You Can't Change Nature

Chapters

Contents
1. The Pack of the Dawn Tooth
2. Arrival
3. Cooking up a Storm

The first function of a book review should be, I believe, to give some idea of the contents and character of the book.

The Pack of the Dawn Tooth
Arrival
Cooking up a Storm
The Beast in the Forest
Incarceration
This Court is in Session
Court Adjourned
Class Begins
Obstacles
Relocation
Back at Ground Zero
The Helpful Trickster
Unfortunate Biological Facts
Progress
One Heck of a Party
Take Two
Looking Up
Back Down Again
The Equine/Canine Concordat
Scapegoat
That Sinking Feeling
Negotiations
Trial by Combat
Phomom Chumphouim
Uouphhu if Uouphhu’s

1. The Pack of the Dawn Tooth

He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.

Twilight groaned as she forced her eyes open, the sun streaming through the small gap in the curtains hitting her straight in the face, making it impossible for her to get back to sleep. She momentarily debated closing the curtains with her magic, before groaning again and forcing herself to sit up.

Glancing at the clock on the wall she saw that it was almost eight, and considering the fact that she had quite a lot to do today, it probably wasn’t a good idea for her to sleep in. That didn’t mean that she had to like it however, a fact she reminded herself in an annoyed mutter as she headed towards the bathroom.

“Spike?” she called out as she began to comb her mane, untangling the wiry strands and making herself look more presentable.

“Yes Twilight?” he called back from somewhere downstairs.

“Tell me you have coffee brewing.” She replaced the brush in its correct place in the cabinet before grabbing a tube of toothpaste groaning as she squeezed too hard and squirted some of it onto the mirror. “Ugh. Great going Twilight.”

“Way ahead of you,” Spike chuckled downstairs. “Five minutes, ok?”

“Small mercies,” she muttered with a smile, before busying herself in the bathroom, brushing her teeth, preening her feathers, before giving herself a final once over and deciding that she was prepared for the day. “Ok day, let’s see what you’ve got,” she smirked triumphantly, before heading downstairs. She was still struggling slightly to find her way around her new castle, and it took her yet another five minutes before she finally managed to find where she wanted to go, heading towards the wonderful bitter smell flooding her nostrils.

“Coffee,” Spike smiled as she came into the kitchen and sat at the table, holding out a white mug full of the glorious black liquid, allowing twilight to grab it in her magic and drink deeply.

It still amused Spike that Twilight had such troubles in the mornings. As far back as he could remember, she had resisted getting up to the best of her abilities, usually only doing so when her desire to please Princess Celestia and study overrode her desire to sleep. Even after ascending to Alicorn-hood she still struggled, and Spike wondered whether she’d ever grow out of it. Personally he hoped that she didn’t. He didn’t want to owe Cadence bits after all.

Eventually Twilight finished the coffee, sighing contentedly as she placed the mug back down on the table, before smiling at Spike.

“Tasty as always Spike,” she complimented as he brought over two plates loaded with hay-bacon and beans.

“So, what are the plans for today?” Spike asked as he took a mouthful.

“I have a meeting with Mayor Mare later to discuss the current schooling system in Ponyville, then I’m having lunch with Fluttershy, and finally I’m getting some more flying lessons from Rainbow Dash. Oh, and at some point I need to start making preparations to house my new guard in the castle, as well as actually making a new guard detachment,” Twilight replied in between mouthfuls, before smiling. “You get the day off Spike. Early birthday present.”

“Wow, you shouldn’t have,” Spike chuckled. “Did you ever get a reply to that letter you sent?”

“What, you mean the one to Cadence?” Twilight clarified. “Not yet, but I’m hoping for a reply today. Hopefully Derpy gets here before I have to leave.”

“I’m sure she will,” Spike assured her. “When is she ever late?”

“Good point,” Twilight nodded, before focusing on her breakfast.

For the next few minutes, the only sound that echoed within the castle were those from the Alicorn and Dragon finishing the meals, followed by the pair washing the dishes. The relative silence was eventually broken by a loud knocking though, and Twilight quickly made her way to the front doors, allowing Derpy to enter.

“Morning Derpy,” she smiled as the grey mail-mare smiled lopsidedly. “Anything interesting in the post today?”

“Sure is,” she nodded, turning her head and rummaging in her saddlebags, before pulling out a clump of letters and passing them to Twilight. “See you tomorrow Twilight,” she waved, before taking to the skies once more, leaving Twilight to flick through the letters.

Most of them weren’t urgent, looking like they were from fans from around Equestria, and could be addressed later, but two stood out. One looked like it was from the mayor’s office, and probably had some details about their meeting today, something Twilight would check when she met Mayor Mare, while the second bore the stamps of the Crystal Empire.

Barely containing her excitement, Twilight ripped the letter open, quickly scanning the contents inside, before beaming like a filly.

“Yesyesyesyesyes yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes,” she giggled gleefully, jumping around the entrance hall with the letter clutched in her magic. Spike simply shook his head as he watched his pseudo-sister leap around, before unfolding his arms and walking forward.

“Let me guess, Cadence said yes?” he stooped down, collecting the other letters that Twilight had dropped in her excitement and sifting through them for any that were addressed to him.

“Yes,” Twilight beamed, finally coming to a halt. “In three weeks. Maybe this time we’ll be able to actually have a normal day out, without Discord pulling one of his pranks again.”

“Right, he’s going to be with Fluttershy isn’t he?” Spike asked, recalling that the Pegasus and Draconequus had been planning to travel to the South to try and look at some rare plants that only bloomed once every five years.

“Correct,” Twilight nodded. “He’ll be out of my mane, so Cadence and I can…”

She trailed off as she felt a chill run down her spine, causing her fur to stand on edge. Even though it was a perfectly pleasant day outside and the inside of the castle was perfectly warm, she couldn’t shake the cold that seemed to be setting into her bones. Then, as quickly as it had come, the feeling disappeared, the warmth flowing back into her body and banishing the cold.

“So Cadence and I can…” Spike prompted her, giving her a strange look.

“Pardon?” she shook her head, looking at her assistant.

“You were going to tell me what Cadence and you were going to be doing, remember?” Spike scratched his head. “What was that all about?”

“I’m not sure,” Twilight shrugged, before shaking her head and smiling. “It was probably nothing, just the wind. I’ve got to go now. See you later my number one assistant.”

With that, Twilight turned and trotted towards town, closing the door behind her as Spike began to make his way back towards the kitchen, intent on trying out the theory of second breakfast that he’d been toying with. He chuckled to himself as he walked.

“Pfft, number one assistant. I’m her only assistant.”

“Who,” Owlowiscious hooted, landing on Spikes shoulder as he reached the kitchen.

“You’re not an assistant, you’re an owl,” Spike pointed out.

