold of the portal first, the others quickly following behind, wisely avoiding touching the edges.

“The little ones stayed asleep through all this?” Celestia released the spell holding the portal open and it blinked out of existence in a flash. She gazed at the sleeping fillies with tender eyes for a moment, grateful that some of her ponies could still stay innocent a little while longer, after all that had happened. “You know, Luna was the one not terrified of foals when we were young, if you can believe it.”

“No way! But you’re so super-duper motherly!” Pinkie Pie blurted out in a scandalous whisper, either feigning extreme shock to lift the mood, or really finding the thought of their matriarchal ruler to have been terribly uncertain as to what to do with a crying foal at any point in her life.

“I am also thousands of years old, but the thought of foalsitting still terrifies me.” Celestia light-heartedly admitted and was glad to see uncertain smiles on the faces of the ponies in front of her.

“KRA-BOOM!” There was a terribly loud clap of thunder and Celestia found her ears tinning in the aftershock. Well, that was the Everfree for you, a thunderstorm could sneak up on you with all the trees obscuring the sky and all. She hoped the foals hadn’t woken up from the noise. It could very well be possible, if they slept through being carried through a den of howling diamond dogs.

Celestia felt something dropping on her hoof and she snapped out of her momentary stupor. It was a childish thing to freeze when hearing thunder when she should be worrying about the wellbeing of her subjects instead. SHe focused her eyes to the ponies in front of her and saw their mouths moving in what seemed like slow-motion, but she could not hear a word they said, but the tears in their eyes made it very clear that she should. She tried to focus on a spell to heal her ears, but found it hard to form the formula in her mind, despite the fact it should have been easier than breathing for her.

Her suddenly sluggish mind reminded her of what had snapped her out of her stupor and she glanced down at her hooves. She had to squint her eyes as a sudden spell of dizziness blurred her vision, but after a moment she could finally see her royal regalia on the ground, somehow it had broken off and someone had haphazardly painted it red. She tried to chuckle at the no doubt hilarious prank someone was playing on her, but a sudden pain in her neck made her stumble and fall to the ground. She fell on her wing and her legs didn’t fold right under her, but strangely she couldn’t feel much discomfort from it.

Actually she couldn’t feel much of anything, other than the absolutely freezing rain the unpredictable weather of the Everfree had brought with it. The cold felt like it was seeping into her bones and the constant torrent of water made her eyes blurry and darkened the dark of the night even more. She glanced up to the ponies and tried to tell them to get to cover, so that the foals wouldn’t catch a cold, but she just couldn’t find the energy to talk. Alls she could manage was to keep taking shallow breaths and wonder why her neck felt so warm, when the rest of her felt cold.

She was beginning to suspect that it had not been a clap of thunder after all.

Bleeding Sun

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So, here's the last chapter, kind of, of this story. I think of the next chapter as an epiloque to this story, as this story more or less focused on Fenrir, so, yeah. Have fun. Oh, be sure to open the links in another tab. there will be a few in here, if I remember to add them.

Bleeding Sun

“... And then I had to take his kid to have his stomach pumped. You would not believe the amount of effort and expensive gifts it took to keep that him quiet about the whole fiasco. More wine, your highness?” Smuggler smoothly transitioned from his interesting story to offering her a refill of her wine glass. Luna glanced down at her glass and found it empty. She must have emptied it while the man in an infuriating hat talked.

“Yes, thank you.” Luna answered and picked her wineglass up by the stem and placed it under the offered wine bottle. She could smell the rich smell of the old vintage wine even before she brought the glass under her nose to savor it. She had missed quiet nights under the stars with a good bottle of wine, but a millenium on the moon had ruined the novelty of a quiet night and looking up at her stars. She found it hard to fall asleep without hearing some proof of people living and moving around her. “Someone might think you are attempting to get me drunk.”

“Be at ease, your highness, as we have no such ulterior motives. We wish for you to have a relaxing night of camaraderie in our company, that is all.” Priest assured in a silky accented voice and offered his own glass of red wine to clink her own against. With an appreciative smile, she did so with a regal nod toward the courteous man.

“Speak for yourself, eunuch. I wouldn’t mind keeping the royal bedchambers warm and alive with the sound of pleased royalty.” Smuggler blurted out with a hearty laugh and rosy flush on his cheeks. He slammed his hand on the shoulder of the man in a camo uniform next to him, causing the man’s bottle of beer to foam over. “If your highness does not think I would be enough for her royal standards, then I’m sure Soldier here could be coerced into joining in.”

“Refill.” The solemn man simply said as he downed the rest of his half-spilled drink and stood up to walk to the bar. He didn’t even acknowledge the fiercely blushing princess of the night sitting next to him and shook Smuggler’s hand off rather roughly.

“Don’t worry about him, he’s Finnish, you see. We’re lucky he’s said a word, other than inquiring where the beer is at.” Smuggler commented with a laugh, as if this little tidbit about the man would explain everything about his abrasive behaviour.

“Well, he did only inform us that he was getting more beer, so we’re still waiting.” Priest pointed out, causing Smuggler to let out another laugh.

“There’s nothing wrong with being quiet, you know. I’m not much of a social butterfly myself, as you know.” Luna interjected, not liking the nearly jeering tone they were talking about Soldier’s quiet demeanour. She knew how even playful words could affect a withdrawn soul and how extroverts thought it their mission to “fix” the introverts among them. Smuggler and Priest glanced at each other before answering her.

“Don’t we know it, Luna! We had to practically drag you in here, kicking and screaming.” Smuggler said with a smirk, before chugging a good portion of his pint of beer. Priest raised an eyebrow and waved his free hand toward Luna.

“Well, her lack of clothes might have had something to do with her reluctance, Smuggler.” Luna fiddled with the zipper of her Priest’s jacket, which he had offered to her when Soldier had dragged her into the bar, kicking, screaming and almost as naked as the day she was born. The only other things she had on her person was her crown and royal regalia, but those were only the badges of her office, not something that actually covered her up in any way.

“Pssh! Details!” Smuggler waved the argument away with a smile and an exaggerated hand gesture. Luna gave him a stern glare, but the man only smiled wider at the attention. Really, the man had no shame whatsoever. Soldier rejoined them right then, but instead of sitting down, he opted to lean on the back of his chair silently, sipping from a frosty bottle of beer with an unreadable expression on his face. HIs gaze shifted from one person to the other, while they stared back at him.

“I ordered some steak, did you want any?” Soldier asked, gesturing his bottle of beer towards the two men.

“This place serves food?!” Smuggler blurted and whipped his head toward the bar. The lean old man tending it waved back at him. “Damn right I want steak! I’ll have mine medium!” Smuggler opted to yell his order across the bar, rather than getting up to place his order like any other sensible man would have done.

“I will take mine well done, thank you.” Priest offered with a grateful nod at Soldier, who simply walked back up to the bar and placed their orders like a normal person. Again, he acted like Luna didn’t exist and Luna had to wonder what she had done to warrant such animosity from the quiet man.

“Would you have liked something, your highness?” Priest asked carefully as she was still glaring at the uniformed man with his back to them. She gave his back the finger with rather childish enthusiasm, before turning to Priest with what she hoped to be a regal countenance of calm.

“No, it is quite alright, I am not hungry at the moment, thank you for asking. I also doubt they serve a vegetarian option here.” Luna wondered, while glancing around the cozy pub. Smuggler groaned theatrically and Priest smiled an understanding smile, before glaring Smuggler into silence.

Priest was about to reassure her about her choice in not taking part in the systematic slaughter of millions of living beings, when the dimly lit pub was bathed with light from the street. They all squinted their eyes and raised their hands to protect them from the glare of the sudden light spilling in. Soldier then stepped up to the table, placed his beer down and quietly looked at each of them again. He then grabbed his rifle, which had been leaning against the edge of the table, clicked the magazine back into place, racking the bolt back almost instantly with practiced ease.

“I’ll check it out.” He simply stated as he pulled a pair of sunglasses from one of the many pockets in his uniform and placed them over his eyes. He stomped up to the door of the pub, pressed his body to the side of it and threw the door open while keeping his weapon pressed against his shoulder with the other and disappeared into the blazing light.

Luna’s breath was caught in her throat at the sudden turn of events. What could that light be? Were they the spotlights of cars coming to take her away? The light seemed a little too unfocused and way too bright to be the headlights of any normal car. She also noted that Soldier had not fired a single shot yet, nor had he turned off the light yet, so there had to be some other explanation.

She let out the breath she had been holding when Soldier walked back into the pub, holding his weapon casually and wisps of smoke coming from parts of his uniform. His face seemed sunburned and the tip of his left boot was burnt off, revealing the metal tip of the boot. Again, he scanned his eyes over the group of three with a grim expression, while they waited.

“The sun is fucking bleeding.” He seethed as he took off the sunglasses and pointed a finger toward Priest and Smuggler. “This is ends now. We can be pretty damn sure what it means if there’s a bleeding sun in the sky!”

“Now, Soldier, let’s not…” Smuggler was interrupted when Soldier raised his rifle and shot him twice in the chest. Luna screamed in fright at the painful sound and at the solemn man’s sudden apparent insanity. Priest put his wine glass down, but did nothing but stare at Soldier when he turned the barrel of the rifle toward the holy man.

“There was no need for violence, Soldier. This could have ended peacefully, over a good steak and great wine.” Priest calmly stated, as the tall man glared down at him. Luna couldn’t take her eyes away from the weapon, nor could she not smell the acrid smell of gunpowder and heated metal in the air. The man who had dragged her here had just killed a man, while ranting about the sun bleeding and somehow blaming them for it.

“Not when it would mean the death of Celestia. Not only does Equestria need her, Luna would be blamed for her death now. I refuse to incite civil war in a land of magical ponies.” Soldier answered Priest with a similar calm. Priest glared at the insane man for a moment, before nodding and taking his glass of wine in his hand again.

“Stop acting, Smuggler.” Priest said and nudged Smuggler’s body enough to knock him off of the chair. To Luna’s horror and surprise, Smuggler caught himself before he slid off to the floor and glared at Priest. Smuggler stood up from his chair and started to animatedly argue with the armed man, as if the two bullet holes in his chest were nothing more than a nuisance.

“What the hell do you think we can do about it? There is nothing we, or Luna for that matter, could do that they are not already capable of. This is the only thing we can do, Soldier. We are not the heroes in this story, we aren’t even the villains! THIS is the best end we can give to this fucking nightmare, you idiot!” Smuggler ended his heated statement by gesturing toward the pub around them.

How could they know Celestia was in danger, in the verge of death if Soldier were to be believed? Everything was so confusing, nothing made sense. Both Smuggler and Soldier were talking as if it was the end of the world and she understood so very little. She picked up her glass of wine with a shaky hand to try and calm her frayed nerves, but Soldier smacked it out of her hand before she could take a sip.

“Fucking snap out of it! You tore us out of our fucking reality, you don’t get to give up!” Soldier kicked her chair roughly and both made her nearly fall to the floor and her chair turn to face him, whether she liked to or not. “These two assholes are lying to you. Whatever you might think of as truth right now is something they wanted you to believe.”

“Soldier, you don’t want to do this. No good will come of it.” Smuggler pleaded, leaning on the table with a grim expression for emphasis. Priest still stayed quiet, observing the situation with those calm and compassionate eyes. Why were they treating the rantings of this madman as truth?

“We have to do something! I will not let a good pony die, just because you have a fucking plan, Smuggler!” Soldier then slung his rifle on his back and grabbed Luna by the shoulders. He picked her up from the chair like she was a child, despite her being nearly the same height. “You have to remember who you are! You are the ruler of the night court of Equestria, Princess of the Night.”

“Soldier, stop! You don’t know what you’re doing!” Smuggler shouted, while Priest stayed calm and silent. Why weren’t they stopping him? Why were they letting this madman manhandle their princess in such a fashion?

“You are Luna, Alicorn of the Moon and the night sky!” Luna stared at the man in shock. Most of what he was saying was true, but what in the world was a…

Alicorn.

“You’re a pony, Luna! You walk on freaking hooves and have a magical phallic symbol jutting out of your forehead. You fly on impossibly small wings and push clouds around like they’re senior citizens.” Soldier set her back down on the chair and thrust a hand toward Smuggler aggressively. “For some reason, these assholes wanted to make you think you were human, to trick you into staying here.”

“I - I am an alicorn… I raise the moon, with magic, I have a horn for that.” Things were flooding back into her mind; Feelings, memories, pictures and sounds all raising up from under the confusion the humans had built and bringing with them one simple truth, she was an alicorn.

She remembered the buzzing in her ears if she held onto a powerful spell too long and the smell of burning copper when she let so much magical energy cut through the air. She remembered how she enjoyed the cool night air on her wings and coat, how her ethereal mane sometimes refused to settle down in the morning, or when the stars pictured in it flared with blinding light when she was upset. She remembered the heartbreak of spending a thousand years on the moon, only her own rage and petty envy to keep her company.

“You dare tamper with our mind?! I came here to aid you and this is how you respond to my kindness?!” Luna shot to her feet and concentrated on her magic yet again. The humans had already dragged her down to their level, so screw being careful. Her horn and wings appeared on her human form, but despite knowing exactly who she was, she did not return to her true form. “How have you done this? Do you even know what you have done? I cannot aid you in this form, you buffoons!”

“Help us? Come now, your highness, we both know that was not was going to happen here. You came here to end us, to wipe away your mistake and move on, with Fenrir defeated and us thrown into whatever hell you dragged us out of. I thought it to only be fair for you to have a stake in what happens to us, at least.” Smuggler ran a hand through his shaggy hair and sat back down on his chair. Priest finished his glass of wine and leaned forward to swipe his hand over Smuggler’s pint, refilling it.

“To be honest, we didn’t exactly know how the spell that binds us here works. Either things went the way Smuggler thought they would, or we would offer you an explanation for all that has transpired. We either lived to struggle another day, or we left this world in relative luxury.” Priest smiled at the enraged princess calmly and leaned back in his chair. His calm just might have been more infuriating than Smuggler’s selfishness, or Soldier’s aggression.

“The sun is still bleeding, so are we going to do something about it, or bicker about who’s in the wrong here?” Soldier stepped up between the two other humans and her, not making any move to take sides in the argument, choosing to glare at both parties equally.

“Yes, if her magic is reaching out to me in such a manner, then she is gravely injured. Yet it is also by the nature of our magic that I am unable to heal her.” Luna pulled her discarded chair closer and collapsed into it, feeling defeated at the face of the surreal situation. Her sister was gravely wounded and she was trapped inside the mind of an old beast of war she had wronged in the past. Not only that, she was also arguing how to save her sister with the three humans who had given Fenrir’s insanity direction and had been able to overpower her in her own game.

“Yes, actually helping anyone but yourself would be out of character for you.” Soldier simply stated, crossing his arms across his chest, glaring at her with open anger.

