Heavy panting, paws pounding on the dirt road, a hunt takes place deep in the Everfree forest.
A large shadow is being pushed against a cliff side as three glowing light blue eyes draw closer. That shadow comes into a clear view, its a Manticore, and is being cornered. Wind blows his thick tangled mane around wildly as low growls start up. The Manticore gets ready for what will be his final battle! The three sets of eyes draw closer until they take shape, three brown wolves with similar wild style red tribal marks on their lush fur. They stand at half of the Manticore's hight, but that has not stopped them from cornering the beast! The two wolves on the side lunge at the Manticore's from paws while the middles one holds down its tail.
"It's your kill, what are you waiting for?" One of them says.
A pair of deep green eyes emerges from the shadows. As he comes into view the Manticore sees this one has a pure black coat with completely different marks then the brown wolves. His was white and more tamed as well as narrow. He stood about an inch higher then the other three wolves, as well as have ear piercings.
"Do not think to question when I make my kill, cub!" The black wolf speaks up.
"Whatever! Just take your kill so we can feed the others!" The wolf holding the tail orders.
With that the brown wolf leaps off the ground and towards the Manticores neck.
A thick crimson river runs down both the Manticore's body, as well as the black wolf's.
"Not bad for our first manticore! Only one pack member lost." One of the brown wolves chuckles.
"Oh wait, this isn't your first, is it Denza?" Another brown wolf asks him.
Denza releases his grip on the Manticore after making sure it was dead. "No, it isn't." Denza then wipes the blood off his snout with his front paws. "Seventh one! But they've never been this easy before. I don't like that!"
"Whatever! Lets head back to the village and rejoin the rest of the pack." A brown wolf says.
Two of the brown wolves are dragging the Manticore while Denza and the last brown wolf escort them. The wind howls and whistles as they make their way through the dense, dark, forest. Basking in there victory, they're all moving as though they can take on anything!
"Heh, think he can handle a Hydra? I heard they're pushovers!" The brown wolf next to Denza jokes.
"Let us just get to the village, alive!" Denza states.
Still dragging the Manticore with them all four hear a loud stomp, then stop. The two dragging their meal let go of it.
"What was that?" A wolf asks.
"It came from where the village is!" Another responded.
"Forget the meal, to the village, hurry!" Denza orders.
All four of them rush to where the village was currently set up. As they ran they began to hear a roar and hear screams.
"This is not good Denza, the village is being-" a word starts up.
"Attacked, yes, I know this!" Denza cuts the wolf off.
They round the corner to see Griffins killing their brethren. Dead wolf bodies in large crimson puddles littered the area. The village reeked of death. All four wolves rushed to where the griffins are, joining the other warriors struggling to protect their territory. Denza rushes to a Griffin whose about to kill a mother and her pup. Before the Griffin can blink, she's on the ground struggling to keep Denza off, but to no avail, the mother she was about to kill jumps in to aid Denza!
Once the Griffin stopped moving and the mother and pup gone, Denza turns around to take more Griffins down, only to see that he is the only warrior left.
"Just surrender, and we wont kill you." A Griffin says calmly.
After realising he cannot win, Denza lowers his stance, and head, in defeat. Once the Griffin raid leader got close enough, he lunged at his neck and caught him by surprise. After biting his neck, Denza launched off from it and bolted away from the village. After a few minutes of running, Denza stopped to catch his breath. He listens to know if they were following him. They were not.
After Denza could collect his thoughts he wondered where'd he go. Wolves where the most feared of the three races. Denza lowered his head, the pack destroyed, Pride Land lost, he had no where to go and no one to turn to. With that in mind, his thoughts fell upon the equines, the ponies!
The sun bouncing off of Denza's coat as he surveys Ponyville wondering to press on. A light wind began to pick up rustling his fur, Denza closes his eyes. Why would the ponies not attack him? He's a wolf, a carnivore! He does not deny he has killed ponies just to stay alive. Denza opens his eyes to survey once more, and notices a cottage away from the village, but as lovely as that seems, he also sees little animals around. How long could he last with those animals before he eats them?
"Maybe the Griffins have gone, and there are a few left! We could always make a new pack..." Denza thought to himself.
Realising that any other pack member still alive is nothing more then a hope Denza falls to his side in sorrow sending dirt from the road flying everywhere around him.
"So what now? What will become of this cruel game the gods are playing with me?" He mutters to himself.
While laying Denza hears trots coming from deeper in the Everfree forest. Not wanting to be spotted Denza quickly got back on his paws and hurried up a tree without leaving any claw marks. Once he was in a favourable position to either hide or ambush Denza waited and listened. The trots have stopped, but no pony has come near the entrance.
"Was I imagining things?" Denza questioned himself. "No, I'm sure it was a pony!"