“Who,” Owlowiscious hooted, shaking his head.

“Alright fine, you can be her assistant too,” Spike relented, before staring at the owl. “But I’m her number one assistant. Remember that buddy.”

“Who,” Owlowiscious nodded, before spreading his wings and soaring to land on top of the fridge.

“Good,” Spike smirked. “Now, where did I leave those gems?”

Whiteness.

As far as the eye could see, the land was covered in frozen water and thick banks of freezing, white snow. Even more of the accursed material was falling from the sky, landing on my head as I stared up at the setting sun, waiting for the moment where the burning ball would be chased away, ushering in the even colder night time. Looking down, I saw the rest of the pack below the rocky outcrop that I was perched upon.

Wolfen. Wolf-Kind. That’s what we were called, or at least what the humans who shared our lands called us. The humans feared us, and rightly so. Towering above even the biggest humans, we could easily take on scores of their kind with a single paw, and their pet wolves cowered in the face of true Wolf-kind. Some of the older Sharman’s had tried to tell me that our kind had once been humans too, many many moons ago, before the Lunular God had blessed us, elevating us past what we had been before.

Since that day our kind, myself included, had revered the power of the Lunular God, waiting for her to send forth her Maiden to lead her children to the Promised Land. The rest of the pack longed for the day when we would no longer need to fight for our existence, where all were equal, but I knew different. I would never be equal.

I am Wolfen, I’m sure of that, as was Beta Reyna, but the rest of the pack saw me as different. While they were bigger than even the largest humans, I was in another category, towering over them all. While most Wolfen were strong enough to lift large rocks to hurl at our foes, I could hurl boulders with ease. Be it hunting, fighting or killing, everything they could do, I could do better. I knew it. They knew it. Everyone knew it. They just couldn’t admit it, and so to them I was not Wolfen, I was just a freak, an accident, an abomination.

Raising my head a fraction higher, I took in a deep breath, puffing out my chest, before letting out a low, loud howl, straining to keep it going for as long as possible. No one could howl as loud as me, nor for as long, and just once I wanted to howl, and to have someone else like me howl back. As always I waited for what felt like hours, but I was once again met by the silence of the snow.

“Ogma!”

Silence. Yeah right.

I let out a soft growl, before turning round and staring down at looking down at Gadburg. Instinctively my ears dropped down slightly in the presence of the Alpha, before I drew myself up to my full height once again, towering over him. Gadburg was by no means a small Wolfen, he was in fact one of the biggest of our kind, but no one was as big as me.

“Alpha,” my deep voice echoed around the trees of the forest behind me, the rest of the hunting party looking over at me, before turning away once more.

“Stop, howling, Ogma,” he snapped, staring up at me as he put emphasis on each word. “Even a simpleton can follow orders. Now come on, we have a hunt to finish.”

I snarled softly as Gadburg stalked away from me, falling onto all fours to move quicker as he headed back to the party. Whatever he’d called me, a simpleton, was new to me. I’d have to talk to Reyna again, if Gadburg allowed me to talk to his Beta that is.

Grabbing my sword from where I had stuck it into the snow, I leant the cold surface over my shoulders, ensuring that I didn’t cut my fur off on its razor sharp edge as I strode towards the others, catching the end of whatever Gadburg was saying. He always had to give speeches, personally I thought he’d die if he didn’t. I never could understand what was so hard about hunting. It was just killing after all.

“Lokier, Fenri, you two are to surround the beast. Make sure that it doesn’t escape our traps. Tranpha, you and…ugh… Ogma, are to come with me. We’ll get the kill, and if not, we’ll herd it towards Lokier and Fenri. Understand.”

“Yes Alpha,” came the resounding reply from the others, before Gadburg looked at me pointedly.

“Understand Ogma?”

“Yes Alpha,” I shot back with a scowl, before setting off after my assigned group, keeping my pace to a slow lope to make sure I didn’t leave the others behind me. Not that I really wanted to be with them, but it wasn’t worth the aggravation I would get from Gadburg if I disobeyed his orders again.

Eventually the three of us reached the clearing where the trap was to be sprung, Gadburg and Tranpha scampering up two of the thick pine trees, leaving me alone on the forest floor. Taking in a deep breath once more, I sniffed the air, smelling the tell-tale signs of the Manticore before us. My fur stood up straight as I felt a shiver go down my spine at the thought of the impending bloodshed. Nothing is real but violence, the kill is all that’s real, all that matters. I may not know much, but I know this. Anyone who says otherwise is lying to themselves.

Letting out a howl, I bounded forward, grasping my sword in two paws as I burst through the thin tree cover that had surrounded the clearing. I instantly took in my surroundings, the lay of the land, anything I could use to my advantage in here, and most importantly, my foe.

The manticore was a mighty beast towering over even me, poison leaking from its huge maw as it let out a roar of its own and bounded at me, its scorpion tail arcing down as the pair of us clashed, my sword sliding deep into the fat of the beast and sticking, forcing me to push it deeper, locking the pair of us together.

With a grunt, I took a step backwards, the beast putting its size to good use, before it howled in pain as Gadburg leaped at it from the trees, burying his axe in one of its hind-legs.

Taking the momentary lapse in its attention, I ripped my sword free, spinning around and raising my weapon high, intent on bringing it down on my foe. At the same time, the Manticore turned, and as my sword sliced through the sinew and bone of its tail, the same tail slammed into me, knocking me across the clearing, purple blood spattering after me, hissing as the boiling liquid hit the snow, turning it into water once more, and allowing myself to look at my reflection for a fraction of a second.

My face was covered in the purple blood, and I was dimly aware of the burning sensation that came with it, but the fight kept me anchored in reality, not allowing me to fall to the pain. Roaring again, I sprang back into motion, putting a foot in my reflection and shattering it forever as I rushed at the creature.

Gadburg and Tranpha were already engaging the manticore, the beast keeping them occupied even without its tail and its damaged leg. Roaring, I drew the beast’s attention, causing a surprised look to cross its face as a foe it had thought defeated leapt into the air, bringing my fist into its face, before grabbing onto the wiry mane around its face, anchoring myself amongst the blood-soaked hair.

Roaring once more, the Manticore began to buck, trying its hardest to dislodge me, even as I readied my sword, reversing my grip and plunging the blade down through its head and into the brain beyond, before bursting through that as well. The Manticore didn’t even moan as it fell, dead before it even hit the ground, my sword anchoring it to the floor as I stood up, placing a foot on the pommel of my blade as I raised my head to the newly risen moon and letting out another, blood-curdling howl of victory.

“Ogma! Down,” Gadburg snarled, staring up at me as he retrieved his axe from where it had stuck into the manticore’s leg, pulling it free in a welt of blood.