“SILENCE, YOU INSUFFERABLE BRUTE! To bring my magic to Celestia’s aide would do nothing but diminish both of our power, while accomplishing nothing!” Luna shot out of the chair and stomped up to Soldier, flaring her wings and preparing a spell to hurt the human in her horn. Not only did Soldier stay unfazed by her outburst, he stepped up to her and pushed her back onto the chair by grabbing her horn and nudging her head back.

She might think she was human in some subconscious level, but she did not have as good of a handle on how to stay balanced on two feet as she thought and fell back into the chair heavily. She released the spell in her horn and was satisfied to see the angry human’s arm catch on fire. She started to gather the energy for another even more destructive spell, when she felt a hand gently placed on her forehead. Specifically, the part of her forehead that had her horn jutting out of it just a moment ago.

“I apologize for Soldier’s poor manners and confrontational way of going about this. He is overtly confrontational by nature and often lets his anger get the better of him, but I believe he is a truly righteous man, at heart.” Priest had finally gotten up from his seat and the first thing he had done was to seal away her magic with a gesture of his hand. The well-spoken man might not have been the most vocal of the three humans, but there was a definite possibility of him being the strongest among them.

“Perkeleen noita! Nyt vittu kuolet!” Soldier screamed hoarsely in his native tongue as he watched his right hand curl up in a blackened claw from the fire of Luna’s spell. He pulled out a knife from his belt with his left hand and attempted to charge at Luna again, only for Smuggler to step in front of him. Smuggler had his hand in his jacket and Soldier didn’t even hesitate on stabbing his knife through the boisterous man’s wrist before he could pull out the gun Luna knew he had there.

Soldier didn’t stop his charge toward Luna, deciding to keep his hold on the knife and both push Smuggler back and pin the stabbed hand to his chest with it. They were both screaming at the top of their lungs, Soldier from the pain of his charred right arm and the anger fueling him and Smuggler was just screaming from the pain of the knife embedded through his hand. Priest calmly took hold of her chair and slid it away from the table, as both Soldier and Smuggler’s crashed onto it. Her mind idly reminded her that the two men had not been going towards the table just a second ago, but that didn’t change the fact that it collapsed under their combined weight.

“PERKELE!” Soldier shouted again at the top of his lungs as he landed on his charred right arm. He scrambled off of Smuggler, his bloodied knife still pinning the other man’s hand to his chest. His legs gave out from under him before he could get to his feet and he made sure to land on his left side this time. He still struggled to get up, but by the way he was sweating and his limbs jerked Luna reasoned that the adrenaline had run its course and the pain of doing what he had in his condition was catching up with him.

“Take note of the fact he did not go for his weapon at any point when fighting you. He is most displeased with you, but he does not wish you any serious harm, is what I believe. He only took out his knife in retaliation from you incinerating his arm. Now, if you'll excuse me.” Priest whispered into her ear in his silky voice, before tapping her on the shoulder and walking over to the two humans groaning in various kinds of pain.

The black-clad holy man knelt beside Soldier with the same calm he seemed to do everything else in and laid his hand on the man’s charred shoulder. He then made the same sweeping motion Luna had seen him use to refill glasses of alcohol and wherever his hand passed, all signs of Luna’s spell disappeared. Soldier’s body relaxed visibly on the ground at the absence of pain and the man was getting to his feet only a few seconds later. Soldier put his hand on the barrel of his rifle for a moment while glaring at her, but then he glanced at Priest and decided to help the older man up instead.

“You fucking asshole…” Smuggler groaned as both Soldier and Priest made their way to him. Soldier didn’t answer the man he had just stabbed rather ruthlessly, but he did bend down and yank his knife out of his hand. Smuggler must have went through his whole vocalibrary of swear words as Soldier simply wiped his knife clean on his sleeve and sheathed it. Again, Priest simply laid his hand over the man’s injury and it disappeared. Luna noted with some interest that Priest’s hands had to linger longer on Smuggler’s injuries, than they had done on the damage her spell had done. Was the man getting tired, or was there something different in the wounds Soldier inflicted? He had been able to ground her to his reality by touch before, so there was the possibility.

“So, Celestia’s dying out in Equestria. Shouldn’t we hurry this along, then?” Soldier simply stated, rather pointedly ignoring Smuggler’s glare. Luna flinched back at the anger in the man’s blue eyes as he turned to her, contempt for her very clearly showing in his features. The fact she had no horn made her feel defenseless in front of the armed man.

“Time moves differently here. We have been between one heartbeat and the next, ever since I regained my identity. Time can pass sporadically, either fast or slow, so it would be prudent for a solution to present itself.” Luna answered, standing up from the chair, momentarily disturbed by the sensation of standing on two feet. “Soldier, did you have an idea on how to help our sister?”

“I only knew that I would rather die trying, than not try at all. You knew more about this stuff than the three of us put together, so you had to remember that again.” Soldier answered, straightening his posture further and challenging her with an even stare. He had brazenly admitted to being more than happy to psychologically shackle her into being a weak and confused mockery of herself, if it didn’t mean any harm for her sister. Arguing with the man would probably go nowhere fast, so Luna bit back the scalding remark and looked to the other two in the room.

“Well, if your magic is poison for dear old sun-butt, I don’t exactly get what there’s for us to ponder. We have no power out in the real world and anything Luna can do would only make it worse, so…” Smuggler bitterly spat out as he kicked his spilled pint of beer across the pub. The phantom patrons that had occupied the other tables while the humans had tried to break her into their mold had disappeared and the glass pint shattered against the far wall of the room.

“If nothing else, you could assist your sister by teleporting her to the care of more skilled healers. All that we can do is offer our co-operation in freeing you from this trap we sprung on you, while circumstances differed from what they are now.” Priest offered diplomatically and without losing that calm and seemingly caring demeanour even for a second. Not even the outwardly courteous man showed even a shred of regret for what they had attempted to subject her to. Could she really trust such openly contemptuous beings to any degree?

“Oh, definitely not, but that is besides the point. You ordered three steaks, hmm?” The lanky barkeep cheerily said, a pleasant smile on his face as he surveyed the destroyed table and the serious humans. “I’ll just set these down over on another table. The place is pretty much deserted anyways.”

They watched in silence as the old man with a goatee set the three steaks down on a table and turned back toward them. Before any of them could say a word Soldier rushed forward and took the barkeep down roughly in a clearly practiced move, then pointed his gun at the man’s chest. Luna had her hands halfway up to her ears, but Soldier’s weapon only clicked mechanically as he pulled the trigger. The old man smirked and was about to open his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by Soldier’s steel-tipped boots colliding with his face.

“Discord, I presume?” Smuggler calmly asked as Soldier kicked the old man in the ribs. Soldier already had his hand on the hilt of his knife, when the old man was finally able to snap his fingers and Soldier was suddenly tied down and gagged on a very sturdy looking wooden chair with thick straps of leather. The old man coughed and winced at the pain in his ribs and jaw, Soldier had obviously not held back.

“Part of his magic, at the least, but let’s not get into that right now.” The old man got up from the floor and pulled up a chair, collapsing onto it with another coughing fit. “Really, I think our angry friend broke something. I was going to help you guys cut some corners here, but now I don’t know if I want to.”

“We all know you were committed to influencing our decision the moment you made yourself known, Discord. I know your nature better than anyone, so let us not partake in such childish games.” Luna interjected, before Discord could bait the humans into exchanging banter. Subjective passage of time or not, they did not have time to waste on whatever games Discord was prepared to play. Priest and Smuggler gave her a look and Discord just started laughing at her.

“Oh, the pretty pony princess from a land of talking magical horses says she is tired of childish games? The humans gave you their perspective, forced it upon you even, so tell me; what are you? You are no great deity upholding a cosmic balance forged in the fires of creation, little one. Oh, no! You, little Luna, are nothing but a character in a show for children. Conceived and controlled by their kind, humans are as close to we could get to gods, to real deities.” The proxy of Discord had been becoming more agitated as his speech continued. His body starting to show his true colors, horns sprouting from his head and his eyes turning yellow and red.

“Is this how you convinced the humans to work against me? You had them believe they were gods?” Luna gestured toward the two men standing next to her. She could hear Smuggler make a rude snorting sound at the accusation and Priest simply gave her an admonishing look. Luna could feel Soldier shoot a quick glare in her direction, but he promptly returned to fighting against his restraints. Discord’s proxy leaned back on his chair, with his sneer still plastered on the man’s deformed face.

“Ah, yes. You mess around with the veil on a regular basis, I should have known that you wouldn’t be fooled by an outside perspective. Well, it didn’t work on these guys either, so no big surprise. They kept insisting that they would not be that guy, whatever that might mean.” The man fidgeted in his chair and his tail snaked out. He sighed in relief and one of his fangs grew to rest over his bottom lip. Luna was quite certain Discord was intentionally letting the transformation happen gradually to try and freak them out.

“Do you have a proposition on how to resolve this dilemma of ours, Discord? I find it hard to believe you wished for Celestia’s death. Was that not the reason you came forward now, despite the fact you could have stayed out of this altogether?” Priest took a step toward the half-formed draconequus, gaining his full attention. The humans obviously knew of Discord’s power and the part he had played in their fate, but both Priest and Smuggler didn’t show signs of fearing the draconequus. Soldier obviously hated the spirit of disharmony, but that was no surprise.

“You were afraid that we would choose incorrectly, that we would endanger Luna’s life and leave Celestia’s life to ebb away as you watched on helplessly from your stony prison. You are a trickster, not a demon. You hold no ill will toward equine kind, you only wished for us to drive Fenrir mad enough to cause a stir among them. You did not think our actions could endanger Celestia, as Fenrir did not hold enough power for such a feat directly.” Discord’s smirk had vanished entirely at this point. The draconequus clearly didn’t like the point the human was trying to make, but still hadn’t interrupted him. Smuggler stepped forward with a sly grin plastered on his face.

“We were more devious than you gave us credit for. We found our roles in this grotesque little stage you forced us into. Priest, Smuggler and Soldier, that is all we know of ourselves. We still found a way to fight back, to go beyond the limits forced upon us. We could not fight Fenrir and win, but we could lead him astray and let him die. That was our endgame, let Fenrir die and make a final try at surviving this.” Smuggler stepped to stand next to Priest, his voice more laced with emotion and his hands moving to accentuate his words. Luna couldn’t quite be sure if he sounded angry at Discord, or proud of what they’d achieved.

Soldier was able to force the gag out of his mouth and promptly spat right in Discord’s face. His stance in this debate could not be more clear, despite the lack of verbal communication. The draconequus raised a claw to his face and wiped the spit off his cheek. The only remnant of his human guise being the clothes stretched to match his new form.

“I made the assumption that you would be too busy fighting each other to give Fenrir anything more than the intended step up in cognitive ability. I never imagined that you had the capacity to simply define yourself through such trivial things and fight on nearly equal terms with Fenrir’s ego.” Discord’s smirk returned as his eyes turned to the bound Soldier. “You throwing one of your own to the wolves, quite literally, wouldn’t have surprised me, but Soldier doing it willingly certainly did.”

Discord floated off the chair he had been sitting on and crossed his lion paw and eagle claw as he kept smiling at the irate human. The humans had taken the initiative here, pushing DIscord into dismissing most of his childish games by giving him something else to amuse him. “Tell me, Soldier, whatever drove you to do such a thing? It was abundantly clear that confronting Fenrir directly would mean your death, yet you ran out of here to punch his lights out, despite the overwhelming odds.”

“I refused to watch three innocent little fillies die, just because you thought it would be funny. I had to act, as I knew the cost of inaction.” Soldier explained in a clipped tone, giving the draconequus his answer, but refusing to acknowledge him further. Discord had some kind of compulsion over the humans, even if they weren’t aware of it.

“See, Luna, this is the reason I simply adore humans. I never would have thought Soldier had it in him, with his body count, but lo and behold! I certainly didn’t encourage the act either, the door used to have a lock, but he kicked it down and went to work on keeping Fenrir at bay.” DIscord snaked in the air like it was water and swam around Soldier a few times, garnering more than a few murderous glares from the silent man.

Luna looked at the man tied down on a chair reminiscent of an electric chair as his eyes followed the lazily floating spirit of chaos. There was no denying the fact he enjoyed the thrill of battle and was a competent fighter, but that was not unheard of in the royal guard, even if the scuffles and skirmishes the guard handled rarely resulted in deaths. Things were obviously different in the human world, so could she really fault the man for acclimating his own set of morals to it? Would she really find Soldier any more dangerous than the members of her guard if the monsters they faced were normal ponies, rather than the actual monsters that were abundant in her realm?

“You were able to overcome Fenrir’s will within a week?” Luna raised a brow as she took a step toward the bound man. She found it hard to believe this man was powerful enough to do that. He would have had to know ways to completely subjugate Fenrir’s will, then extract the information on how to move his body, while being careful to not sever the body’s autonomous systems…

“We were able to take control of the body, while Soldier kept Fenrir’s attention. It was not… pleasant, or easy.” Smuggler cut in, shuddering a little at the memory. Luna wrinkled her brow even further at this. It was possible, theoretically at least, for one human to subdue the original consciousness, while one kept the autonomous systems unhindered and the third took control of the body’s actions, but it was still something that was accomplished through intricate spellwork and constant manipulation of arcane energies. These humans had no magic in their world, so how could they accomplish these feats so easily?

“Oh, Luna, You should know it by now. Wasn’t this kind of magic your specialty back in the day? Despite your lack of practice over the centuries, they still played their parts without questioning their reasons behind it.” DIscord jeered as he slithered toward her in the air. She could see both Smuggler and Priest glancing between her and Discord, waiting for the answer.

“It took very little coaxing for you to use that knowledge again, Luna. Especially if it was on beings from beyond the veil; they’re all monsters anyway, right? I think your biggest mistake was that you still left them a bit too human, it was in their nature to fight it and strive to survive.”

“I - I didn’t…” Luna weakly tried to argue as Discord’s eyes danced with glee. Discord took a breath and opened his mouth to spell out the truth, when Soldier stabbed him in the neck, right below the jaw. DIscord’s eyes bulged and he was able to cough once, before Soldier simply stepped back while holding onto the knife, cutting Discord’s neck open all the way to what served as the draconequus’s collar bone. Discord tried to swipe at the human with his claws, but Soldier had already stepped back out of his reach. Discord dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes, as his unnaturally thick blood seeped out from the wound like crude oil.

“What the hell, Soldier?! You just had to stab him now? You couldn’t wait for one lousy minute?!” Smuggler yelled as he stepped over to the taller man. “You’re the one who wanted to fucking save Celestia and you go and stab the guy that has a solution?! Are you messing with us, or are you really that stupid?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know… I couldn’t have...” Luna forced out, as her eyes unfocused. In hindsight it was so blatantly obvious that it was clear she had been consciously avoiding the truth. She was the only one with enough knowledge about soul magick to understand what she had done, so even with Celestia there to help her, she had been able to avoid facing the truth.