Denza began to wonder if he should wait until night to find a suitable area to camp, but was cut off when a pink blur came out of no where.
"Hi I'm Pinkiepie and-" Pinkie gasps so loudly it made Denza's ears twitch. "You're one of those wolves! Twilight told me you're all mean, is that true? Oh wait that doesn't matter I'm gonna thr-"
Denza cut Pinkie off by putting his tail over her mouth.
"You can not let any of the other ponies know I'm here, please!" Denza pleaded Pinkie with worry in his eyes. "I am not here to harm you, that much is certain!"
"Well can I at least let my friends know?" Pinkie asked removing Denza's tail.
Denza did not reply, instead he hopped off the tree and waltzed into the forest.
"Is that a yes?" Pinkie hollered hopping her new 'friend' heard her.
Denza made his way through the dark forests path that led to where his village hopefully still stands. Rounding the corner of the cliff's wall his village grounds came into view. Walking into the village Denza cringed at the thick smell of death and decay.
Corpses of wolves lie everywhere, from the warriors who fought, to baby pups, the Griffins killed without remorse! It has only been an hour and flys now inhabit the village, feasting upon Denza's brothers and sisters.
Denza has seen battle fields, but this was a slaughter fest. He only counted four Griffin bodies, one of which he took down. Denza went up to a Griffin body to examine it.
"They're becoming smarter! They wore armour on their necks this raid." He said kicking the body.
Deciding to not linger here Denza took a tent down and put it in a sack. Deciding not to stay this deep in the forest he should carry the sack to the edges on the forest, but far enough in to remain hidden and set the tent up there.
Traversing back down to where he first saw the pink pony who called herself Pinkiepie, Denza cleared an area in a nearby thicket. Halfway through clearing he spots a thorn bush.
"That can come in handy." Denza whispers.
Carefully tearing the thorn bush out, he drags it behind where he plans to build his shelter. After receiving a few small cuts from placement, Denza was satisfied to where it was. Now that a decent way to protect himself was up Denza dropped his sack and opened it. Taking out its contents were basic tent materials, large cloth, sturdy wooden poles to hold the tent up, and a smaller cloth to put on the ground.
While setting up the tent Denza hears more trotting, this time its coming from the direction town is located at. Denza completely froze hoping they wouldn't be able to see him through the thicket.
"Well Pinkie, where's this wolf you saw?" Asked a pony while punctuating wolf.
"Yeah Pinkie, where is he? Huh, did he run off?" Another with a rough voice spoke up.
"He was here about five minutes ago, he couldn't have gone far!" A softer voice stated.
Denza didn't want to risk being discovered, at least, not yet. He stood as still as he could until the ponies moved on. Denza waited for three minutes in low silent breaths until he couldn't hear them anymore.
Denza poked his head out of the thicket to make sure the coast really was clear. Upon doing so he saw a cake resting on top of a plate with a letter on it. Looking left then right he grabbed the plate with his tail and went back into the thicket. Denza set the plate down and continued to build his shelter.
With the sun nearly set, Denza took a step back to look at his work. A tan dome tent with red wolf paws painted on the left and right of the tent and an upside down crescent moon above the doorway.
"Not half bad, hope it can't be seen from out of the thicket..." Denza complimented himself while exiting his little thicket.
"Nope, perfect!" Denza stated.
Denza went back into the thicket at grabbed his sack and plate once more before heading into his tent. After throwing his sack into a corner he set the plate down next to it and picked up the letter in its place. Denza went to the other side of the tent and proceeded to lay down after dropping the note. Using his front paws, he moved the letter in front of him so he may read it.
" Dear Mr. Wolfy
I made this cake for you in hopes that we can become best friends. I know you don't need cake but Twilight said that on occasion you eat more then meat!
I don't know if I'll ever see you again but if i do I'd love to hear your name, I mean Mr. Wolfy is kind of silly!
Your friend
-Pinkie"
Denza looks at the cake before realising how late it really is. Quickly poking his head out side to check the moon he's happy as to what he sees. He completely removes himself from the tent and begins to howl.
Soft pitter patter of rain, thats what Denza woke to. With a heavy yawn he stretched his sore body. Denza decided to see where the rain was heading, he popped his head out of his tent only to be greeted by a flurry of falling water. Shielding an eye so he could see, Denza looked up. The dark rolling clouds were thick and seemingly endless, he wondered how he couldn't smell the on coming storm.
"Is it true that the ponies with wings control the clouds then?" Denza asked himself.
Denza slowly drew his head back into the tent, closing the folds tight so rain can't get in. Bored, and still unsure of what to do Denza sat in the middle of his tent, content on just listening to the peaceful fall of rain. Not even five minutes later, Denza's stomach growls. Knowing it would be hard to catch any animal in this weather, even for him, would be too much for what it's worth, his eyes fell upon the cake. He got up at went after the only source of food he had. Towering over the cake, Denza lowered his head and sniffed the cake.