Scowling, I debated staying put and defying Gadburg, before relenting and ripping my sword free and jumping down to the maw of the manticore and grabbing hold of one of the fangs, tugging hard and forcing the tooth from the animals gums, before waving it in front of Gadburg.

“My kill, my tooth.” I turned, stalking off into the forest in the direction we had come from, slipping the tooth into a pouch on my chest harness. In our pack, teeth were status symbols, each one symbolising a kill, and I was damned if anyone, even the Alpha, was going to steal credit for my kill.

Behind me, I could already hear the Alpha barking orders at the others, ordering the Manticore to be strung up and prepared for dragging back to our village. No doubt he’d be telling me to take up most of the weight, but the others could damn well do something to justify their presence on the hunt and at least get it ready for me.

Slowly, the village of the Dawn Tooth Pack came into view as I crested the hill that surrounded our home, one of the thick sinewy ropes stretched taught behind me, tied around the two forepaws of the manticore. Beside me were Tranpha and Fenri, each holding their own ropes that were tied around a single hind paw each.

Between the three of us we’d managed to pull the creature over five miles in short order, ensuring that the pack would eat meat for many moons to come. The pack had been having troubles recently, or so I had been told. Other packs were encroaching on our territory, and a tribe of humans had been sighted nearby. One day soon, I was going to be called on to cross blades with someone, rather than killing animals, and I relished that day, praying that it would come soon.

Eventually we reached the centre of the village and I dropped the rope I’d been carrying as some of the females of the pack moved forward with skinning knives. A few of them glanced my way as I leered down at them all, before I loped off, dropping to all fours as I walked towards my own den. Even walking like this, I was still at head height of the other Wolfen.

Eventually I got to the cave that served as my home and stooped inside, before straightening up once more, remembering not to smash my head on the rocky ceiling as always a second after I had done it. Cursing and clutching my head, I flopped down onto bed, grunting again as I landed on my shield.

Snarling, I pulled the round metal disk off my back, tossing it across my den before finally leaning back and groaning in satisfaction as I stretched out and reached into my pouch, grabbing the tooth I had taken from the manticore and inspecting it.

It looked to be in good shape, very little damage had been done to it when the creature finally died, and it wouldn’t be too hard to cut a small hole in the top. With that thought in mind, I grabbed hold of a small stone knife and began to spin it on the tooth, beginning to cut through the tooth to make way for what came next.

“Ogma? Are you in here?”

And just like that I was on the floor again, scrambling to get to my feet as I looked up at the Beta of the pack. Though she was small, her dark brown fur and piercing pale blue eyes gave her an air of authority, beyond even that given by the ceremonial Sharman’s robe that she wore, along with the staff through which she directed the power of the Lunular God. For a second I felt ashamed at the state of my den, as well as embarrassed about falling off my bed in front of her, before getting up and looking intently at my feet.

Even though I knew she was off limits, thanks to her status as the beta of the pack and the wife of Gadburg, I had always had the tiniest bit of a crush on her. Alright, it was a bit bigger than a tiny crush, but even I wasn’t stupid enough to try anything, even if she was the only Wolfen in the pack who actively went out of her way to be kind to me. She was also the only one to never call me freak, at least not to my face. Eventually I managed to find my voice and stammered out a reply.

“R-Reyna? What are you doing here?”

She smiled broadly at me, causing my own spirits to soar, before she rested a paw on my waist, leading me to sit back down on my bed, where she sat beside me.

“I just heard from the Alpha that you killed the manticore yourself.”

“He admitted that I got the kill?” I was genuinely surprised by this. I really didn’t think that he would credit me with anything.

“Not straight away, and not to the rest of the pack, but he can’t lie to me.” Reyna lifted my paw up, showing me the tooth that I was still holding. “Plus he didn’t have this, you do. Numbskull.”

I resisted the urge to growl as she ruffled my fur playfully. I knew that term was technically an insult, but coming from her it was more of a joke. Tearing my eyes away from her, I went back to the tooth, finally making a small hole in it and placing it on a small rocky outcrop.

“Why you here Reyna?” I asked once more.

“Why are you here?” she corrected me, before looking at the fur around my face. “I heard you got some of the manticores blood on your face, I wanted to check that you weren’t hurt.”

“I fine.” I turned away as I spoke, running a paw over one of the patches of skin that had been exposed by the boiling blood, wincing slightly as I touched the raw skin.

“Fine?” Reyna asked with a small smile, shaking her head before placing a paw on my face and forcing me to look at her again. “How many times do I have to tell you Ogma? Admitting pain is not a weakness.”

“I’m not in pain.” I tried to move my head away, but her grip was just forceful enough that doing so would push her away, and I didn’t want to do that.

“Nevertheless, it’s my job to make sure that the pack is ok. No matter what my husband may think, that does include you.” She reached in a pouch of her own, pulling out a small glass container and pulling out the cork, before sticking her fingers in and scooping some of the gloop out from inside. “Now this may feel strange and cold.”

I recoiled slightly at the cold sensation as she began to smear the paste over the exposed skin, but I tried to keep as still as possible for her, and it was soon over, Reyna replacing the glass tub into her pouch.

“There we are, all done. Now tell me, have you been reading that book I gave you.”

I instantly looked down again, keeping my eyes anywhere but on her as I mumbled out a half-hearted reply.

“Yeah, reading all day long. Been doing loads.”

“You’re a terrible liar Ogma, you know that?” Reyna reached over to one of the rocky shelves and retrieved a book, flicking a spider off of the cover and showing it to me. “Have you even tried to read this?”

“Don’t need to read,” I insisted, pulling out a necklace of teeth from past kills and showing it to her. “This is all I need.”

“Teeth are good Ogma, but have you thought of what will happen after the Maiden of the Lunular God appears to us? There will be no need of killing, no need to hunt. Then there’s a need for books, and you don’t want to be the oldest member of the pack who can’t read do you?”

She opened the book up, and I reluctantly looked at the first page, scrunching up my face in concentration as I tried to make out what the markings on the page said. I had always thought that reading would come naturally to me when I was younger, certain that I just couldn’t pick it up at the time. However, time kept ticking by, and I kept getting older, passing my first decade and then my second, all with no success. Eventually after twenty three years, Reyna had stepped in and said that she’d try and teach me to read. Looking down at the words, I began to try and spell them out in my head.

“The H… His toy of Aired rides. By Toll ken Gold of the Nooble House Gold?”

“Not quite,” Reyna shook her head with a soft smile, before pointing to each word as she spoke them. “The History of Aedrides. By Tolken Geld of the Noble House Geld. Do you know who Tolken is?”

“A human,” I snarled, hating the word.

“Humans aren’t all bad Ogma,” Reyna sighed. “But yes, he is a human. A very well-known human in fact, the current ruler of the Human House Geld. Famed for…”

“Really weak warriors,” I finished for her with a smirk.