“I do not think we could have trusted Discord to give us a solution that didn’t solely benefit him. To trust a horned devil is truly a fool’s gamble.” Priest said as he laid a hand on Smuggler’s shoulder. None of the humans had moved to help the spirit of chaos bleeding out at their feet in any way. They might have been aware of Discord’s compulsion over them after all.

“Fuck his solution and fuck his mismatched fucking self! Discord did this to us! Without him we would not have suffered through this fucking nightmare, so he can bleed out for all I care!” Soldier shouted back and pushed Smuggler away. He swiped the blade of his knife clean on his sleeve and sheathed it again without even looking down at the blade. The practiced ease of this action sent shivers down Luna’s back.

“It was nothing but a fragment of his magic. To kill a being akin to Discord would not be this simple.” Priest had noticed her tears and knelt down to her. She was laying down on the floor, her legs sprawled beneath her. The fact she was still human surprised her, as what she had done would be considered inhumane, even in their cruel world. The blame should be on the Alicorn Princess of Equestria, not the innocent human counterpart they had thought up for her.

“I’m so sorry. I cannot help you…”

“Do you know how to heal Celestia? The sun is still bleeding.” Soldier asked, as delicately as a sledgehammer. Luna nodded weakly and attempted to gather her thoughts. They deserved the truth, at least.

“Now that Discord’s presence over you has been diminished, you are no longer bound to Fenrir to any degree I cannot free you from. There is a way to heal my sister’s injury, but I must tell you something about the nature of the spell holding you here, before we can consider it.” Luna stood up from the floor and locked eyes with each of the humans in turn, hoping to convey the seriousness of the situation.

“Do you mind if we eat the steaks while you talk? Would be a shame to put them to waste.” Smuggler asked, gesturing toward the table with the three plates Discord’s proxy had brought forth. Soldier had already sat down at the table, his jammed rifle in pieces in front of him. He looked up as the steaks were mentioned, but his hands were still busy wrenching a bent cartridge out of one part of his rifle. The cartridge made a hollow pinging noise as it came loose and made a delicate arc in the air, before landing into one of the plates.

“Aand that one’s Soldier’s.” Smuggler pushed the plate over to the quiet man and sat down on a chair opposite to him. Soldier pocketed the cartridge from his plate and then quickly reassembled his rifle. He racked the slide twice and then pulled the trigger while pointing the weapon at Smuggler. The weapon made a clear mechanical click and Soldier gave an almost imperceptible nod at the sound, before attaching the clip back in his rifle and setting it to lean on the table.

“Asshole.” Smuggler said with a smile as he pulled out a pocket knife to cut into his steak.

“Dick.” Soldier responded, spearing his steak with his knife and taking a hearty bite out of it. Luna grimaced at the red juices dripping from the cooked meat. She might have been a full-blooded omnivore for a few hours, but she was still an alicorn that leaned heavily toward a herbivorous diet. They both started to pick up the french fries with their hands as they chewed on their meal. Hadn’t they asked for her permission a moment ago?

“Really, we are in the presence of royalty, gentlemen.” Priest reminded the two as he set cutlery down on the table. The two other men picked out forks from the pile to eat the fries , but kept using their own knives. Priest dragged over his own plate with a hearty sigh. He used his fork and knife as anyone with a decent upbringing would.

“Hah! All that means is that she’ll look down on us no matter how civilized we act, so what’s the point?” Smuggler blurted out, with a mouthful of food squirreled away in his cheek. Soldier shrugged slightly at this, but still kept eating his meal in silence. Priest followed the man’s example with a disapproving shake of his head.

“Please, go on, Princess Luna. I assure you we are listening.” Priest assured her with a calming smile. Soldier nodded without making eye contact and Smuggler waved the matter off with a grunt.

“I have learned something of the nature of the spell that binds you here. The spell was cast by me, but the kind of magic that was used is something that… does not draw its power from myself.” As soon as Luna said those words the humans paused in eating what could be considered their last meal. Despite their world’s lack of magic, it seemed they could catch onto her logic rather easily. It could have been the fact they were all mental projections, which allowed for thoughts to be conveyed more easily, or it could mean that the humans were just that clever.

“I have wronged you in more ways than I can ever atone for, but I must implore you to grant me this one request; Please, help save my sister, Celestia. I need her more than I will ever tell her and Equestria needs her far more than I… Please, I beseech you to consider.”

The humans looked at each other, but after a moment continued eating their meal in silence. Luna opened and closed her mouth a few times in the following quiet minutes, struggling to find the words to dispel the silence. No matter how she looked at it, she could not justify pleading her case any further. The humans had to respond to her query, before there could be any further dialogue.

Finally, after Smuggler set down his fork and cleaned his knife on a handkerchief he procured from one of the many pockets on his person, he pulled a glowing orb filled with what looked like lavender fog out from another pocket. He set the orb on the table deliberately and carefully, between the three humans and so she could see it.

“I believe this decision should be delegated to a third party. One who has no ties to humanity and who has the best interest of ponies at heart. I vote for this decision to be given to one by the name of Twilight Sparkle, as she has Celestia’s best interest in mind.” Smuggler proposed and leaned back on his chair. Luna’s eyes widened as she remembered creating the glowing orb. That was Twilight Sparkle’s mental projection! How had they been able to steal it from her and keep her stable remained a mystery. Luna was still relieved to see that they had made the effort to ensure the unicorn’s survival, while they attempted to mentally hobble her.

“She has seen what both Fenrir and Luna have done to us and is a witness to Luna’s confession to these crimes. I vote for this, as well.” Soldier stated with an icy glare towards Luna. She could not fault the man for wanting justice, as they deserved it as much as she deserved the punishment.

“Twilight Sparkle might have sufficient knowledge of magic to decide on how to use the spell that binds us here. She is the only one here who could possibly make an unbiased and informed decision. Please allow Twilight Sparkle to speak, Princess Luna.” Priest finished with an air of finality.

They had made the choice unanimously, but she could simply ignore them and do what was necessary, she had the power and knowledge for it. Celestia’s life was at stake, after all. What’s the disapproval of one pony and the bitter memory of three things from beyond the veil, when weighed against the life of her sister? There was enough power in the souls of the humans to heal Celestia and maybe even alter the memories of all concerned parties. She could make it so Fenrir never roused the Diamond Dogs from their stagnant lives and nopony would know there even were humans to begin with.

All she had to do was tear into the souls of others for that power, maim the very core of what they were to get what she wanted. Twist and break and mold them into what she needed, as she had done with Fenrir and as she had done with these humans. How could she pretend to have grown a conscience after all the things she’d done?

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an aviatory spoon bouncing off of her forehead. She blinked and glanced down at the offending silverware rattling on the ground. Did someone throw a spoon at her?

“Did you just throw a spoon at me?” Soldier grunted and reached for another utensil from the pile Priest had set on the table earlier. He made a gesture with the fork he picked up for Luna to hurry it along, before tossing it in her direction casually. She ducked her head to avoid the wayward kitchenware.

“This is beyond childish! There are repercussions for the things we are discussing Twilight Sparkle is unable to comprehend! It would be most...” A solid piece of cutlery bounced off of her horn, rattling her train of thought. She clenched her teeth and seriously considered attempting to incinerate the man again.

She turned to glare at the man, keeping her eyes level and matching the contempt in the man’s eyes with her annoyance. She was about to open her mouth to dare the man to throw another piece of cutlery at her, when she felt something slip under the collar of her borrowed jacket. The cold piece of metal slid down her bare human body and caused her to jump up from her chair, shrieking at the uncomfortable cold thing touching the sensitive skin of her human form. Smuggler’s amused snort and huge grin told her all she needed to know as to who was the culprit.

“You are so…” Luna paused, looking at the three men in front of her. They were infuriating, condescending and downright hostile towards her, but they were also so obviously alive. They infuriated her to no end and had tried to do her wrong, but she could no longer think of them as mere collections of energy. She had just tried to rationalize murdering these three men, just because it would have been the easy thing to do.

“Right, you are right. Twilight Sparkle now has the authority to bring this matter to a conclusion. I lack the unbiased perspective needed.” The Princess of the Night channeled enough power through her horn to give Twilight Sparkle enough of a presence to communicate with them. To manifest her in any tangible sense brought the danger of rooting her to this false reality, so she hoped the unicorn could get used to the idea of being incorporeal.

“Princess Luna, there is a fork in your mane.” Was the first thing the magenta orb blurted out, the orb brightening slightly at the words. Luna groaned and sat down heavily on her chair, absent-mindedly combing her hair with her fingers to find the assaulting cutlery.

Kamos

It was chaotic, that’s the only word Kamos could use to describe it. The shot had rung out and after an excruciatingly long and hopeful moment Celestia had fallen. He had ordered his pegasi to find the shooter and capture him, to keep the perimeter secure by any means necessary and immediately fetch the unicorn healers from the operational camp. The element bearers and the members of the guard that had saved the fillies had been in shock, but Kamos had no time to let them get over it.

“If any of you knows healing magic, use it! Remember the oath you took! Act like you deserve that armor!” Kamos shouted, adding some bite to his voice and punching one of the guards on their golden armor. The clear humming note from the armor seemed to snap some of the guards out of their stupor and his officer’s bark did it for the others. He noticed Regal Poise giving him an angry glare for moment, before the colt went to work on commanding the unicorns to do what they could.

“Watch the ground, the dogs can burrow through it with ease! Secure the dog that fired that shot! Disarm him and take him somewhere secure, I will need to see the weapon! Move it! The rest of you, a perimeter around the princesses!” Kamos shouted frantically as he trotted between the princesses of both the night and day courts, both incapacitated at the moment. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if neither of them got out of this alive, but the thought still gnawed at him.

There would be chaos, after a time of mourning, of course. The unicorn nobles would try and take power in some form, the pegasi and earth ponies would no doubt be against it. There could be a war, if things went wrong here, yet it was all out of his hooves. Celestia’s injury was beyond the capabilities of the unicorns he had at hand and there was no time to call for Canterlot’s aid. Celestia’s vast power would interfere with any healing magic going into her body, so all they could do was keep the sun monarch at death’s door, where her magic drastically decreased. It was not something that could be maintained indefinitely and the magical reserves of the ponies he had at hand would tap out before the hour was out.

“Buck it, I need miracle.” Kamos dejectedly admitted to no one in particular. This situation was going from bad to worse faster than he could comprehend and something had to happen to turn it around, and soon. It was too bad he didn’t believe in any higher beings watching over the world, as any help would be appreciated.

“Trust her, trust the one you swore an oath to.” Suddenly, Pinkie Pie was whispering in his ear. He flinched away from the crazy mare and had half the mind to scream at her for not being serious, before he remembered what Regal Poise had said. This situation could have been avoided if he had taken the mare’s precognitive abilities seriously, so he bit his tongue. The pink pony shook her head and moved back to comfort her shocked friends, her gait slightly wobbly.

He was just about to start picking apart the nuances of what Pinkie Pie had told him, when Fenrir’s body suddenly jerked to life and the light between his princess and the beast intensified. He signaled the ponies guarding the night monarch to stand down as Fenrir’s body continued to convulse and seemingly sweat out motes of light. These motes of light floated through the air in a lazy arc, before coalescing into a form resembling a horn on Luna’s transformed body. This process continued for what had to be only a minute or so, but he still saw the tiny particles of light form Luna’s horn and wings in agonising detail.

As the last of the particles of light filtered out of Fenrir’s ravaged body, the great beast lay still and the princess of the night stirred for the first time, still in the foreign body. She rolled around on the ground and struggled to get on her knees. Her movements were spastic, as if she was not familiar with how to move her body.

“God’s sake, let me walk you over there! I actually have a fucking clue how to move in a bipedal body!” Luna growled out, while her legs straightened under her smoothly and she stood in a straight bipedal position for a second, before immediately slouching down. Kamos flinched at the sight of her knees giving out and scraping on the gravel under her.

“No, you don’t know how to control my magic.” Luna strained out, as her body collapsed on the ground again. Both her horn and wings seemed solid and real now, leaving only her eyes to glow in an otherworldly light.

“Who the fuck cares! Time is of the essence here. Soldier, if you would?” Luna shouted to seemingly no one, ignoring her surroundings. There was a second of silence, before Luna’s foreign features contorted in obvious pain and she collapsed back on the ground in a motionless heap.

“Princess Luna?” Kamos warily inched toward his seemingly insane princess. It was obvious that Luna’s spell had been brought to its conclusion, but were the foreign souls attacking her, or was this still part of the spell?

“Ah, terribly sorry if I frightened you, Kamos. We’ll need to get to Twilight Sparkle first, then we can see about Celestia.” Luna rattled out quickly, as her body straightened into a standing position, none of the awkward jerkiness in her movements anymore. Kamos watched as Luna stretched her new limbs and rolled her neck. The skin of Luna’s new body was tightly hugging her musclerature, so Kamos could see how every little movement caused muscles to shift in various ways

“Huh, apart from being a little top heavy, it’s not that different…” Luna muttered out as her hands cupped the teats on the strange body’s chest. Kamos jerked out of his trance as he realised he had been staring at how he could see the muscles moving under that hairless and smooth skin. It was both alien and frighteningly alluring. He rushed to pick up his discarded cloak to give his princess a chance for decency.

“Princess, here, you can use my cloak, if you would like.” Kamos offered the cloak to Luna with a hoof. Luna’s glowing eyes met with his and he could clearly sense a mind different from her princess looking back at him. So, the things from beyond the veil were really controlling his princess. “But I cannot allow you to approach Twilight Sparkle, as it is not Princess Luna who I am talking to.”

“Be assured, we wish no harm to befall any of you.” The foreign soul controlling Luna’s body accepted the cloak Kamos was offering and deftly used the spidery fingers to tie it into place on her shoulders. Kamos could feel yet another presence look back at him through his princesses eyes. “Princess Luna’s will was subdued to stop herself from hurting this body. It was a rash decision, but one that was made with her best interest at heart. We only wish to return Twilight Sparkle’s mind to her body and then try to help Celestia.”

“I will not let you anywhere near Twilight Sparkle, not until I can talk to Princess Luna.” Kamos took a step back from Luna’s foreign body and motioned for his ponies to come forward. They readied their weapons toward Luna with only minimal hesitation. He was proud to see their training at work, but the chance that he would have to attack his princess was still quite painful. Still, it would not stop him from doing so.

The foreign soul moved Luna’s bipedal body’s head to measure up his ponies, before settling back on him. There was an expression on Luna’s strangely flat and simian face that Kamos recognized as a smile, before the foreign soul used her mouth to talk. “Smuggler, please don’t test him. Soldier, let Luna to the surface. Luna, please see to Twilight first, if you could.”

Immediately after these words left Luna’s lips, her bipedal body slouched, as if she were a marionette doll with her strings cut. Kamos could hear Luna let out a harsh breath as her bare knees made contact with the gravel under them. He was glad to sense his princess behind the blank white eyes this time. He had come to rely on this vague sense over time, as it helped spot out changelings in his ranks.