"It smells fine..." He tried to assure himself.
Being cautious, Denza took a small lick of the cake's side and waited for a minute. As he thought, nothing was wrong with it, but he knew it would be better to play smart!
Having nothing to cut the cake with, Denza just dove right into his only source of food. Now with a full stomach and a tiny foothold of trust for the ponies Denza decided to head to their town. What did he have to lose after all?
Shoving the plate in his bag then picking it up, Denza turned around and loosened the tent flaps. Denza stepped outside and was surprised to see that the rain was starting to let up for now. Denza looked to the left and saw his reflection in an enormous puddle. Putting his bag down, Denza lowered his head to see his reflection closer. He had cake all over his muzzle. After a moment of just staring into his own eyes, Denza dipped his paw into the puddle and began wiping the cake off. It took him a few minutes to find all the cake in the rippling puddle, but at last all the cake was gone! Giving a light sigh, Denza picked his bag up once more and leaped over the thicket, and landed on the muddy road.
With mixed emotions Denza stood at the entrance of the forest he called home. He decided to leave his tent incase things did not go kindly. Swallowing his pride, Denza began walking down the path toward Ponyville.
A heavy wind was blowing from every direction while making howls that could be heard through the entire plain. As Danza made his way down the path, that cottage with all the animals caught his eye once more.
He made a dead stop and stared at it.
There was just something about it that reminded him about himself. Isolated, lonely, .....scared. Denza was to proud to admit he felt that way, but he couldn't deny that he felt that way either. Shrugging it off, Denza forced his attention back to the town.
Finally at the towns edge he could see a few ponies, they either didn't notice him, or didn't see him as a killer. Denza was hoping for the latter!
Stepping onto the towns pathway was a huge step for a wolf. They thought of themselves as creatures who did not need help from others out of their pack, but Denza no longer had a pack to be able to think that way. Upon entering the town, Denza instantly picked up the faint smell of various baked goods. Thinking that might be where Pinkie is, Denza began walking in that direction. Traveling through the town, Denza definitely was getting stares now. These ranged from fear and hate, to curiosity and welcoming. Denza didn't like any of them! With the smell of his destination close, he looked around for the building she would be in. The smell lingered in a wide area, but the giant building shaped like a sugary treat was more then enough for Denza to figure out where to go.
Passing the window Pinkie saw Denza, he however didn't notice Pinkie. Denza stopped at the door and looked up at the sign that read 'Sugar Cube Corner'.
Taking a moment, Denza pushed the door open only to find the place empty!
"I'll just leave the plate here and come back again Tomorrow." He thought to himself.
Walking up to the counter Denza set his bag down, which triggered Pinkies welcome wagon! The wagon popped open in a flurry of rainbow confetti as Pinkie flew out, singing her signature welcome song. Ending with a loud explosion of more confetti Pinkie slid towards the counter on her back legs and fore legs up as if she's holding something.
"So, didja like it?" Pinkie said panting in exhaustion.
"Thank you for the cake, I only came to return your plate." Denza spoke, seemingly unfazed by what just happened.
Calmly, Denza opened his bag and dragged out the plate that it was holding. Before anything else could be said, Denza swiped his bag and left Sugar Cube Corner, hopefully without being noticed.
"Hey wait! Dontcha wanna meet my friends?" Pinkie asks from the doorway.
"Not even three houses away,.....either I'm loosing my touch or this pony is not normal.." Denza thought to himself.
Being the kind to show respect to all, no matter age or title, Denza turns around to face Pinkie.
"As fun as that sounds, I need to find a source of food. I thank you for your hospitality and kind offer though." Denza replied to Pinkie.
Pinkie giggles. "Well if it's food you need why don't I introduce you to Applejack? She runs the farm! C'mon, it's no fun to be by yourself." Pinkie encourages him.
"Well I'm not one to be picky about food right now, not in my position anyway.." Denza mumbled to himself. "I accept your offer, thank you" he spoke after a brief pause of thought.
"HHUURRAAYY" Pinkie screamed. "C'mon, it's this way!" Pinkie ordered before bouncing off.
Denza was truthfully surprised! This pony knows what he is, yet she's acting like he won't hurt anything. He just stood there, in a pure, emotionless shock, wondering how she could be so carefree.
"Hey slowpoke, ya 'comin?" Pinkie asked before she disappeared around the corner once more.
Denza shook his head rapidly then turned around, beginning to catch up to Pinkie in a casual walk.
Right behind Pinkie, Denza noticed she kept looking back. Probably to make sure he kept up with her, which wasn't all that hard since his legs were longer.
"So I take it you read my note? So can I know your name then?" Pinkie asked, sounding as though she was about to burst with excitement.