“Their great scholars,” Reyna corrected. “You could try looking at the world from a perspective other than that of a warrior.”

“I am a warrior,” I shot back. “You book smart, I’m smart with a sword. War. Hunts. Duels. I will always fight Reyna, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

For a long time, Reyna didn’t reply, and I thought that I had finally gone too far and angered her, pushing her away from me forever. At that thought I felt an immense feeling of guilt well up inside of me, and I slowly turned the page of the book, drawing a smile from the Beta.

“Thank you Ogma. I know you don’t like this and you find it hard, and giving up would be a lot easier, but the easy choice isn’t always the right one. Now, can you read me the first line?”

With a little reluctance, I looked over the line, mouthing the words as I tried to recognise them, before shakily beginning.

“Aons ago, there was only one sent I ent spec eyes to hold sway over Aedrides, and that was,” I paused to spit before I said the final word. “man.”

“Ogma,” Reyna snapped, glaring at me, before her face softened. “Just…listen for now then. We’ll work more on your reading later, for now let’s just go over our history.”

“Why?” I shot back, pulling my necklace out and slipping the newest tooth onto it, before holding it up. “This is my history. Not that book.”

“This book is our history, our species. You would do well to know it,” she replied, before tapping the book and drawing my attention as I slipped my necklace on.

Eons ago, there was only one sentient species to hold sway over Aedrides, and that species was man. Conquering vast swathes of land in the south, our ancestors calved out mighty kingdoms, defending them from the beasts that sought to return man to the dust. And so the great houses were born, Geld, Hark, Everest, Pentecost and Astral. Together the five houses pushed back the beasts even further, stopping only when the lands before them turned to permanent ice and snow. Man was now the sole ruler of Aedrides, none could challenge our strength, or so we thought.

It was then that the coming of what would become our greatest enemy arrived. On the longest night, House Astral made a pact with Daemons The Lunular God, transforming themselves into the beasts known as the Wolfen, strongest of all the Wolf-Kind. For ten years the wars raged, the alliance of the houses almost being shattered in the process, but our forefathers held strong, finally repulsing the Wolfen and forcing them into the inhospitable north where they would surely perish.

For a thousand years, man free from the threat of the Wolfen, sure that their ancient foe had been vanquished by the harsh environment of the north. Our ancestors never thought, never dreamed, that our foes survived, growing stronger and greater in number. But the Wolfen did not forget, and they did not forgive.

It was not until scouts from House Pentecost entered the north in search of precious minerals and land for colonising that the truth was revealed. Thus began the second Wolfen Wars, decimating the lands of man and fragmenting the great houses. One thousand years earlier we had stood together and prevailed, but peace had made us weak and time had eroded the cement that held the houses together. We were no match for the Wolfen this time, and with the death of our king, the houses no longer had a common factor holding us together. We were forced to surrender hundreds of miles of land to the Wolf-Kind as they pushed us further and further south, before they finally stopped their conquest, the packs ceasing their attacks and consolidating what they had gained.

Now though man is no longer one, but is truly four, each house looking inwards to itself, rather than outwards towards the species. Pentecost hopes to return man to our mantle of the apex-predator of Aedrides, but that time has long since passed. The Wolfen are too numerous for one house to defeat, and it is unlikely we will ever know the unity we once did again without a king to bind us to a single cause once more. Hark wishes only to perpetuate the peace, to ensure that such a devastating war as the ones fought against the Wolfen can never again happen, much to the ire of House Pentecost. Everest still believes that the power of change will bring us to the forefront once more, that science and invention can defeat what mere flesh and blood could not. And we of House Geld are content to watch as we always have, documenting the struggles of the other houses for our children and our children’s children, to ensure that mistakes made in the past are not repeated.

Thus ends the history of Aedrides and the Wolfen. It is a bloody tale, one fraught with loss and death, and yet history does not end here. Every day brings fresh horrors as creatures from the north assault our boarders, even as House Pentecost pushes against the north itself, reclaiming lost lands and risking the attention of the Wolfen host again. It is the year 1063 after the Long Night, and as I watch, war with the Wolfen looms once again.

Reyna closed the book and looked over at me, shaking her head at the smirk that was plastered across my face. Even knowing that she didn’t approve of it, I couldn’t bring myself to stop. For all her talk of learning about being something other than a warrior, this book showed me what I already knew. That Wolfen were the apex predators of our world, and that man was as much our prey as the manticores, hydras and chimeras we hunted for meat. In fact they were more our prey than those animals. I had only gone south once in my life, in the final years of the war before the Dawn Tooth pack stopped and returned to the snow and ice, and I had yet to see a human that was as much of a challenge as one of the beasts we hunted.

“That was only the first chapter,” Reyna broke the silence. “The rest shows humans as scholars, not warriors. Maybe you’d like to…”

A loud blast from a horn cut her off, followed by a second horn blast, and a third, before it fell silent. I racked my mind for what the horns meant, before finally remembering one of my earliest lessons as a hunter. One blast meant hunters were returning, two meant they were returning with injured, and three was an announcement by the Alpha to the entire pack. I hadn’t heard three blasts for years, and slowly got to my feet, Reyna rising beside me and placing the book down on the rocky shelf she’d taken it from.

Grabbing my shield, I slipped it onto my back, securing it to the leather chest harness I wore, before sheathing my sword behind it before walking towards the entrance to my den, allowing Reyna to leave before me.

“You know, if you actually used that shield rather than just wore it, you wouldn’t have to go through getting the healing paste on you after almost every hunt.”

“Protects my back,” I shrugged, setting off at a slow lope so she could easily keep pace. “Takes up a paw if I hold it, better to have two paws for my sword.”

“For attacking yes, but for protection, the shield is better, which is why everyone has one.”

Reyna continued to lecture me as we walked, but I was no longer listening, looking over at the raised rock in the middle of the village where Gadburg was standing, his shield attached to one arm and his axe sheathed at his side. On his head rested the helmet of the Alphas, an ancient relic of our pack that was passed from Alpha to Alpha to signify the right to rule the Dawn Tooth. Just like the three horn blasts, I hadn’t seen the helmet for years, and grinned broadly. Whatever this call was for, it was something big.

Gadburg waited patiently as the last of the pack arrived, shooting a glare my way for a fraction of a second, before continuing his sweep of the pack as Reyna clambered up the rock towards him. Only when his Beta was standing beside him did he open his mouth to talk.

“Dawn Tooth! Brothers, sisters. Wolfen. You all know of man, and the wars fought against him. Some may have even fought beside me at the end of the last war. They surrendered to our packs, and we kept to our agreement, that we would take no more of the south. Now though, house Pentecost dares to press us again, seeking to reclaim lost lands at the price of Wolfen blood! This is an act of aggression that the Dawn Tooth will not stand for!”