“Kamos, you should have let them do this. They’re still here, but now they’re filling my head with… with white noise. Dear lord, I don’t even know what those words mean, but that’s what it is!” Luna babbled on with a frantic intensity, as her eyes darted about and her head went on a swivel, most likely trying to pinpoint voices that weren’t there. After a short moment, Luna stopped looking around like a paranoid schizophrenic and seemed to be listening to the incorporeal voices instead.

“Kamos, the spell I cast on Fenrir was a success. The spell that healed him and that gave him his newfound intelligence is no more. The drawback is that the foreign souls that gave Fenrir his life and intelligence are inside me right now. Three distinct personalities, all fighting to get a word in on what I will do. It is disorienting, but we have a common goal. First Twilight’s orb, then Celestia.” Luna jerked out a closed fist immediately after she was able to spit out the words and a magenta orb of energy appeared between the fingers of the strange appendage as the hand unfurled. Luna giggled and brought her other hand over to shield the orb.

“It is peculiar, these fingers have the capacity to be conduits for my magic but this body has no innate way to produce the energy needed. They gave me the knowledge I need to move it, but it’s a lot more than I - Twilight, I know. Twilight first. Kamos, please trust me. This is Twilight’s mental projection; when it is reintroduced into her body and anchored to her soul again, she will be fine. We will see to Celestia, after that, only after that.” Luna jittered out, random spasms and flinches making her look like she had lost her mind, but if there really were two to three foreign souls residing in her body, then being a little jittery could be forgiven.

“Sir, the dog who shot Celestia has been captured. The weapon it used burned it severely. The other dogs are… eerily quiet. What are your orders?” Kamos snapped his eyes away from his princess to listen to the forest around them. The dogs they had captured and hogtied to hang from the surrounding trees still made as much noise they could, but the howling from the den had ceased and there were no dogs attacking his ponies.

“Keep watch over the captives. They could be coming for their own. Make sure the dog does not die of his injuries, not before we can interrogate it. Is there nothing left of the weapon the dog used?” Kamos turned his eyes away from the alien and shaky form of his princess to address the pegasi. The pegasi glanced back toward the patch of trees where the shot had supposedly come from.

“There are pieces of metal, nothing more. From the pieces that didn’t burn into the dog’s skin, or burrow in the surrounding trees I would say it was a makeshift cannon of some sort.” Kamos had expected as much, but knowing that the dogs now had the plans and materials to make weapons that were both portable and capable of inflicting such grievous injury on somepony like Celestia was disconcerting at best. They needed to try and stop the dogs from perfecting the technology, but they did not have the numbers to raid the den successfully.

“Keep watch over both the captive dogs and the unicorns keeping Celestia alive. They are our number one priority right now. Call for reinforcement from both the guard and our ranks, this matter needs to be dealt with. We are raiding that den as soon as we can.” Kamos knew that waiting would give the dogs time to retreat deeper into their tunnels with whatever they had used to deal the deciding blow to Celestia and collapse the tunnels behind them, but there was nothing he could do to stop that. He could only hope that the dogs would not have the presence of mind to cut their losses and run. He actually hoped the dogs would attack them, at least then he would know where they were.

“Luna, I will allow you to return Twilight’s mind to her, but you will have tell me exactly how you are planning on healing Celestia. I do not trust the souls who interacted with the Fenrir I fought to any degree.” Kamos motioned for his ponies to stand down and Luna stood up on unsure feet. She was still cradling the magenta orb of light in her hands, holding her blank stare on it as she walked toward Twilight’s prone body.

When they got a few of the bipedal body’s steps away from Twilight, Luna simply opened up her hands and allowed the purple light to flow back to Twilight’s body. The light lingered on Twilight’s Element, before flowing back into her body through her horn. Luna flexed her fingers, before pulling them back into the cloak Kamos had given her, hiding both them and her torso from sight.

“There, Twilight Sparkle is safe. She will regain consciousness momentarily, but we do not have time to -”

“And what in the hay is going on here? What are you doing to Twilight, creep?” Rainbow Dash suddenly interjected, rushing between Kamos and Luna. She either did not recognize the Princess of the Night in her alien body, or she didn’t care. Kamos glanced behind the prismatic mare and saw the rest of the element bearers trotting toward them at a more sedate pace, sans FLuttershy and Pinkie Pie.

“Princess Luna just inserted Twilight Sparkle’s mind back into her body. She saved your friend’s life, so I think you should show some gratitude.” Kamos said with forced calm, while pushing the irate pegasus away from Luna.

“Pardon me for maybe bein’ rude, but why are yah an ape? We saw something going from Fenrir into Luna a bit ago, so how do we know its even her highness who we’re talking to?” The farm mare was more intelligent than Kamos had given her credit, but he also knew they didn’t have time to answer all of their questions. Kamos was about to order his ponies to remove the elements, when Luna spoke up.

“Princess Luna needs us to be tied to her on a subconscious level, if she were to manipulate the spell in the way she plans to. Sharing our knowledge of moving in a bipedal body serves as that connection. I am sure Twilight Sparkle can explain it in more detail, when she wakes up.” Luna said in a tone at odds with her twitchy mannerisms. Kamos thought he heard a hint of an Fancé accent in there.

“So, you admit that you’re not Luna? What did you do to Twilight?!” Rainbow Dash shouted, flying to face Luna’s taller bipedal form eye to eye. Luna’s eyes blinked slowly and she reached a hand out to nudge the pegasus farther away.

“Luna returned Twilight’s mind to her body, as we explained. We only admitted that she was not alone in this body. We assure you that Luna has agreed to our course of action and will stand behind her decision. I only wish to help Luna in healing Celestia, as she healed Fenrir in the past.” The foreign soul’s presence disappeared from Luna’s glowing white eyes and her posture slouched again. Luna clutched the cloak closer to her body and jerked her head from pony to pony.

“Well, I don’t think whatever it is lied to us, at least. This is still damn suspicious, if ya ask me. The dogs nearly kill Celestia and this thing gives Luna a solution right away?” Applejack narrowed her eyes and planted her hooves to stand between Luna and Celestia’s body.

“Yeah, I bet this is just a part of its plan! It just wants to control Celestia, like it did Fenrir! I ain’t gonna let that happen!” Rainbow Dash shouted, hovering in position above Applejack, stopping Luna from simply flying to Celestia’s side.

“Seriously, you are going to do this now? Celestia’s bleeding out right there and you think this is a good time to debate this? Luna agreed to it, so should you! I think you should have a little more faith in the co-ruler of Equestria!” Luna took an aggressive step forward and pointed his hand to where Celestia lay, breathing weakly in a slowly growing patch of stained gravel. The two ponies looked unsure, but didn’t stand down.

“I think we should hear Luna explain her decision. She does not seem to be in her right mind, to be blunt.” Rarity spoke up finally, standing next to her friends, horn aglow with a spell that no doubt had no chance of stopping Luna if she decided to force the issue. Kamos stayed silent and turned to Luna’s blank gaze, the foreign soul beyond looking at them all, as if considering his options.

“Keep it short, Luna.” The alien soul growled out and Luna’s consciousness returned. Luna fidgeted for a moment, wrapped the cloak closer to her naked body and then started talking. She made the effort to keep looking between Applejack and Kamos, to make sure it was both her talking and that she was telling the truth.

“I… I healed Fenrir by using the souls of three beings from beyond the veil. These three souls both brought Fenrir back from the brink of death and gave him an intelligence and power he did not possess in the past. I plan to use one of the souls to heal Celestia’s injury.” Luna explained to the ponies, looking intently at the ground as she finished. Kamos didn’t like seeing his princess this timid and hoped it would pass and was not a symptom of something the “human” souls had done.

“You’re going to put one of these things that are making you act all crazy in Celestia? That doesn’t sound like a very good idea, if you ask me.” Rainbow Dash summarized and hovered a little higher off the ground. Kamos agreed with the vibrant pegasus, however. The three human souls could seemingly take turns in overpowering his princesses mind mid-conversation, so to introduce even one of them to the other part of the diarchy was too dangerous.

“Girls, wait…” Twilight Sparkle rasped out, as her eyes slowly inched open. She tried to get up and failed to gather the strength to do so. Time was of the essence, so Kamos ordered a pair of his pegasi to help Twilight Sparkle to them. He wanted to hear what the unicorn would have to say, assuming she had witnessed something that would shed light to the situation.

“Tearful reunions later, just listen to what she has to say, ponies.” Kamos rudely interrupted the three mares before they could open their mouths. Twilight Sparkle took the time to stand on her own to hooves, before speaking. She looked tired and a little pale, but there was a determination in her eyes that couldn’t be there if she wasn’t absolutely sure of what she was saying.

“The spell Luna intends to use, she told me exactly how it worked. It doesn’t only use the soul in question to power the spell, it breaks and molds it to do a certain function. The souls become both the infallible source of power for the spell and part of the spell itself. The only reason the humans retain anything of themselves is because she used three different souls for each part of it. It’s actually how the ancient enchanted items of old were made and why they still retain their magic, there’s a living soul anchored to the object.” Twilight turned her head to Luna’s downturned visage and put a hoof to her elongated leg.

Luna flinched back and grabbed the cloak tighter around herself. That would explain the weird behaviour to some extent. She was again forced to kill something she tried to save, ultimately because of one mistake made out of the same misguided compulsion in the past. Something like that would make you feel defeated, even without those you tried to save whispering in your ear constantly.

“So, the offered soul will die if used to heal Celestia. How would you decide which one to use?” Kamos took a step back from his princess. He would have no qualms about this plan of action if the answer was what he thought it would be.

“I volunteered.” Luna firmly stated as her posture straightened again. She looked from pony to pony with those glowing eyes. “So, are we doing this? Applejack? Rarity? Kamos? Rain… I mean, Blue Suspicious Pony? Make your decision, or I’m just going to push past you and get to it.”

“You… you would do that? After all of this?” Rainbow Dash asked, suspiciously narrowing her eyes at the possessed princess. Luna crossed her arms under the cloak and straightened even more to look the flying equine right in the eye.

“I will, the other two decided not to, Blue Insistent Pony.” The alien soul simply stated, ignoring the non-verbal order for an explanation. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to retort, before just groaning and landing next to Applejack with a huff.

“I ain’t saying we wouldn’t be mighty grateful if you could do it, but it is yer choice. Are ya absolutely sure?” Applejack tentatively asked. She might not have understood the intricacies of soul magick, but she knew the consequences of what was going to happen, so it was enough. Luna’s body crouched down suddenly, enough to be eye to eye with Applejack, before the foreign soul answered.

“I know the cost of inaction, so I would rather act.” Luna lingered in the crouched position without saying anything for a silent moment, before the human soul spoke again. “Would you mind if I borrowed your hat? You can have it back after Luna is done.”

“... Why in tarnation would you need mah hat?” Applejack asked, rather disturbed by the nonsensical turn the conversation had taken.

“I just want to wear it. It’s okay if you don’t want to part with it for the rest of my life.” Luna’s body chuckled wearily and her posture slouched almost imperceptibly, before it bounced back and Luna smiled weakly, looking at each of the ponies in turn again. Both Applejack and Rarity could only force a slight grin at the morbid joke. Rainbow Dash didn’t even bother trying, deciding to just look away.

“Nah, it’s fine. You can have it for a while.” Applejack said in an even tone, reaching a hoof to hand the hat to the human. Before Applejack could do it though, the human soul used Luna’s hand to deftly snag the hat off of Applejack’s head and place it on Luna’s. The hat was too big for the human body’s head and tilted back because of Luna’s horn jutting out of her forehead, but the smile that painted Luna’s features was genuine.

“You got a huge head for such a silly pony…” Luna muttered as the smile stayed fixed in place on her features. Luna straightened herself out and stood tall and proud with the ridiculously tilted back and over-sized stetson precariously balancing on the back of her head. Luna the turned on her heels and faced Rarity directly, brought one hand on the brim of the stetson and said in a mock deep voice “Lady Rarity.”

“Can you tell us your name, at least?” Rarity asked, in a voice strained by something she would appreciate Kamos not naming directly.

“No, I am sorry. All I can say that I am Soldier and the others are Smuggler and Priest. I know what I was, not who I am.” Luna’s right appendage was still fidgeting with the rim of Applejack’s hat, working the delicate fingers on the brim and the material the hat was made of absently. There was an awkward moment where they all just stood there, but ultimately the glow of Rarity’s horn dimmed and Luna immediately stepped past the three mares. Kamos took a few steps past the mares to follow his princess, until Luna’s posture slouched again and she turned back to him, Luna’s own presence meeting his gaze.

“You should stay back, Kamos. This will be an unpleasant thing, but it cannot be disturbed, relay that to your squad.” Luna degreed with a stern voice of authority, despite her less than authoritative quise. He could see the tiredness in his princesses eyes, but he also knew this was something that had to happen. He could only hope the humans hadn’t successfully manipulated them, at this point, no matter how likely or unlikely that seemed.

So, Kamos gritted his teeth and watched as Luna walked the distance between him and her fallen sister alone and ordered the unicorns away. He watched as Luna carefully kneeled next to Celestia’s head and used those foreign limbs to lift her sister’s head onto her lap. He watched as Luna brushed her alien forelegs through her sister limp mane and spoke words that would stay between them, before alighting her horn to cast the spell that would end one life and possibly save another.

He was not as surprised as he hoped to be when Luna started screaming in agony.

Celestia

Celestia was in an endless abyss of white light. She could not feel her body, nor could she hear or sense anything specific around her, but she had the feeling she was laying on her side on something. She could not feel whatever she was laying on, so she doubted even that tidbit of information. Her mind slowly got around to wondering how she’d gotten to this place. Didn’t she have something important to do?

She remembered she wore a crown, a golden thing with beautifully cut gemstones to gather and refract light from her mane. Had she been a ruler, then? Yes, that seemed right, but not quite right at the same time. Her mane had been gorgeous, though, that much she knew. Yet any poet or artist over the centuries who had brought attention to it had made her feel uncomfortable. The fact that the ponies she protected found ways to find the exact same thing just as compelling every few decades drove home the truth that she was not one of them.

One insightful pony had compared her to a beautiful emerald watching a river go by around it. The colt had received a ceremonial knighthood for his crisp mind and the minor heroics he had accomplished in a little skirmish against monsters of his time. His proud smile at the knighting was a memory that almost overshadowed his inevitable and overblown funeral service in her mind.

She had no sense of her body, but she felt tired, so very tired to keep doing this. She was tired of seeing good ponies turn into bitter old things that could barely hold back the urge to spit at her forever young visage. She was even more tired to see the few ponies she cherished stay just as lively and lovable until the day their mortal bodies gave out. She was tired of hurting at good memories turned sour; she was tired of the golden memories haunting the quiet moments of her day, just waiting for the moment in time when she could no longer remember the faces or the names.