"Denza" He replied.
"Denza? Thats a funny name." Pinkie giggled. "Oh, can I ask you some questions Denza?"
"That depends..." Denza responded.
"How many of there are you?" Pinkie began.
"....There are many packs, all under the same tribe. There can be many wolves in a pack, no two packs are alike!" Denza answered
"Why are you alone? Did something happen to your pack?" Pinkie continued.
Right there, Denza stopped. Pinkie noticed that and stopped as well, she turned around to face Denza, who had a sullen look.
"Denza, you ok?"
Denza needed to find a way to change the subject they were on. Not being able to think of anything Denza just continued to walk and continued past Pinkie.
".......I....I'm fine. May we continue?" He responded to Pinkie's question as he walked past Pinkie.
Pinkie, feeling that the current subject is quite touchy for him, dropped it and went to a different subject.
"What are all those markings for?" Pinkie finished. "None of Twilight's books mentioned what they meant."
Denza stopped once more, not out of sorrow, but to explain by showing her as well.
"Much like your marks they define us as individuals. The marks over my body represent speed and agility." Denza lowered his head. "But our true marks are here!" Upon his head was a painted eye with their symbol of wind surrounding it. "Im known as a stalker, It's the symbol for those who are better at scouting and ambushing. The mark itself represent cunning and stealth."
Denza raised his head to see Pinkie wide eyed with excitement at what she just heard. She knew something that her smartest friend didn't, and she couldn't wait to tell her.
The farm which Pinkie's friend lived at was beginning to come into view as a light fog began to form. Rows upon rows of large apple trees could be seen from out of the farm. The first thing that came to Denza's mind is that they must have quite a few people to work here. As they approached the arched gate to the farm, a large sign read 'Sweet Apple Acres'.
"Well then, two new places in one day, this is definitely new..." Denza thought.
"Applejack is probably inside, their house is this way!" Pinkie stated enthusiastically as she bounced happily towards a large barn shaped house.
Pinkie pecked the door as if she were a bird making it's nest in a tree. A tannish mare with freckles, a blond mane, and a western hat.
"Well howdy Pinkie, what can I do 'ya for?" She spoke with a western drawl.
"I have a new friend who needs some apples. He doesn't have a lot of food for himself." Pinkie replied to her friend.
"Well that shouldn't be a problem, why not ta-" Applejack quickly grabbed Pinkie and pulled her in before slamming the door with a look of fear on her face.
Denza, knowing full well what that was about, thought about leaving, but also wanted to trust Pinkie to resolve this issue. Deciding this might take a few minutes he made his way around the farm, but made sure he could still be seen from the house. While wondering around Denza notices a lions paw. He went closer to sniff it, but went up slowly and cautiously.
Once Denza got close enough to tell what the print was from, a griffin lunged at him from behind a tree sending his bag flying back as he was sent downward. Denza caught totally unaware, found himself pinned under the creature he loathes most.
"Found ya, you mangy mutt!" The griffin barked.
Denza let out a low growl, but knew he couldn't defeat his captor the way he was. Hearing the ruckus, Applejack, Pinkie, and a larger pony came rushing out to find Denza trapped under a griffin.
"Gilda, you let him go!" Applejack ordered
"Ya you big meanie!" Pinkie supported.
"Or what? You lame ponies will make me?" Gilda laughed in a mocking tone.
"Big Mac!" Applejack turned and looked at the larger pony.
Big Mac nodded, then with a snort, began to charge Gilda. Thinking she can take him while keeping Denza pinned, Gilda didn't move! With a small crack, Big Mac's head collided with Gilda's chest and sent her flying into a tree. Denza, no longer restricted, scrambled back to his feet. Big Mac slowly approaching Gilda and Denza quickly joined him, began to corner her.
"Ph, whatever, lame'os! I don't have time for this." Gilda stated.
Gilda's wings burst opened then took off leaving a light gust after effect.
"Well good riddins!" Applejack muttered.
Applejack, with her head hung low and hat off, approached Denza so that there only a few inches apart.
"I'm sor-" Denza cut Applajack off
"No need to apologize! I don't blame you for your reaction, and nor do I hate you either." Denza told Applejack as he turned and began to walk away from the farm.
"....I, uh, heard you needed, some food. You're welcome to help yourself to a bucket whenever you need!" Applejack informed Denza before hesitantly going back in to her barn.
"...Thank you." Denza murmured to Pinkie as she bounced alongside him.
"For what, Denzy? I didn't do anything.." Pinkie asked in a curious tone, stopping in front of Denza.
".....For helping me!" Denza replied.
Denza walked past Pinkie who just stood there, wondering why he would thank her for something like that. Pinkie rapidly shook her head with a rattling sound, then made way to catch up with Denza.
"They say a great warrior fights harder when they have something worth fighting for"
~???