“The Dawn Tooth lie in the path of their aggression. Shall we stand idly by while they seize our hunting grounds?” Gadburg was shouting now, and in a flourish drew his axe, thrusting it into the air above his head. “Or shall we show them why they fear us?!”

In an instant, the rest of the tribe had drawn their own weapons, raising them above their heads to mimic the Alpha, and I was no exception, holding my sword highest of all, before joining in the unanimous answer. “Fear us!”

Gadburg smiled at that, barring his teeth as he thrust his axe into the air once more, raising his head to the heavens. “For blood! For the Dawn’s Tooth! For the Lunular God!”

I raised my head with the rest of the pack and howled to the moon, screaming to the heavens a mighty war-cry along with the rest of the pack. It was the same as it had before every battle in the war, the Wolfen calling on the Lunular God for victory, and she had never let us down now. Just like before, and like the book had prophesised, the Dawn Tooth pack was heading for war with the humans. Soon the blood would flow from their lands once more, brought forth by the weapons and claws of the Wolfen.

I stared at my reflection in the pool of water as the rest of the pack moved past behind and around me, paying little attention to me or why I’d stopped. I didn’t really care about them too much either, so I guess the feelings between us were mutual.

Unlike for the hunt, I was wearing everything I had for this fight. Thick metal plates, heavier than the other members of the pack would be able to wear, were strapped to my thighs and shins, while more were wrapped around my forearms, vicious spikes protruding from them as a deterrent to anyone getting too close. On my back was my massive round shield, and sheathed behind that was my sword, ready to be unsheathed in an instant. Other than that all I was wearing was my harness, my loincloth, and my necklace, the many teeth tapping against my chest as I moved slightly.

The other members of the pack were wearing similar armour, although theirs was lighter than mine. Most of them also wore chest plates, as well as a variety of rough helmets. No two sets were alike, each one maid for the Wolfen who now wore them. Not like the mass-produced armour of the humans. Each one of us knew the exact capabilities of our armour, because it was built just for us, for our bodies.

I slowly began to walk again, looking over the heads of the others as we crested a hill, stopping behind Gadburg as the Alpha raised his axe. He was armoured in his own personal armour, the metal being much finer than anything anyone else had, as befitted his status of Alpha. Reyna was also there, wearing the armour of the Sharman’s, a leather chest piece and amulets to enhance her power. Thanks to the Lunular God, we were stronger at night than we were in the day, but with those amulets, she became a beacon, a living link to the other side.

Far below us, down the steep hill we had stopped on, were our enemies. Hundreds of humans, swarming around fires like ants, mounting guards against the night. While they cowered away from the kiss of the moon, we bathed in it, and it was this that would see us to victory, just like it had in the war.

Letting out a howl that was taken up by the rest of the pack, Gadburg bounded forward, his axe and shield ready as he closed the gap between us and the humans. They had already noticed us, not that we were trying to hide, as we scrambled down the slope, a few of us losing our footing and rolling slightly before getting back up and continuing the charge.

Raising my voice even more, I grasped my sword tighter, holding it in both paws as I approached the line of spears that were quickly forming in front of me, and beyond them the foot soldiers of the humans, their faces obscured behind the helmets they all wore, but I could still sense their fear. The subtle shaking of their weapons, the glances at their fellows as we got closer and closer, and of course, the stench that they gave off. They reeked of fear, and it was only getting more potent as we got closer.

With a roar I leapt into the air, clearing the pikes in a single bound and grabbing one of the soldier’s heads with my foot, forcing him backwards and crushing his head between me and the floor. Behind me I heard howls of my pack, clearly ripping into the humans as I had, before swinging my sword in a brutal arc, catching a human in the neck, before ripping it back, blood spurting out of the wound as the man fell to the floor, convulsing for a few seconds, before going still as I hacked left and right, blood spurting out around my blade with each blow.

Even as I celebrated the victory, I felt an arrow go by my head slicing through my fur and opening a gash in my cheek and drawing a snarl from my lips. Whipping round, I caught sight of one of the archers in the far side of human camp, hastily reloading the crossbow thing that they used as he sought to fire again. I was determined not to let him get that shot off.

My whole world became the archer as I sprinted forward, knocking other humans aside as I headed for my prey. I felt the spikes from my gauntlet impact a body on my left, but I didn’t look at who had been unfortunate enough to get in my way as I raised my sword and brought it arcing down once more, slicing through the meat and bone of the archers elbow.

The man screamed in pain as he fell backwards, clutching at bloody stump as I grabbed hold of the fallen crossbow. For him it had been a big weapon needing both hands, but for me, it weighed practically nothing, and I callously fired the loaded bolt into the man’s head, cutting short his cries of pain.

Turning around, I was just in time to see a fireball erupt near the line of spear wielding soldiers, knocking me back and the humans around me to the floor as those closer to the flames fell back as their burning flesh peeled from their bodies. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had caused the fireball, which was good because it meant I could work it out too, who had caused the fireball, and as I watched, Reyna walked forward, holding her staff before her in both paws, before opening her chest out and opening her mouth, chanting some sort of ritual that I couldn’t hear from this distance. My fur stood on end as the power she was mustering radiated out from her, and I was struck dumb by the image arrayed before me.

As she spoke, the fire around her was snuffed out, revealing the others behind the wall of flames. With a roar, the pack leapt forward, laying into the humans who had fallen back. It looked like there were less of them than there had been in the charge, but I quickly tore my eyes away from them as another human approached me, this one clearly a cut above the other soldiers that I had cut down before.

Unlike the padded fabric armour that a lot of the others were wearing, this one was clade from head to toe in metal armour, plate if I remembered what they had called it, and wielding a mace in one hand, while clutching a shield in the other. Raising his shield, the man began to circle me, presumably expecting me to accept his offer of a duel.

Instead I leapt forward, lashing out with a fist at the man’s head to dent the armour and destroy his head. The man only just got his shield up in time, my fist slamming into the metal and denting it, but it had done the job and blunted the force of my blow, and left me open for an attack of his own.

I roared as the mace slammed into my side before being ripped out, blood oozing out from the small puncture wounds, but I didn’t feel anything broken, my muscle taking the impact out of the blow, and allowing me to retaliate. Slashing forward with my sword, I rained blow after blow down on the knight, his shield buckling under each blow but holding them off, before I grabbed hold of it and tore backwards, ripping it from his grip and hurling it behind me, leaving the man to stumble forward.

In a last ditch effort he lashed forward with his mace, but he was off balance and the blow was off target, allowing me to grab the handle and rip that from his grasp as well, dropping it on the floor before grabbing him by the throat and hauling him off the ground.