“Stop crying. It’s heartbreaking to see a shiny horse cry.” A male voice suddenly cut through her melancholy and brought focus back to her world. Who was that? Why was he here? How did he get here? Where exactly was “here”?

“Who are you?” She could feel her lips move, but could not hear any sound leaving her. She took in a breath to try and respond to the stranger audibly, when the man answered, like he could have actually heard her lips moving.

“I don’t remember my name and I am sorry for that. I do know I am a soldier, though. You can call me Soldier for the moment, if you like.” She could finally see the source of the male voice. He was walking toward her from the white expanse they were both in. From what she could make out at the moment he was bipedal and either had the shaggiest and most strangely colored fur, or was wearing a strange set of garbs around its body. He was limping heavily on one side and one of his arms was strangely limp for a creature walking on two legs, usually they needed to move those for balance if they didn’t have a tail. Well, he was too far for her to tell if he had one, so anything was possible.

“So, Soldier, what are you doing here and how did you get here? I… I don’t think you should be here. I think I thought it was impossible for anyone to be here. This place… it’s been a long time coming. I never thought I would have company.” Celestia didn’t know what she was talking about, but it didn’t feel like she was lying. It was like she was reciting a half-forgotten script on stage, the tension and love for the act bringing it all out unconsciously.

“Celestia, I don’t think I am here for the reasons you think I am. I know you must be tired, you must feel beaten and alone after all that pain you’ve forgotten. I am not here to lead you along, I am here to drag you back. I am sorry for that, as well.” The bipedal man had gotten close enough for Celestia to make out his flat simian features and blood soaked garbs. He was limping one severely mangled leg behind him and his left hand was just as horribly mangled and hung in an awkward angle at his side with some of the digits missing or hanging by a sickeningly thin thread. He did not look like he was in any shape to even drag himself anywhere, yet here he was, intending to drag an alicorn at least his own weight back wherever he came from.

The man unceremoniously grabbed one of her fore hooves with his good hand and groaned and cursed to limp one small step back. His alien face contorted in obvious pain, but with only one intake of breath, he heaved her body another small limping step back. Celestia let the man do this for a few times, before she thought she had to stop him from killing himself.

“Stop it already, you made your point.” The man let go of her hoof with a pained grunt and Celestia forced her hooves to inch their way to where they should be to help her up, but found herself lacking the power to stand up. “Please, help me stand and we will walk out of here together. I would rather not be a burden.”

The bipedal creature moved to her side and started pulling her up with his hand under one of her forehooves. He could not muster much strength with just one good arm and a leg, but it was enough to help Celestia force her way to a standing position and then lean onto her bipedal savior for support.

“So, what manner of creature are you? I do not think I have had the pleasure of meeting your kind before. Although I must admit my memory is a little hazy at the moment.” Celestia tried to distract them from the forced bodily contact as they took their first tentative steps toward wherever the bipedal man had come from, leaning on each other heavily.

“I am human, bullshit latin name would be homo sapiens sapiens, or something like that, but you can think of me as an exceedingly clever ape that’s been stretched out and shaved, I wouldn’t mind.” The self-proclaimed human answered, sounding just as uncomfortable at the situation as Celestia felt.

“So, mister homo sapiens sapiens, however did you end up here? I have the feeling our conversation should be impossible. I appreciate the distraction from… things I would rather not think about when alone, but the absurdity of the situation is something I cannot shake. You are not at all what I was expecting to happen.” Celestia took a step toward their unnamed goal, trying to drown out her inquisitive mind on the painful monotonous action of walking, but still failing horribly.

“I can’t exactly tell you how, as I don’t know it myself, but you should ask your sister as to why. She, and the other two, can give you a pretty good idea of that.” The self-proclaimed elongated ape fell into silence for the next dozen small steps they took together and Celestia gladly let the silence stretch on. Her lungs felt far more labored than they should, from such little activity as walking while supported by another being. It felt like there was something stopping her lungs from fully expanding.

“Also, I think I should mention I took something of hers without permission. She kept hurting people with it, so I thought she would be better off without the choice.” The man breathlessly wheezed out as he took out a strange cylindrical cartridge that tapered out into a wickedly sharp point at the end. It was clearly something meant to hurt and kill things and it turned Celestia’s stomach to even look at it. She felt sick looking at it, but she also knew that it could not hurt anypony on it’s own, there had to be something else for it work to it’s full potential and this ape-man did not have it.

“Thank you. I value my sister’s independence, but I would hate for her to be tempted by such power. I wish you could safeguard it, until my sister is ready to accept the responsibility of such power again.” Celestia pleaded, trying to bring forth the best tricks she’d learned in her years as a ruler of a nation to convince the young man.

“Yeah, about that…” The young ape-man said wearily, before pushing her forward and off a cliff she had not noticed until now. Her eyes widened and she could feel her jaw slacken at this sudden betrayal of trust, as he looked at the alien and tired face of the young man who had dragged her here. He was actually smiling as she was falling further and further away from his smug little face!

Celestia forced whatever remainder of magic she had to flow through her horn as she fell deeper and deeper into the oppressive blackness of the chasm that asshole of an elongated ape had pushed her into. As a small comfort, she could feel her magic tug the smug little ape down with her, just before her consciousness cut out.

*******

“Sister, please wake up, your wounds are healed sufficiently for that. Please, talk to me. Please, tell me I was stupid and too kind and too cruel at the same time. Please yell at me and teach me new things ponies have done in my my absence… Please wake up.” Celestia could hear her sister babble on about wishing her to be as bitchy as she had ever allowed herself to be and if that wasn’t a sign things were wrong, then nothing was.

She found herself unable to succumb to the almost overwhelming tiredness the pain in her chest brought with it, or the biting cold in her every limb and that was soaked into her bones. Somehow, she found herself fighting against both the cold and the lethargy with a determination she did not know she possessed. She became aware of the damage in her chest, specifically around her heart and carefully channeled her energies to fix the damaged tissue, before it became a problem.

“You know nothing of healing spells, if you think that, dear sister...” Celestia croaked out of her dry mouth. As much as healing spells were able to do, dehydration was still easier to deal with in the old fashion way, even if there were spells to help with the symptoms. Without a word Celestia saw Luna’s magic levitate a bowl of water where she could reach it easily without moving her head away from her warm pillow. She didn’t care if any of her subordinates there would think less of her for it, so she accepted the offered comfort and quenched her thirst in small and gradual sips of heavenly water.

“There was an ape-like being, called itself a human, that dragged me back from where I was. I believe you owe me an explanation for that, Luna.” Celestia slowly said, as she forced herself on her hooves again. Her barrel was soaked in matted crimson and there was a noticeably discolored part of her fur just to the side of the joint of her right foreleg. The patch of growing fur was a slightly off white shade of blonde, rather than the pristine white of her coat. Luna still residing in her human form was a slight surprise and brought back the details she had forgotten on the other side.

“The spell I used to heal Fenrir was more… violent in nature than I originally thought, sister. I harmed more souls I should have any right to for my foolish act of kindness and I am so sorry. The man you saw was…” Luna paused her speech to rub her throat with a hand, in a very human gesture of discomfort. “He was the most noble human I had the chance to meet… and now he is gone, just so that I would not be left alone.”

Luna then wrapped herself tighter in the short cape she had tied around her shoulders and gagged slightly as she tried to hold back ravage sobs of discomfort. Her sister was bearing all the weight of a horrible situation, just as she had always done. Celestia carefully sidled to her crying sister and gently wrapped a wing around her sobbing form. She craned her neck to touch her sister’s feverish skin and gently hummed a tune most of equine kind had already forgotten.

“Shh… I’ll always love you, sister. I will always help you, whatever you do. We will get through this, together, as it should be.” Luna’s foreign body sobbed pathetically for a few times, before she suddenly grappled her neck with those simian appendages and clutched on tight enough to make it hard for her to breathe. She waved the guards who tried to rush in away with a wing and leaned into her sister’s desperate embrace.

Fire purifies all...

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Fire purifies all...

“Okay, you have successfully given one life in exchange for another. I hope you feel accomplished. You would be better off telling her Soldier was an asshole, or she might question the choice of getting rid of the one human that had the power to overpower you, directly, at least.” Smuggler’s voice echoed in her head, distinguishable from her own internal monologue only by the fact his voice was male. It was a strange and invasive thing to have another mind along with your own.

“He was the most noble human I had the chance to meet… and now he is gone, just so that I would not be left alone.” Luna forced the lump in her throat away and told the truth, before Smuggler could convince her otherwise. She would not allow herself to be led astray by egotistical self-serving spectres.

“Even in our world, which is painted in more extreme colours when compared to yours, it was a rarity to see a man with such a strong determination to do the right thing. There is no question as to the severity of the torment he was forced to go through, or of the animosity he held for those who wronged him, but he still found the strength of character to do the right thing. I pray that he has found the peace he deserves, even when it was taken from him once before, by your reckless act of kindness.” Priest’s pleasant and accented voice talked to her with clarity and a solemn tone Luna immediately linked to funeral services. She had been the one to give eulogies occasionally, when one of her night guard died in the line of duty. She must have been crying, as it was exceedingly hard to breathe. Her human body felt strange and wrong and her chest hurt.

“A righteous man is gone, taken from us by the love and naivete of a sister who did the wrong thing, with the best of intentions. He was a solemn man who never let his sense of self-preservation overcome his ironclad morals and you took advantage of that to save a life you thought to be more valuable than his. It does not matter if he agreed with you; to embrace the idea itself is cold pragmatism, the kindest face of evil.” Luna could feel Priest’s presence retreating deeper into her mind. letting the world around her come back into focus. The sense of sadness and righteous anger she thought to have been radiating from the alien holy man only grew in intensity as the voice fell silent.

She looked inwards as her alien body shivered and felt both Priest and Smuggler fall further from her, driven back by the strength of her emotions. They would return, as they were bound to her as solidly as they had been to Fenrir. They would be a constant reminded of what she had done and who had paid the price for her weakness.

She became aware of her sister’s warm presence around her when the first sob jerked her body. She was beyond thoughts or words of any kind now, Priest’s words having pushed her over the edge of control. She used the human body’s appendages to clumsily grapple her sister’s neck and hold her close to get what comfort she could. She could feel the gentle vibrations coming off of Celestia as she hummed a calming tune as she cried. She couldn’t register whatever Celestia might have said, but her tone was soothing and gentle.

Finally, after what felt like hours of her strange body hurting and trying expel the mental pain in ways that were natural, yet felt painfully alien to her, her sobs finally subsided and she was left with a hollow feeling in her chest and a chill in her bones from being nearly naked in the Everfree forest at night, despite Celestia offering her warmth. Her human body hurt all over and she could feel a wave of mental lethargy starting to wash over her. Her eyelids were heavy and Celestia was a warm and comforting presence, humming a tune that calmed her even more…

“Yeah, as if you’re going to nod off now.” Luna barely registered Smuggler’s voice, but the shrill high-pitched screech jabbing pain into her ears made her jerk away from Celestia’s soothing embrace and slap her hands over her ears. The sound continued for a few seconds, before Luna could feel Smuggler’s presence weaken and the sound dissipated with him, leaving her clutching her ears, with a worried Celestia asking her if she was harmed. She felt jittery and her head hurt from the shock of the sudden sound, but strangely there was no pain in her ears themselves.

“Smuggler is not in the mood for discretion, as you can see. I will help keep you awake, as you still have duties to fulfill here.” Priest’s presence grew with his words and Luna could feel the weight on her eyelids lift and a sense of energy flow into her limbs. The human holy man having this much control over her body was a frightening concept, but it was not the time to worry about that just yet.

“Celestia, we have to see this through. I have to see this through. It is the right thing to do.” Luna explained to her worried sister as she stood up on shaky legs. Priest had made her alert again, but had done nothing to the forming headache Smuggler’s trick with her hearing had caused. The two humans had rather legitimate reasons to dislike her, but she didn’t like the juvenile ways they chose to show it. “Kamos, any news on the dogs? Where is the mut that shot my sister?”

“The dogs have not attacked us in any other way after Fenrir fell. I fear that it’s likely they have abandoned the den and taken whatever technology or magic Fenrir shared with them along. The dog who operated what I presume to be a shoulder mounted cannon is being treated in our operational camp. We are yet to interrogate him… I am yet to interrogate him.” Kamos walked up to them calmly, expertly concealing his worry for her mental well-being. Celestia was giving her a look, no doubt wondering about the episode she just had.

“Celestia, thank goodness you’re okay!” Twilight Sparkle exclaimed and caused Celestia to look away from Luna, as she approached the sun monarch with tears flowing freely from her eyes. Luna felt a little guilty to feel relieved of the distraction the unicorn provided, but stepped back to give the two some space. “We weren’t sure if Soldier would be enough to bring you back and I was so scared of even the chance of…”

“You agreed to use the human’s life to save my own?” Celestia asked. Luna knew it would be disheartening for Celestia to see how far her prized student was ready to go, even if it was to save her. Luna had explained the mechanics of the spell to the unicorn, but Twilight Sparkle was not fully aware of how dark and dangerous Soul Magick could be, as she had not been there to see what Luna had been able to accomplish with it so long ago. Celestia was right to have some reservations on her student even glancing in the direction of such dangerous magic.

“I… I was the one who made the decision. Luna told me what the spell would do and that the human called Soldier would most likely not survive, but… any other choice would have meant your death...” Twilight Sparkle’s words tapered into quiet mumbles as the weight of the decision she had been forced to make finally settled on the young unicorn’s shoulders. Soldier had volunteered and had been sure to not draw undue attention to his sacrifice, but now that the situation had calmed Twilight Sparkle realized how easy it was to snuff out a life for a good cause.

“Twilight Sparkle, please tell me what you are feeling.” Celestia calmly asked in an authoritative tone. Luna knew it to be her “teacher” voice and that Twilight associated it with pop quizzes and tests of her ability. The unicorn’s first instinct would be to tell the full and complete truth, given the circumstances.

“Horrified. I feel absolutely terrified at the ease of it; To think that all it took to end a life was a few words and unfortunate circumstances… There must have been a better way, but I was too weak to see it, too stupid to even think of it.” As the words left the unicorn, her legs carefully folded under her and her eyes lost focus. Her eyes started to water and a trail of tears flowed down her cheeks, but the unicorn did nothing but lay there, staring into nothing while bitter tears streamed down her face.

“Twilight, what is wrong?” Celestia’s horn glowed for a moment as she checked Twilight Sparkle for any physical wounds. She knew the unicorn to not be the kind to simply shut down in a stressful situation, not in such a literal sense, at least. After Celestia was unable to pinpoint any physical ailment that would explain Twilight’s condition she turned to Luna with worry in her eyes. Luna did a quick scan of her own with a deliberate wave of her hand and gave her sister a reassuring smile.

“Worry not, sister. Her mind is simply dislocated from her body momentarily. It is a side-effect of her amateurish attempt at attacking Fenrir’s soul with the power of her Element. She should avoid bursts of intense emotion for a week or so and her body and mind should re-attach without any problem.” She brought a finger to her chin and tapped it in thought. Luna pointed a finger at the Element of Magic on the catatonic unicorn’s head. “She should also be kept away from her Element for at least a month or so, as the magic would strain the weakened connection. She would be in no real danger, but using the Elements would only prolong the healing process.”

“You sure about that?” Smuggler cooed in a saccharine tone in response. She could feel the smirk he held as his presence grew in the back of her mind. He was playing some angle and trying to push her into some mind game, she could sense that much, but she could not help but question him.

“What are you talking about?” Luna whispered as she idly turned toward Fenrir’s still form. Seeing the old wolf beaten and lifeless hurt her, but knowing he’d finally found peace was a calming thought.

“Tell me, how does our bond to you work? I’m in your mind, so I’ll see it, just try to remember.” There was an infuriating elation in his voice and Luna was becoming concerned as to what could be the cause. The mechanics of their bond, was it? Well, that was easy, it was the most basic of Soul Magick… She should… there should be…

“What have you done? Why can’t I…” Luna brought a hand to her head, as there was a strange headache forming. It felt like there was a cold emptiness in her head and her skull was in danger of imploding. She could not remember the mechanics of the Soul Magick holding the two human souls affixed to her, despite it being the very basis of the whole branch of magic.

“The fucker actually pulled it off! I thought he would kill himself doing it, but not only did he actually save Sun butt, but he took it with him!” Smuggler started laughing uncontrollably and Luna could feel Priest pushing the other human’s consciousness deeper, as to not distract them. There was a pause where her headache subsided somewhat and she could sense a compassionate smile from Priest’s mind radiating into hers. She glanced around and saw the world move in slow-motion. Priest was seemingly even able to affect her perception of time. She reasoned that the man had done it for him to have time to explain the situation, but she was even more convinced that she needed to get him out of her head as soon as possible.

“Soldier did not trust you with the capability to cause similar harm to any other beings, so he clung to your knowledge of Soul Magick as you tore at his soul again. It was his last act of defiance towards you and it is your penance for the wrongs you have committed.” The world slid back into its normal speed as Priest retreated back to being a warm tickle at the back of her mind.

“... na, are you alright? Are you really fit to make decisions right now? I can see this matter to a close, if you wish.” Kamos bluntly asked with both worry and professional detachment in his eyes. Luna stared at the zebra for a brief moment, her mind struggling to catch up with the situation the three humans had landed her in. Soldier had taken the knowledge she had accumulated on Soul Magick with him and now she knew next to nothing about its inner workings. She stood there in her alien body, feeling lost and debating if she should blame herself, or the man who had given his own life for her sister’s.

“I have little choice, Kamos. I’ve just been dealt a dose of my own medicine and I have no right to complain if it is bitter.” She winced and brought a hand up to her forehead as her headache intensified as she tried to even think about Soul Magick. She twirled her fingers in front of her face and wondered why turning back into a pony hadn’t even crossed her mind yet. She was far too comfortable in the alien body the humans had forced her into, but could she really afford the disorientation of acclimating her senses and the two human consciousnesses to her original body? The humans had done a rather thorough job in instilling the subconscious muscle memories that helped her move with such ease, so having to concentrate on ignoring those in her original body could be an uncomfortable distraction.

“Plus, it would be embarrassing if you tried to do it and couldn’t. Soldier was not one for finesse, he might have done more damage to your magical capabilities than he intended. I suggest you try and avoid doing anything too complex while there’s the chance it could backfire horribly. There are fillies present, after all.” Priest commented, a image of a horrible mash of twisted bones and stretched and bleeding flesh flashed in her mind as Smuggler’s presence grew for a moment. She gritted her teeth as the image refused to leave the forefront of her mind, even after she had suppressed Smuggler’s presence.

As much as she wanted to simply ignore the humans, they had a point. Transforming her body was not Soul Magick, but it was a complex enough magic to be almost exclusive to her and other alicorns. Soldier’s dismantling of her mind, or the attempted brainwashing before that, could have forced her to forget an important part of the process, or the lack of knowledge on how Soul Magick affected other magic in her could cause severe complications.

“Gather up your men, we will build a pyre for Fenrir. His body needs to be purged of magic with fire for us to be bring this tragedy to a real close.” Luna turned towards Kamos, hoping she looked more authoritative than she felt. Her memories of her time as Nightmare Moon were all but gone and she was grateful for that small mercy, seeing Fenrir. Luna remembered Fenrir’s kind from before that time and to see what she had turned one of those great wolves into broke her heart further. She did not want to imagine the depths of magick she had sunk into to turn one of the proud beasts she remembered into the savage warmonger she was forced to put down.

“We should get the Element bearers home. With any luck the three fillies will think all of this a dream…” Kamos commented as his ponies were already gathering an impressive pile of more or less dry wood from the surrounding forest. It was subtle, but Luna could hear some fatigue creep into the zebra’s voice. “We should also see to clearing the dog’s den of whatever made them capable of doing what they did. There was something in the weapons they used that increased their destructive potential.”

“Dragon bone, most probably, it is unstable when not in contact with dragon blood, but it could be used to achieve the effect we saw. As soon as we get the fire going, I will go with your ponies and retrieve whatever is left. The dogs will not get off easy, as soon as the dragons hear what has been done to one of their own.” Luna glanced in the direction of her sister, glad to see that she had taken it upon herself to deal with Twilight and her friends. Luna really didn’t want to face them right now, not with the two humans in her head and in her alien body. She was more than happy to leave the decision of what to do to her sister.

“The dragon’s buried at the base of the mountain. The dogs only got a few ribs out of it. Also, I think Kamos was hinting for you to mindwipe the fillies tonight, just now. Seems a little 1984:ish to me, but they could end up pretty fucked up if you don’t. They could at least do without having Celestia getting gunned down right in front of them knocking around in their heads.” Smuggler pushed memories of seeing the dragon buried into the forefront of her mind, with jumbled references to a book titled 1984 to give his comment some context. He gave her a moment to process the information, before flooding her mind with pictures and disturbingly vivid memories of something called Boku no Pico, while cackling with glee. He only laughed harder as Priest and Luna both mentally slammed him out of the picture and reduced him into an easily ignored presence somewhere in the darkest corner of her mind.

“You okay, Princess?” Kamos carefully asked as Luna covered her eyes with one hand and let out a defeated sigh as the images refused to subside. She could feel her face heating up in stark contrast to the cool night air and hoped her dark complexion and the poor lighting of the forest hid her blush from anyone that was not right next to her.

“I’m fine, Kamos. The other two souls are just giving me trouble. They say the dogs only got away with a couple of ribs and the rest is buried at the base of the mountain, near the cave.” Luna motioned for Kamos’ ponies to get clear of the impressive pyre they had built and levitated Fenrir’s weight on top of it with a few measured movements of her hands. Now that the Soul Magick keeping the wolf both alive and young had been dismantled, the grey of his fur had given away to a dirty white and his impressive form was both covered in half-healed wounds and clear patches where something had burnt his fur and the skin beneath it. She turned to Kamos to ask for a torch to light the pyre, as any excess magic could set of the lingering magic in the old wolf’s body, but the suspicious look the zebra was giving her made her reconsider.

“The humans had no real agency to what Fenrir did, they only suggested things and handled his aggression the best they could.” Luna made sure to not break eye-contact with Kamos as she explained the situation, to let the zebra’s innate magic see the truth in her words. “You should not concern yourself with them, they are my cross to bear… I mean that they’re my responsibility.”

“I will keep a close eye on you, Princess. If I deem your will to be compromised, I will go to your sister.” Kamos declared, the steel returning to his voice as he knew there were two foreign souls listening to his words. Her slip up of using a human phrase to describe the situation had not gone unnoticed by the zebra. Luna knew the zebra would keep to his word and keep watch on her mental health through any means he had. The humans had a surprising amount of power over her, so such close scrutiny was welcomed, as she did not want to see what the humans wanted to make her do. From all that she’d seen of them and the nature of their animosity toward her, it could very well bring harm to other ponies, or the nation as a whole; all to get to her in some convoluted way.

“I thank you for your service, Kamos… Now, hand me a torch. Any foreign magic on Fenrir’s body could set off the remnants of magic still present. I owe at least this much to the old beast.” Kamos made an imperceptible move with his head and a pegasus appeared next to him with a lit torch in his teeth. Luna stomped over to the pony and grabbed the torch with her new fingers, savoring in the ease of manipulating objects without magic. She felt alien in this new body, but she could see how having hands would ease her daily life considerably.

Luna walked over to Fenrir’s pyre with the lit torch held above her head, pausing to drill the image of the broken beast into her memory. She had driven him into becoming this, to be a machine of war fueled by unending loyalty and mindless anger. The memories of her sins, along with the entity that had committed them, might have been taken away from her, but the consequences were all too real and for her to weather.

“I am sorry for what my foolishness made you into. May you find peace, wherever your spirit roams.” Luna spoke in a reverent tone as she extended her hand over the wood to drop the torch on the dry wood. Her hand refused to unclasp and Priest’s presence grew in her mind.

“You never strayed from the path you thought was true. Your actions were abhorrent, but your creed was selfless.” Priest said with Luna’s lips as the torch still lingered above the wooden pyre built under and around Fenrir’s body.

“You almost made it, Fido. Too bad you were way too insane to be smart about it.” Smuggler cut in, as Priest’s presence was fading and Luna’s involuntary death grip on the torch was loosening. She was finally able to let go of the torch and she took a few hurried steps back from it. She had the image of the pyre bursting into flames violently superimposed in her mind by Smuggler and she really didn’t like the feeling of the two humans overriding her control of her body like that. The wood did catch the flames, but it was a gradual and wholly dull affair, the high flames eventually obscuring Fenrir’s form, apart from the occasional discoloration the flames from the residual magic.

Fenrir received a warrior’s funeral, no matter the transgressions he committed toward the end of his life.

Yet Ashes Remain

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Yet Ashes Remain

“Was there really no other way to bring this to a close? I don’t like that they have that much control over you.” Kamos asked, giving a glance at the hand she had been unable to control for a moment.

“Their capabilities are based on their… On the magic that bound them to Fenrir. I think one can influence my mind to a degree, while the other can affect some bodily functions. As long as I keep my wits about me, I can suppress them, if need be.” Kamos gave her a stern look that she answered with her own, letting the zebra search her eyes for any deceit.

“I see… Will the third one cause problems for your sister? What would their magic allow them to do?” Luna stared at the flames roaring up to the sky just a few steps from them. The warmth of the flames felt different on her bare skin than they would have on her fur and she wasn’t sure she liked it. The humans had all worn clothes to cover their forms almost fully and her lack of clothes had been the biggest gap in the fictitious reality they had painted for her. The fact she had been fooled as long as she had was a testament to what the three humans could do when working in tandem, but she had less of an idea as to what they could do on their own.

“It is unlikely the third one survived at all, Kamos. His magic pitted him against the full will and fury of Fenrir for the whole duration of this tragedy and there was nary enough of him left to power the spell to heal my sister…” Luna paused as she remembered what the angry human had done. Soldier might not have had the magical energy to power the spell and survive, but he had wrenched a considerable amount of magical theory and experience directly from her head, along with any magical energy it was affixed to, through a process she no longer understood. This energy could very well have been destroyed with the human’s mangled soul, but there was a small possibility that the human’s will… somehow…

“Damn it…” Luna groaned as she clenched her teeth to stop herself from staggering from the nausea. As much as she wanted to finish the thought, the cold pain Soldier had left behind was intense enough for there to be white spots dancing in her eyes. She tried to tread on a familiar path to regain some of what she’d lost, but not only was there no path, the ground was littered in jagged rocks wherever she turned. There was no easy way to regain what she had lost and the hard way was something she would have to pursue in the future, if at all. She’d done it once, so she should be able to figure it out again once more.

“There is a slight possibility that the third one survived, in some form. I don’t know how it might manifest in my sister.” She had only seen what Soldier could do while inside Fenrir’s and his own mind, so she had no idea how that might change when possessing another body. The other two humans had been all too eager to show exactly what they could do to her, but she now lacked the knowledge and experience about Soul Magick to even make an educated guess as to Soldier’s capabilities.

“I will keep an eye on both of you, then.” Kamos stated, before limping away quietly. Celestia stepped up to the spot Kamos had just vacated and stared at Fenrir’s roaring pyre with an unreadable expression on her face. Celestia had used magic wash off most of the blood on her chest, but her regalia was still missing, destroyed by the cannon that had nearly killed her. Luna noted the patch of blonde hair where the possibly fatal wound had been, before looking away. The hair was the same shade than Soldier’s had been, probably meaning at least some part of the man’s soul had been lost to heal the wound.

“Are the other two humans giving you trouble?” Celestia asked, turning her head away from the flames of the pyre sharply, as if snapping out of a trance. Her horn glowed for a moment and Luna felt a makeshift dress appear around her waist. Soldier had filled her in about some of the human taboos, it seemed.

“Slightly annoying, but nothing I can’t handle. How about you, do you feel anything? A presence at the back of your mind? Kind of like a constant magical backlash in the wrong place.” Luna pinched the fabric of the magical dress between her fingers, trying to determine what it was made of. She knew it was almost pointless to try and make their conversation seem carefree, but she didn’t want to meet Celestia’s eyes just yet. She didn’t want Celestia to see the two humans looking back at her through her eyes and she really dreaded seeing whatever Celestia’s eyes might hold. Anger, or compassion; both would hurt in their own way.

“No, nothing like that. Soldier was still on the other side when I fell back. I saw death’s door as a purely white space and the way back to life Soldier forced me through as a dark chasm he threw me into, by the way.” Luna saw Celestia raise a hoof to her chest and touch the off-colored spot left behind by Luna’s spell. “He was mangled horribly and barely had the strength to stay upright, but still he was prepared to try and drag me back.”

“Sister, I…” Luna turned to Celestia, not sure if she was going to apologize or explain herself, but her words fell short when their eyes locked. There was compassion, yes, but mostly Celestia’s eyes shone of confusion and surprise, as if she was just coming to terms with something she’d learned.

“I feel so stupid for not seeing it earlier, for not realizing it before all this happened. I was too happy to have you back after so long that I probably didn’t even want to see it. You all but told me, but I decided to think you were an exception.” Celestia lowered her hoof from stroking the off-color tuft of hair and turned to face Luna fully. She was obviously not done and she would explain herself in a moment, so Luna decided to stay quiet, letting her confusion show on her face.

“You told me long ago that Soul Magick tears a part of the soul away to craft the infinite spell. You told me that the soul was not something that mends easily and that if too much it is lost it cannot be regained. I admit to not understanding all that you said, but I know that the magick you used to become Nightmare Moon must have been powerful. I never imagined you might have used Soul Magick on yourself, but now it seems obvious.” Celestia nodded her head toward Luna, prompting her to make the connection herself.