I was dimly aware of him saying something, but I didn’t understand it, wrapped up in the bloodlust of the fight. Slamming him into the floor, I brought my sword down, stabbing his chest, before ripping up almost all the way, the sword coming free at the top of his head. Bending down I roared at the corpse, spit covering the blood covered metal, before I got up with a snarl, surveying the battle for the first time.

Everything was burning, turning the snow into gas and shrouding the battlefield in an odd combination of smoke and mist. Amidst the flickering flames I could make out the forms of both humans and Wolfen, the humans pushing forward and driving the pack back.

With a snarl I stalked forward, hacking to the left as a human wielding a sword ran towards me, leaving him to scream in pain as he fell to the floor from some wound or another, before I got to one of the Wolfen who had been running and grabbing hold of her, glaring down at her, bellowing straight into her face.

“Wrong way! Back into the fight!”

“But…”

I didn’t wait to hear what she was trying to say, pushing her forward, before following her and laying into the humans who were seemingly taken by surprise at the sudden reversal in the direction of the Wolfen and my arrival, and for a second we took them by surprise, the ten humans falling back, before one of them got a lucky strike in, the Wolfen beside me falling to the floor, blood spurting out of a slash in her neck.

Barely acknowledging the death of the female, I swung my sword in an arc before reversing the blow and three of the humans falling to the floor, while the remaining two turned and ran. I wanted to follow them, but more retreating Wolfen caught my eye and I took off towards them, stopping in front of a group of three and roaring, stopping them in their tracks.

“Out of the way freak,” one snarled as he stepped forward.

“Fight’s behind you, turn around,” I snarled back.

“The Alpha has ordered a retreat idiot,” the second snarled. “Follow commands of your betters.”

“Retreat?” I asked softly, the word feeling alien to my mouth.

“Yes, you do understand that word do…”

I cut the Wolfen’s retort short, my sword cleaving through his neck as I let out a scream of rage, before turning on the others. The second Wolfen fell just as quickly, my sword thrusting through his stomach and pinning him to the floor. The third Wolfen at least managed to get off a half-hearted attack, his axe biting into my gauntlet and sticking. Before he could pull it free I grabbed hold of his head with both paws and squeezed, shattering it like an over-ripe watermelon.

Roughly pulling my sword from the corpse of the Wolfen, I scanned the battlefield for more evidence of this ‘retreat’, watching in disgust as I watched my pack mates begin to turn, some already scrambling up the hill away from the humans. Everywhere I looked were corpses, but I no longer cared about them, only the one who had ordered it.

“Gadburg!” I bellowed, pointing my sword at the Alpha as he became visible through the smoke, Reyna beside him. He turned to look at me as I roared, and his face turned from one of determination to one of loathing. Jumping down from the corpse he had been standing upon, Gadburg approached me, followed closely by Reyna, a look of concern plastered across her face as Gadburg and I squared off.

“Why are Dawn Tooth retreating?” I demanded, gripping my sword in one paw while my other paw clenched into a fist.

“We lost too many getting past the spears,” he shot back, glaring at me. “You could have helped, but a dumb brute like you can’t understand strategy.”

“We are stronger…” I began, only to be cut off by Gadburg.

“And they’re better equipped. We are going to draw them out into our ground and we can destroy them, so be a good dog and follow my orders.”

“We are not withdrawing!”

“Ogma,” Reyna cut in. “We can’t win here, we have to withdraw.”

“No! No retreat, not ever,” I snarled, taking a step towards Gadburg and forcing him back slightly. “Never retreat, not against humans. We are Wolf-Kind, they are our prey!”

“Do as I fucking command. I am your Alpha,” Gadburg snarled, raising his axe slightly. It was all the provocation I needed.

With a roar I darted forward, brining my sword across to the left in a strike he only just managed to dodge. Taking hold of my sword with both paws once again I reversed the strike to the right, this time being caught by his shield, my weapon smashing through the wooden body of the shield, only holding thanks to the metal ribbing that reinforced it.

“Ogma!” Reyna bellowed, darting forward to try and restrain me, but I was done listening, and span on my heels, backhanding her in the face and sending her spinning head over heels before I returned my attention to Gadburg, tugging my sword free and going in for another strike.

“You’ll pay for this freak!” Gadburg roared, ducking beneath another swing of my sword and lashing out with his own axe, the blunt of his blow being taken by my thigh armour before he slid down my leg, nicking me on my unexposed skin.

Letting out a grunt of pain, I lashed forward with a brutal kick, catching his shield and shattering the wooden surface, splinters digging into the sole of my foot and peppering his face, causing the Alpha to stagger backwards, swinging his axe blindly.

“You’re not fit to lead Wolfen anymore,” I snarled, sheathing my sword before diving forward, grabbing Gadburg waist as I drove him to the floor, sitting on top of him and raining down blow after blow on his armoured gauntlets, denting the metal with each strike. Eventually I forced his right arm to the side before stamping on it with a foot, pinning it to the floor. With one arm restrained it was child’s play to grab his other arm, my massive paw covering his and holding it against the mud.

“Let me go freak!” he roared, struggling against me and trying to break free, but my weight and strength easily eclipsed his, and I stayed right where I was.

“I,” I bellowed, slamming my free paw into his face, “am not,” I struck his face again, “a freak!” I panted heavily as I looked down at Gadburg, the Alpha still managing to look defiant even through all of the blood that was staining his face. “Remember that Gadburg. I am Ogma, Wolfen, and I, am not, a freak!”

I unsheathed my sword and raised it above my head, intending to bring it down on the Alpha. Staring down at him again I smirked as I thought how pathetic he looked. I really should have tried this years ago, and now, all of the Dawn Tooth would bend a knee, or I’d slaughter them. I brought my sword slashing down towards Gadburg’s head.

It never connected. Instead I was thrown to the side, a burning pain erupting in my side just below my ribs. I came to a halt in a pile of blood-soaked mud, the thick mix of brown and red coating my face as I rose to my feet once more, glaring at the source of the attack.

“I don’t want to kill you Reyna,” I called, pushing myself to my feet and picking my sword up from where it had spun from my grip, glaring across at the packs Beta.

“Don’t make me do this Ogma,” she warned, gripping her staff a little tighter.

For a long time I didn’t move, panting hard as I stared at Reyna, my knuckles turning white as I gripped my sword even tighter. Part of me was telling me to calm down, that my anger shouldn’t be directed at the only person who ever showed me kindness, while the other part of me was just telling me to get on with the killing and prove that I was the true Wolfen, not her, not Gadburg, and not any other member of the pack.

Eventually, the animal won the argument.

With yet another primal scream I dived forward, crouching low to avoid the blast from her staff that I knew would come. I may have been an idiot, but in terms of fighting, I could read other people like an open book, and I knew how Reyna fought, having killed alongside her for years. First would come the blast that I had dodged, then as I came closer came the arcing strike with her staff aimed at my legs, trying to send me pitching to the floor. Instead I simply jumped over it, pulling my sword back before thrusting it towards her exposed head.

My blade stopped as a pair of paws grabbed hold of my blade, gripping tight and drawing blood from the palms as Gadburg snarled up at me, a look of defiance that I had never seen before plastered across his face. With a snarl he pulled back, catching me by surprise and ripping my sword from my grip, before kicking me in the stomach, sending me staggering back.

Raising my fists I fended off a flurry of blows from my smaller opponent, before lashing out once more, narrowly missing his head with my fist, before I was forced to roll to the left to avoid a shot from Reyna’s staff. Snarling I sprang backwards, flipping backwards and narrowly avoiding a double handed strike from Gadburg, before supporting myself on my paws and delivering a double footed kick into his chest, sending him sprawling backwards.

Not letting up I rolled backwards once more, grabbing the corpse of a human and hurling it at Reyna, pinning her beneath the dead body. Chuckling to myself I got back to my feet, retrieving my sword from where it had fallen after Gadburg had ripped it from my grasp. Now though I knew where he was and where Reyna was, and the rest of the cowards of my pack were forming a large circle around the three of us, mingling with the humans who seemed to be content to just sit and watch. It didn’t matter to me though, they were just delaying their fate. If the humans were clever they would strike now, but just like my pack, they seemed transfixed by the fight going on before them.

Taking a staggering step forward I looked down at Gadburg, my entire world becoming just the Alpha as I drive my sword down into the earth just between Gadburg’s legs, before grabbing his head and forcing it towards the blade. To his credit he managed to grab hold of the blade, his already bloody hands getting yet more cuts as he tried to stop me from plunging his head towards the blade, but I was stronger, and all he was doing was slowing me down.

“OGMA!” Reyna screeched, getting to her feet. “FREAK!”

That word, coming from her, hit me like a crossbow bolt, and I turned to look at her, still holding my sword and Gadburg’s head, but my grip on the latter faltered slightly and he managed to slip from my grip as I stared at Reyna. I could see the power building around her staff as she stared at me, her fangs bared for the first time I could remember.

I did nothing as the beam of purest moonlight erupted from her staff, even as time seemed to slow to a crawl. I had felt this feeling before in the war, right before one of the humans delivered an almost fatal blow. Reyna had said it was because of the adrenaline burst at the moment of imminent death, and I knew I should move, but that one word coming from her caused me to freeze up more than the largest of armies ever could.

I was still standing stock still when the beam hit me, and it was then that I let out an ear splitting scream. Everyone present, both Wolfen and human, covered their ears as I felt more pain than I had ever felt before, every part of my body feeling like it was catching fire and burning up in the same instant, before I felt myself slipping away from the earth, still screaming.

Reyna groaned as she supported Gadburg, reaching the rough ring wall of the Dawn Tooth village.

“Man the walls,” she ordered, looking at one of the Wolfen that was guarding her. “I want to know if any humans approach us, and send out scouts. If anything moves within five miles of this place I want to know about it.”

The Wolfen nodded, barking orders at others around him as he walked towards the walls of the village, while Reyna turned back to Gadburg, pulling the same glass container she had used after the hunt, smearing some of paste across Gadburg’s face and causing him to hiss in discomfort.

“Get that shit away from me Reyna.”

“No,” she chuckled softly, continuing to apply the paste.

“Reyna!” he snarled, before sighing and leaning back, allowing her to apply her paste. Eventually she put the container away and Gadburg spoke up again. “So?”

“So what?”

“What did you do to the freak?” he smirked at the word. “I always knew I’d get the last laugh.

Reyna sighed, looking down as she put the container away. “I sent him away.”

“Sent him away?” Gadburg snapped, forcing himself to get to his feet and leering at Reyna, pointing to his bruised face. “Do you see this? My nose is broken, my cheek bones feel like they’re on fire and my jaw feels like I tried to eat a rock, and you sent the one who did this ‘away’?!”

“Yes,” Reyna replied casually, not backing down from her husband.

Gadburg breathed hard for a while, glaring at Reyna, before finally speaking once more. “Fine. Where, did you send him then?”

“Somewhere where he might fine peace,” she sighed, looking into the distance with a sad smile.

Twilight awoke with a start as her mane stood on end once again, before returning to normal once again. Cautiously she pushed back the covers, trotting over to the window and staring out across Ponyville and at the Everfree Forest beyond.

She still didn’t know what she felt about being able to see the dark place from her window, but every time she’d contemplated moving to one of the other rooms in the castle she’d reminded herself that no matter what rumours about dark magic surrounded the forest, they were just that, rumours. Even the Tartarus Gate sealed far below the surface of the forest was benign, all the baleful energies that were stored within were contained by magic’s as old as the world itself, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong with the dark forest.

Even as she thought that, a loud howl pierced the night, sending birds scattering from their perches in the trees. The howl seemed to continue for what felt like an eternity, and twilight could see lights turning on in Ponyville below her as more ponies were woken up by the mournful sound.

It eventually stopped, and Twilight breathed a small sigh of relief as she continued to watch the Everfree Forest, wary of any signs of danger that could be coming from it. She knew without looking that five more pairs of eyes would also be watching it with varying feelings of dread and anticipation, but after ten minutes went by with nothing happening, Twilight had to concede that whatever had howled was sticking to the boundaries of the forest.

As she clambered back into bed, she made a mental note to visit Fluttershy in the morning and ask her if she had any better ideas on what had been howling. It sounded similar to a Timberwolf, but if anypony knew anything about animals, it would be her. Still thinking about the howl, Twilight slipped back into the beautiful embrace of Luna’s dreams.

2. Arrival

Arriving at one place is the starting point to another.

My howling scream slowly died in my throat as I collapsed to the ground, my body aching in every place imaginable. My legs were burning from walking through the flames Reyna had conjured, while my arms were slowly dripping blood from the numerous cuts and bruises of the fight. Rolling onto my back, I let out another low howl, my voice coming out as more of a moan than I would have liked, before falling silent once more, my chest slowly rising and falling.

I don’t know how long I lay on the cold earthen floor, my blurred vision fixed on the sky above me. I couldn’t see any signs of battle, nor could I hear anything moving around me. The only sound was that of my own ragged breathing, and the leaves that I was crushing beneath me.

Eventually I had to move though, and forced my arms to work again, working through the pain as I stood up. As much as I hated to admit it, Gadburg did know how to fight, and well, which would explain why he was he Alpha.

Looking around I saw my sword embedded in the dirt a small distance away from me, before pulling it out and wiping the blade down a little. As much as I liked to keep the blood of my enemies of it, I knew that leaving it on the weapon could cause it to rust and become dull. Satisfied that it was clean enough, I sheathed it behind my shield, before setting off into the forest.