“And then the Elements of Harmony took that part of me away…” Luna stepped closer to Celestia, excited on figuring out the mystery Celestia was laying out. She didn’t have the knowledge on how to actually do Soul Magick anymore, but she did remember the discussions Celestia was referring to, even if she found herself also not understanding what she had said at the time.

“I assumed your overbearing kindness and juvenile demeanour after your return was just you trying to make amends and after effects of being imprisoned for so long. I never imagined you could have lost the capability to be anything but.” Celestia turned her head toward Fenrir’s roaring pyre and pursed her lips ever so slightly, before turning back to Luna again. Luna turned her eyes to the pyre before they eyes met again. She had lived with Celestia for centuries, she knew her tells and this particular thought was not hard to figure out. She decided to beat Celestia to the punch.

“If we had known I was affected, so much of this could have been avoided. Fenrir could actually sense it and told me, but it was already too late then and I didn’t believe him.” She crossed her arms and kicked the ground in frustration. She couldn’t really put any feeling in the act, but standing there doing nothing would have invited melancholy she didn’t want to indulge just yet. “Are we going to tell the Bearers about any of this? I might not know them to the extent you do, but I can imagine that they would most likely offer to help fix me.”

“They would make the offer, I am sure, but we both know that what has happened to you is not so easily fixed. I convinced them to return home with their guards for the night. They are brave little ponies, but this was their first time going against an evil so far past redemption as Fenrir. It will take them time to stop trying to understand him.” Celestia stayed quiet for a moment before her horn lit up with magic and Luna could feel her sister’s magic flow over and through her. It was an invasive and uncomfortable process, but she trusted Celestia enough to force the humans to stay quiet and still through it.

“You have two other souls sharing your body and mind with you and there are no discernible negative side-effects to it. Your body even took the shape of their kind, like they were the dominant personality, instead of you. The two human souls in you are filling a void that should not be there and it worries me that you are accommodating them, rather than fighting their influence.” Luna had to steal a careful glance at her sister when she felt her power stir and start to rival the heat of the flame they were talking in front of.

“I will not allow you to be controlled by these spectres, no matter how much you think you owe them. I will rather sear them from your soul myself, than lose you again because of my inability to act when need be.” Celestia turned her eyes to Luna and the Princess of the Night had to fight the urge to recoil in terror at the full force of her presence. The sun was both a giver of life and warmth, but also a terrifying power that burned all those who came close; the sun’s own avatar was different only in that she had the capacity to suppress and channel that power.

“I can see why Soldier saved her.” Priest whispered to Luna in an amused and shaky whisper.

“I am not going to take the chance of pissing her off, that’s for sure.” Smuggler reassured her with an even more nervous chuckle.

“They understand, sister.” Luna forced out in a voice that sounded only a fraction as nervous as she felt. Celestia kept staring past Luna’s eyes for a moment longer, making sure the rare sight of her displaying her arcane might was burned into Smuggler’s and Priest’s memory. Finally she took a deep breath and the air of power and heat around the avatar of the sun started to fade into the cool night.

“One more thing, Luna, before we return to our duties. Soldier confessed to taking something from you before he… before we parted ways. Can you tell me what it was?” Celestia ruffled her wings and stomped her hooves to help the tension of channeling so much power after so long leave her body as she waited for Luna’s answer. Luna was pretty sure they both knew the answer, but it still had to be said.

“He took away the knowledge I need to successfully cast Soul Magick.” Luna sighed and closed her eyes, a hand finding their way to her head and combing her hair back. She found it funny that she had been human less than an hour and she had already developed a nervous tick. “I suspect he might have taken other things related to similarly complex magic, which is one reason why I have not tried to transform myself back.”

“I suspected as much. I will have to head back to Canterlot, as more than a few unicorns at the University must have felt my magic falter, a few even know what it means. They’ll be frothing at the mouth, if I don’t show up to reassure them.” A tired little smile played on Celestia’s lips as she turned to take to the air. “I’m sure you can see this through without me.”

“That must be the most polite way to tell you to clean up your own mess I have ever heard. Celestia, forever the diplomat, no matter who we stick in her.” Before Luna could stop herself, a very non-princess-like snort escaped her at the horrible joke. It took her more willpower than she would like admit to have her face be a neutral mask as Celestia turned to her one last time.

Having her grinning like an idiot after the conversation they just had wouldn’t have been a very sane thing to do, after all. Luna forced the panicked cheer down as she waved a goodbye to her sister and watched her take off into the sky, a few of the solar guards struggling to keep up with her.

“Do that again and I will find a way to attach you to a slug!” Luna hissed at herself as she tried to fight down the laughter Smuggler was trying to coax out of her. The guards were all looking at her, laughing now would seem more than a little insane, not to say inconsiderate.

“I also suggest you play your games at a later date, Smuggler. Ponies have died here and I hope making fun of the dead is even beneath you.” Priest implored the other man in a grim tone. The threat of retaliation an obvious undertone in his words. They were both spirits, so it would be easier for Priest find a way to hurt Smuggler than Luna.

“Fine! God, you are ruining my life!” Smuggler yelled in a strangely high-pitched voice and Luna heard retreating footsteps in her head, before the sudden sound of a door slamming. There was a moment of silence and Smuggler’s presence didn’t waver in the slightest, staying at the forefront of her mind, waiting for a response. Luna stood in front of Fenrir’s pyre, waiting for Smuggler to say something, tapping her foot on the ground in annoyance.

“You see, the joke was…”

“I know what the joke was!” Luna exclaimed, causing a few of the guards to flick their ears in her direction. She grit her teeth and started stomping towards the dog den. Priest had the presence of mind to force Smuggler’s presence down with him as she joined with the group Kamos had gathered.

“I took the liberty of scouting the den. It is abandoned, as I thought. There are signs the dogs leaving in a hurry, but they still went through the trouble of collapsing the entryways to their treasure rooms. If we are to find any dogs still in the den, they will be there.” Kamos explained, as soon as Luna was close enough to hear. She unbuckled the borrowed cloak and handed it back to the zebra. After a glance at her makeshift dress on her waist, she used a bit of magic to extend the fabric into a short-sleeved top that left her back open for her wings.

“Let’s go.” Luna simply stated and lead the group of disciplined cut-throats and members of the guard to the blocked treasury. Pairs of pegasi split off from the group following her at points where the tunnels split without being prompted to, in complete silence. Some of them rejoined her group before she reached their goal, all whispering things to Kamos and falling back in line.

She didn’t have the patience to be cautious when they reached the blocked entryway, so she simply blasted the rocks blocking her way into the room beyond with enough force to crack the opposing wall. She expected to hear the sound of dogs whimpering in pain in the aftermath, but she only heard the clatter of rocks as she stepped over the leftover rubble and into the empty room.

“Seems we are too late.” She noted as she scanned the room. There had been the telltale signs of a great number of beings leaving their home in a hurry in the tunnels that led to this room. The errant piece of cloth, a dropped food item, discarded weapons, or helmets knocked off near a protruding rock formation, things like that. Despite all that, the dogs had not left a single gem or jewel behind, there was not a single thing of value discarded on the floor, despite the fact that their treasury should have been brimming from the dragon’s horde.

“I find it hard to believe we left them enough time to move all of their treasure. Look for a false wall, or a disturbed patch of rock. The dogs can mold the earth with their magic.” Kamos ordered, as he stepped through the doorway behind her. Luna ground her heels into the smooth stone under her and surged a bit of her magic into it, checking for exactly the kind of trick Kamos had mentioned.

“There is no secret stash here, Kamos. They moved each bit of treasure away from here by dropping it into the tunnel below.” Luna pointed a finger at the ground and a blast of magic made the ground crack and fall into the tunnel below. She jumped into the hole with a flap of her wings and kept herself afloat above the jagged rubble. She saw the rails on the ground and the wall of rubble closing the tunnel on both ends and made her deduction. “They are long gone. Keeping their gems safe was the one thing the dogs were experts at, even before Fenrir.”

“All other rooms and tunnels are either empty, or collapsed entirely.” Kamos declared, all the pegasi who had split off earlier standing behind him.

“Did you find the workshop, where they crafted the dragon bone?” Luna asked as she landed in front of them. One of the cloaked pegasi straightened his posture and Luna gestured him to speak.

“I found the room where they smelted their metal. There was an adjacent room that had cracked stone tabletops and vats of water with fragments of what looked like bone floating atop.” The enchanted monotone of one of Kamos’ operatives answered her. The dogs were clever to use water to dampen the dragon bones effect, but Luna still had to wonder how they were able to safely transport the rest out of the den.

“Lead me there.” Luna waved toward the door and the pegasus sped off without another word, Luna easily keeping pace with the added advantage of her long stride and how much easier it was to turn on two legs, rather than four. She just had to keep her higher centre of balance in mind and she could maneuver quite well in the cramped tunnels. Being in a human body was an alien experience, but it was nowhere near as inconvenient as she had originally thought.

The pegasus ducked into a doorway at the end of a tunnel a few levels below the surface and then nodded toward a uneven doorway at one corner of the room. Luna saw the cooling smelters in the room and the exhaust holes on the roof of the high room and spied pieces of tempered metal on the heaps of raw ore and half-finished pieces of armour and weapons. Either the place had been tossed in the search for something, or the dog in charge of it didn’t care much for organisation.

The vats of water did indeed contain parts of dragon bone, but there were only fragments and pieces left in the makeshift workshop. Luna made sure to magically scoop up the fragments of bone from either the water and around the workshop into a magically maintained orb of water. Any energy introduced to the bone at any angle would be amplified and expelled at the opposite side of the bone, so to have the fragments float in water was the safest course of action. Just to be doubly sure Luna cast an stasis spell on the orb of water and kept it floating near her on their walk out of the den.

The dogs were gone, Fenrir was dead and reduced to little more than ash by this time, the bearers of the elements were having nightmares about the ordeal at this hour and all she had to look forward to was the funerals of the guards that had died during this fiasco.

“Oh joy.” Luna mumbled, prompted to do so by the human memories still trying to influence her, as well as her overall mood. Yes, then there were the humans to worry about as well. They would undoubtedly try and make her life even more difficult, all for petty revenge Luna couldn’t blame them for pursuing.

“Before I go interrogate the dog who shot your sister; what should we do with Fenrir’s remains?” Kamos asked as they excited the abandoned den. Luna combed her hair with a hand, a nervous habit she was starting to take notice of, and pondered the question. Both the dismantling of the magic that had kept Fenrir young and powerful, along with the funeral pyre should have gotten rid of almost all of the magic in his remains. Despite all that, the Diamond Dogs that he had taken charge of had a near-fanatical respect toward the beast, so leaving the remains as is might have not been a good idea. Fanatical ideas were not something that should be entertained, Luna had learned, both personally and through history.

“Have every bit of charcoal and ash from the pyre gathered and brought to Canterlot for further decontamination.” Luna carefully stated. Take the remains away for now and think of a way to dispose of it completely at a later date. Luna had to cringe at the knee-jerk reaction her mind had to that thought, as asking Celestia to send the remains to the moon would be in poor taste.

“As you wish, Princess.” Kamos answered and motioned for the pegasi gathered around him to act on the orders given. The pegasi disappeared into the night without another word or action, knowing their parts in the task set onto them through the unusual training they had gone through.

“I am sure the rest of what needs to be done is well within your power, Kamos.” Luna wearily agreed as she levitated the orb of water holding the dragon bone to the spot of upturned earth to her right, where the carcass of the reptile had been buried and allowed the water to splash onto the gravel. With a quiet nod from the zebra, Luna spread her wings and launched into the sky, the human consciousnesses in her commenting on the sensation of flying.

Oh, right. She would have to cast an illusion spell on herself to mask her alien form when returning to Canterlot. She was not in the mood for the Canterlot guard to question her identity, not after all that had transpired. The outward appearance of her alicorn form and the slightly accented presence of her power should be enough to make it to her tower.

“Could you shut up for a minute?! I have to improvise an illusion spell to hide my human body, while flying in mentioned alien body!” Luna yelled against the wind blowing past her ears. She was unable to turn her ears back to cut back on the wind blowing into her ear canals, so the flight back to Canterlot was far more noisy than she remembered.

“If you got it, flaunt it.” Smuggler cut in, before Luna could force him back to the back of her head.

“We will stay quiet, as it is in all our best interests, is it not?” Priest diplomatically suggested, in response to Smuggler’s juvenile attempt at humor.

“Fine, I’ll just go back to digging through all this stuff Luna’s got repressed back here. I don’t think perversion is a strong enough word for some of this stuff!” Luna was worried for a fraction of second, before Smuggler let out a smug laugh and retreated. He was bluffing… he had to be… hopefully. At least he stayed quiet enough for Luna to successfully get back to her chambers.

“Fuck this day and the horse it rode in on!” Luna grumbled as she fell into her soft bed and willed the curtains closed. As soon as she let out the rather human expression, she knew Smuggler would make a comment, so she fought back the fatigue in her alien body and the mental exhaustion she was suffering, just so the annoying man would not have the pleasure of jolting her awake from a restful sleep.

“Well, the fact you’re expecting it takes half the fun out of it, you know. I refuse to give you the satisfaction, Luna!” Smuggler stated with a dramatic flourish, but his presence still stayed at the forefront of Luna’s mind. He stayed quiet for a long moment, long enough for Luna’s eyes to fall closed and sleep to try and take her.

“Still, the horse the day rode in on would be Celestia, so… how’s the law on incest in Equestria again?” Smuggler said with a smirk wide enough for Luna to physically feel.

She screamed into her pillow, for a whole minute, screaming obscenities in every language she knew as Smuggler cackled in glee. Priest was kind enough to make it near to impossible to not fall asleep after that point. She went to bed angry and frustrated and in an alien body, but at least Fenrir’s sad fate had been played out.

With that the tale of Fenrir’s misguided attempt at revenge was brought to its inevitable end and Kamos’ guard made quick work of masking the signs of battle and caving in the abandoned Diamond Dog den. By the time the sun rose over the canopy of the Everfree forest, there was nothing but the few solar guards guarding the burial site of the slain dragon and a clear patch of scorched earth around what used to be the dragon’s lair.

Epiloque - Interview With a Human

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Epiloque - Interview With a Human

“I understand the importance of this procedure, Kamos, but I doubt its urgency. I have yet to learn how to properly control the two spirits co-habitating my body.” Luna groaned out, as she struggled to find a comfortable way to sit in her strange simian body.

“Your withdrawal from public office and subsequent quarantine are things I understand and have given my full support on, but I will not allow you to hinder my investigation into what happened to Fenrir after your spell was manipulated by Discord. I have to know how the three recorded spirits affected the intended purpose of your spell and how that played into the deaths of 5 members of the guard and dozens injuries both within and without my squad.” Kamos droned in an official tone, as he leaned on the table between them slightly and perused the reports his squad commanders had issued, detailing all they knew of the Fenrir incident.

“First of all, you discouraged the pursuit and confinement of Fenrir after the completion of your spell. You also failed to bring Discord’s involvement into our knowledge, even after his subsequent imprisonment dispelled any blocks he might have placed on your memory.”

“Well, it’s not like she knew the spell hadn’t worked. Fenrir was keeping away from large population centres and hunting only non-sentient prey, so I’d wager she wanted to see if the spell had worked, despite Discord.” Luna shot out, her whole stature changing from uncomfortable and nervous into confident and relaxed in the span of seconds.

“From Luna’s preliminary report and my own observations, I assume I am talking to the spirit named “Smuggler” am I correct?” Kamos made a note of the fact that the obvious signs of possession had disappeared when Soldier was extracted. Luna’s eyes were not glowing, like they had before and only the change in accent and body language gave away the possession. That would require increased scrutiny in the future.

“The artist formerly known as Smuggler, maybe.” Kamos arched an eyebrow at the spirit’s elated attitude and Smuggler obviously read that as confusion. Luna’s body leaned her elbows on the table between them and started to animatedly gesture with her hands as Smuggler spoke. “They’re more like placeholders until we figure out what to actually call ourselves. You see, Priest is called that because his religion fucking shines off of him, Soldier’s got the name because he wore an uniform and had a gun and I was coined Smuggler because I’m a dodgy looking motherfucker. I think we were able to fight against both Fenrir and Luna’s spell because we were able to give each other this slim semblance of individuality. Actually, that might have been all that Discord did; give us that chance to interact with each other and subsequently fight what Luna’s spell was doing to us. By the way, Luna’s fighting to get back on top, so you have time for one more question before I take a breather.”

“Why go to Ponyville? There are many settlements between the gate and Ponyville, yet Fenrir was very careful to avoid detection, before surfacing at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“It was the only place, other than Canterlot, that we knew. We couldn’t go to Canterlot as Fenrir would most likely end up biting somepony’s head off in five minutes, but I was pretty sure that the Element bearers would be enough for us to wrestle control from Fenrir. Believe it or not, I was trying to achieve my goal without killing anything capable of speech.” Luna’s body knocked on the sturdy table between them with the knuckles of both of her hands in a peculiar rhythm and her posture immediately slouched and her eyes became more alive.

“Do you have anything to add to Smuggler’s testimony, Luna?” Kamos asked, with only a miniscule amount of worry lacing his voice. Luna leaned back in the chair far too small for her elongated frame and gave a tired smile at the passive zebra, before taking a few deep breaths and answering.

“Ponyville didn’t exist in Fenrir’s time, nor were the elements something he had encountered before being locked away. Fenrir’s compulsion to go to Ponyville and torment the Element Bearers came exclusively from the humans. Fenrir didn’t care about the bearers, but the humans needed them to push past Fenrir’s control. They directed Fenrir there so that they could get to the element bearers, I do not know of their intentions beyond that.” Luna wearily answered, clutching her head with both of her hands.

“Is this battle for control the reason for Fenrir’s erratic behavior?”

“Yes, some if not all of it. I think they tried to completely circumvent Fenrir at first, but ultimately they were reduced to only steering him into making rash decisions that played into minimizing the damage he could cause. Attacking a fully grown dragon, assaulting the guards I sent to protect the Elements while covered in its blood, letting Fenrir attack me and then letting me go. These are all instances where there was a far more practical approach to the problem, but the humans steered Fenrir toward a solution that put the least ponies in harms way and put Fenrir in the most danger.”

“I assume this is Smuggler’s side of the story.” Kamos interjected. Luna looked up to the zebra’s steady gaze and curved her lips in a humorless smile.

“I know he isn’t telling the whole truth and whatever he does tell us paints him as the good guy. He seems to be incapable of being honest, from all I’ve seen of him, but his story does correspond with the facts we know. I think that’s all we can expect of someone with the alias of The Liar.”

“So it is your belief that Smuggler was the one that orchestrated the attack on the elements and organised the local Diamond Dogs into a rogue militia?” Kamos asked after a moment of silence. He was not disappointed, as Luna’s body language changed almost instantly and her smile widened into something that was almost genuine.

“Just so you know, I know you’re playing me, but I can’t ignore a bait like that.” Luna fidgeted in her chair and after a moment settled on leaning her elbows on the table again. “It is true that the idea and strategy behind Fenrir’s last stand came from me, but that is all that I contributed into the effort. The dogs’ near fanatical trust and adoration toward Fenrir was something that came from Soldier’s failure of keeping Fenrir out of the equation.”

“Please elaborate.” Kamos almost immediately responded, not in the mood to let the human set the pace of the conversation. He knew enough about this particular spirit to know that he would try to answer a baiting question with another leading statement or similar trick, just to aggravate him.

“Well, we were not actually that aware of what was happening outside. I knew a lot through deduction and shit, but it’s not like we had a window looking out or anything. I supplied Fenrir with knowledge and witty banter when needed and was very rarely actually in control of his body. Soldier was the only one who actually had intimate dealings with the beast and all they did was try and to kill each other most of the time. It’s not something that’s easy to put in meatbag terms, but it’s fair to say that anything clever or smart Fenrir did or said was most likely my doing, the rest was Soldier steering him in the right direction to the best of his ability.” Smuggler accompanied his statement with a lot of deliberate movements of Luna’s hands, but it did not help to get his message across to any discernable degree, as Kamos had never had such appendages and has had little dealings with either minotaurs, diamond dogs, or juvenile dragons.

“What do you mean by that? Didn’t you have control over Fenrir’s actions?”

“Oh fuck… Tell me you are kidding.” Luna’s smile widened into a genuine grin and her body leaned closer to the zebra. “Are you saying you don’t know the original purpose of the spell? You think it was just to heal Fenrir? This is priceless.”

“Enlighten us.” Kamos offered in a careful deadpan, still not willing to fall for the spirit’s provocative tricks. It was strange how hard it was not to let the spirit get under his skin with such juvenile tricks, but the zebra had decided not to play his game. It was the thought that the spirit might have had an agenda behind provoking him that gave Kamos the stubbornness needed to ignore him.

“I could just throw Luna under the proverbial bus and let her explain it, but I think I’ll save both of us some time and just tell you what I know.” Smuggler propped Luna’s elbows on the table and then rested her head on the palms of her hands. “The spell was not only meant to heal Fenrir, as that’s what Priest did, so there shouldn’t be any need for either Soldier or I, right? I believe Luna wanted to not only heal Fenrir, but she also wanted to change him. The original purpose of the spell was to also convert Fenrir’s mind and soul into an amalgamation of Priest, Soldier and I. Discord pulled us out of that particular meat grinder and subsequently saved the lives of my compatriots and I, but also sent Fenrir down a path that led him to become the insane violent thing you fought.”

“My experts guessed as much, but it’s good to have confirmation on Discord’s involvement. From what I’ve seen and what you’ve told me I will assume that you were meant to be the part of the spell that mended Fenrir’s mind and Priest healed his body according to your statement. What was the intended purpose of the spirit called Soldier, if those two things are true?”

“I could answer that, but that just might sully the image you have of your dear princess of the night. As much as I might dislike her, I still have to share a brain with the mare, so it is up to her to decide how much you know.” Luna’s body tensed up again and Kamos saw Luna’s tired fear take over Smuggler’s manipulative elation.

“He phrased that to imply I know more than I actually do, I hope that much is obvious.” Luna croaked out tiredly, bringing a hand in front of her mouth to cough. Kamos nodded to one of the night guards in the room and Luna had a class of water in front of her a moment later. Rather than use her magic to pick up the glass, Luna gripped it with her spindly fingers and took a sip. She paused with the half-empty glass in her hand, probably realizing that she had defaulted to using her new appendages, rather than the magic she had lived centuries with.

“I believe Priest’s magic is circumventing the problems I should be having acclimating to this strange body. I still feel like a pony, but I hardly have to think about walking on two legs, or using these hands to manipulate both magic and objects.” To prove this point Luna waved the fingers of her free hand and the remaining water in the glass flowed out to form a perfect sphere above the table between them. Her horn was not glowing, but there was a faint glimmer around the digits of the hand she had waved towards the water.

“What was Soldier’s part in the spell, Luna?”

“Soldier did as all soldiers are ought to do, he fought Fenrir’s control over them.” Luna set the empty glass down and spread out both of her hands towards the sphere of water. The water split into three equally large parts. “Your mages have most likely deduced that the spell was split into three parts, hence the three human personas. I can only make a less than educated guess, as Soldier’s last act robbed any intricate detail needed to cast these magicks, but I can grasp the overall mechanics of the completed spells well enough.”

“First, there is the mind, Smuggler’s domain.” Luna said, twisting a hand toward the leftmost sphere. The water immediately broke out of its rigid state and started to move about erratically, forming into nearly coherent shapes, before breaking apart and flowing seamlessly into another senseless shape. “Reactive, quick to adapt and hard to grasp fully, as any brilliant mind should be, but without the other two to balance it, it is unstable and erratic.”

“Then, the Body, Priest’s responsibility.” Luna clenched a fist and the middle orb of water expanded into a sphere of ice and dropped onto the table with a heavy thud. “Unassailable, a steadfast constant to bind the other aspects together and reign their volatile natures in. The unchanging nature bolsters the body’s healing to a ludicrous degree, but without guidance from the other aspects, it is likely to do more harm than good.”

“Then there’s Soldier’s duty, the Soul” Luna unclenched her fist and with a blast of heat the third orb exploded into a wildly contorting mass of steam. The swirls of steam were in constant violent motion and barely contained by Luna’s trained telekinesia. “Volatile, overwhelming and in constant state of flux. The need to attack, to do and make a difference is what defines this aspect and as a result it is almost impossible to contain, or deny it.”

“So, you do not know what effect Soldier could have on Princess Celestia?”

“I have lost such insights on this type of magick, as I stated before. Given the apparent roles both Smuggler and Priest fulfill I would assume Soldier’s magick would give him some control over one’s actions. If he is indeed alive in any way, then any contact he would have with my sister would be quite noticeable.”

“It did seem like Soldier was the one holding you back when you extracted them out of Fenrir. How can Smuggler take control of your body, if subduing your will was Soldier’s aspect of the spell?”

“I create a false memory where this conversation is going on normally and Priest’s presence gives me rudimentary control over Luna’s muscles.” Smuggler proudly explained as Luna leaned forward again and the orbs of water dropped on the table, drenching the papers he’d brought for reference. They were there more or less for show, but it still aggravated him to have any official documents stained in such a way.

“Do you have anything to add to Luna’s testimony?”

“I’ll state the obvious and say that she only deduced the original aspects of the spell, Discord’s involvement didn’t factor into her deductions and I feel kind of disappointed that she didn’t mention that. I’d say we are somewhere between sentient spell formulas and actual spirits, at the moment. I’m not sure what Soldier is, after all he’s gone through.” Kamos noted that Luna’s body was not emoting with her words to any degree and Smuggler’s statement was delivered in a plain monotone. The spirit must have been running on metaphysical fumes after fighting the moon diarch for control as long as he had.

“You believe Soldier survived the spell used to heal Princess Celestia?” Luna’s lips jerked up in a mockery of a smile and Kamos could see the spirit’s mirth shining from Luna’s eyes.

“Giving up is not in his nature, besides, Celestia might not survive the wedding without him.” The Spirit’s amusement disappeared from Luna’s eyes and was replaced by the night diarch’s tired annoyance.

“Do you have any idea what he was talking about?” Kamos asked Luna, filing away the spirit’s mention of a wedding where Celestia would actually attend. That narrowed down the list of potential newlyweds considerably, but he would have to investigate all possible avenues, despite the possibility of the hint being a red herring.

“He has hinted toward knowing about past and future events before, but he particularly enjoys dropping hints about this hypothetical wedding and how I will not be invited.” Luna tiredly leaned back and covered her face with her hands.

“Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of Equestrian politics would at least invite you, if Princess Celestia is attending, as he claims. The spirit is simply using juvenile psychological tactics to unnerve you.” Kamos answered the annoyed aristocrat.

“I guess that’s all we can hope for. He refuses to give me specifics about this wedding, but I know far too much of duck penises of his world…” Kamos observed Luna shuddering visibly in her strange simian body and he had to fight back the urge to glance at how it made other parts of her anatomy jiggle.

“And now he’s having one of his laughing fits!” Luna exclaimed almost immediately, pushing herself up from the table, her horn lighting up with arcane energy. “I will be up in my tower, trying to sleep.” Luna stated, before disappearing in a bright flash of magic.

“Keep the guard on Luna and document all abnormal activity. She is to submit a journal of all that she has done that day at the end of every day, until further notice. Our compatriots in the day guard should keep a closer eye on Celestia, as well. Tell them any strange behavior is worth a report.” Kamos ordered the off-duty night guard in the room. The mare saluted sharply and rushed out of the room without saying a word. Kamos paused to frown at the soaked mess of papers in front of him. “That human is such a -”

“Sir, The university faculty has petitioned access to study Fenrir’s remains.” A pony wearing the unicorn cloak of his unit said as they strode in and levitated the papers off the table, starting to magically restore them without being prompted to do so.

“Any research into Fenrir would fall under research of the dark arts. What possible excuse could they have to circumvent that?”

“Apparently, they wish to see if ingesting a dragon’s heart permanently changed the great wolf’s arcane energy signature. Clearly an excuse to gain access to remnants of Nightmare Moon’s magic, but a legitimate avenue of study regardless.” The unicorn explained as the papers levitated next to them.

“They’re not getting access, tell them we have already disintegrated the remains.” Kamos calmly trotted out of the room, the unicorn following behind. There was a moment of silence where the unicorn followed Kamos down the hall of the Canterlot dungeons, before Kamos continued. “You can look into that dragonheart thing, if you want.”

“Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!” The unicorn immediately answered in a chipper tone.

“I am not a knight.”

“You are a knight to me, sir.” The unicorn answered as they invaded Kamos’ personal space.

“Don’t.” Kamos Nudged the unicorn away and continued walking. Kamos rounded a corner and the unicorn hurried to catch up to the anti-social zebra.

“So, where are - Gah!” The unicorn telekinetically pulled out a small blowdart with a tuft of charcoal hair at the end of it from under the hood of the their cloak. The pile of documents floated to the ground as the unicorn stumbled. “Thank you, sir. I’ve been a bad pony, sir. May I have another, sir?”

“Be sure to file those documents when you wake up, Shimmer.” Kamos ordered, as he holstered his new blowgun in his cloak. He turned back the way they had come and left the unicorn to sleep off the sedative.

“Annoying, each and everyone of them…” Kamos muttered as he heard the unicorn start to snore softly.

Predatory

by Crazy Laughter

Stay Calm and Cry Wolf

Feral

The Hunter

Masks and Small Lies

Light Without Shadow

The Big Bad Wolf

Discord's Cruel Joke

Veil of Night

Dramatic Convenience

Endgame

In The Light of The Moon

Identity

Solar Eclipse

Bleeding Sun

Fire purifies all...

Yet Ashes Remain

Epiloque - Interview With a Human