My eyes were heavy as I trudged forward, only taking in the absolutely necessary aspects of my surroundings. I needed somewhere to sleep for the night, and right now that was all I cared about, even more than finding Gadburg, Reyna and the rest of the Dawn Tooth pack.

For once in my life, I had a plan that didn’t start with violence. It still ended with violence, but it was still a shock to me, and I was the one who made it.

One, find somewhere to sleep.

Two, sleep.

Three, revenge.

Point three may have been a bit broad, but the first two points were sounding better with every step I took. Eventually my eyes managed to pick a rock wall looming up in front of me and made my way towards it, leaning against it and looking along it both ways. It extended as far as my tired eyes could see in both directions, but only one had the tell-tale signs of a possible cave etched into the rock.

After a few minutes of walking I finally found the mouth of the cave and peered inside. It was predictably dark in there, the light of the full moon not reaching more than a few meters into the cave. Lacking sight, I instead opted to sniff the air, searching for anything that could possibly cause me harm, before growling. My nose was being assaulted by new smells, all of which seemed to be overpowering the next, and I couldn’t discern one from another. In other words, I would be walking into the cave blind.

Shrugging, and letting out a soft chuckle I drew my sword, dragging the tip along the floor as I walked into the cave, eventually finding a pile of leaves, grass and twigs near the back. Still holding my sword, I lay my head down and was out almost immediately.

Twilight hummed softly to herself as she walked through Ponyville, her wings folded by her side as she trotted along. Even though she was much better at flying now, she still preferred to walk to where she needed to go, much to the annoyance of Rainbow Dash. Spike hurried along beside her, a small gem with a bite taken out of it clutched in one hand as he happily crunched the crimson ruby.

“So why are we going to see Fluttershy again?” he asked in between mouthfuls, before yawning. “And why couldn’t it wait for another few hours?”

“It’s already nine in the morning Spike,” Twilight rolled her eyes as she spoke. “Another few of hours and you wouldn’t have been getting up in the morning any more, it would be the afternoon, and that’s just a waste.”

“That’s the point,” Spike replied with a snort, before finishing the gem in a single bite and sighing happily. “So why are we going to see Fluttershy? Or is this just a friendly visit?”

“You really are a heavily sleeper aren’t you? I heard something last night from the Everfree forest. For something to be that loud it must have been huge, but I can’t think of anything that large other than an Ursa Major, and that wasn’t an Ursa’s road. If anypony has any clue what it was, it will be Fluttershy.”

“Animals fight in the Everfree all the time, why do you want to know about this exact time?” Spike asked as he licked each one of his fingers in turn, before running his tongue around his entire hand and sighing happily.

“Still a little gross,” Twilight pointed out. “Because I’ve know what almost every animal sounds like in the Everfree Forest, and I couldn’t place this one.”

“And the only pony who knows more than you is Fluttershy,” Spike finished for her.

“Bingo,” Twilight nodded, rubbing Spikes head playfully.

Spike pushed her hoof away, carefully making sure the spines on the top of his head were still straight, before shooting Twilight an over the top angry glare and putting on a face of mock indignation. “Don’t mess up my do.”

“Right sorry,” Twilight laughed. “Have you got a date with Rarity later or something?”

“Sweetie Belle actually,” Spike replied, drawing yet another laugh from Twilight. When Spikes face took on a more sincere serious look, the laugh died in her throat as she stopped in her tracks.

“Wait, really?”

“We have a lot in common,” Spike shrugged. “She’s smart, she’s funny, and she doesn’t talk down to me like I’m a child all the time.”

“You are a child,” Twilight pointed out.

“Yes, but she doesn’t constantly remind me about it or leave me behind when they go out somewhere.”

“When do we…” Twilight began, before trailing off as she thought about the validity of Spike’s comments.

“See,” Spike folded his arms. “I’m not annoyed, I can see why you do leave me behind sometimes, but I don’t just stay in the library or caste when you’re gone you know.”

“Looks like someone’s growing up,” Twilight smiled, pulling Spike into a hug, before releasing him and looking towards Fluttershy’s cottage. “You don’t have to come with me. If you’d rather go and spend time with Sweetie Belle…”

Spike pulled her into another hug, before turning and jogging back towards Ponyville, leaving Twilight to stare after him, before shaking her head and turning back towards Fluttershys house. It didn’t take her long to trot there, and she soon found herself knocking on her friend front door.

It didn’t take long for the door to swing open, and Twilight expected to see Fluttershy behind the door, instead looking at the empty space in confusion, before looking down and seeing Angel Bunny, the white rabbit staring up at her with his arms folded.

“Oh, hi Angel,” Twilight was slightly taken aback by seeing the rabbit, expecting to see Fluttershy instead. “Is Fluttershy in?”

Angel rolled his eyes before stepping back and pointing across the room where Fluttershy was busy flitting between bookshelves, flicking through the books with a devotion Twilight had only ever seen in herself.

“No. No. Mayb…no,” she muttered to herself as she scanned the books. “Ah, perhaps this? No. Who was it at the door Angel?”

“It’s just me Fluttershy,” Twilight answered with a smile, watching her friend with a smile as she took in the books that Fluttershy owned. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, hello Twilight,” Fluttershy smiled, landing and folding her wings behind her as she continued to flick through a book. “Sorry if I’m a bit pre-occupied, I’ve been trying to find something all night, but I can’t find anything about it. Maybe if I just look a bit more…”

She trailed off as she rushed back to the bookshelves, pulling out a large book and blowing the dust off it’s cover.

“Is that a genuine Emma Mane?” Twilight asked eagerly, rushing up beside Fluttershy. “And first edition?!” Twilight’s voice became shrill as she grabbed Fluttershy by the shoulders. “Tell me where you got this. I’ve always wanted one, but even the Canterlot library only had a single copy, and I was never allowed to borrow it.”

“Please stop shaking me,” Fluttershy whispered softly, waiting for Twilight to sheepishly release her. “Well, umm, I met her once, and she liked my work, so she gave me this copy and signed it.”

“She signed it too?! I have to borrow this at some point.” Twilight exclaimed again, before shaking her head and calming herself and chuckling awkwardly. “Umm, sorry.”

“It’s ok Twilight,” Fluttershy smiled, opening the book and looking through the pages. “And you can come by and borrow it whenever you want.”

To say Twilight’s smile was massive was an understatement, but she kept her ‘squees’ internal as she looked at the book alongside Fluttershy. “What are you doing anyway?”

“Did you hear the animal cry last night?” Fluttershy replied, not looking up from the book.

“Yes actually, it’s why I’m here,” Twilight nodded. “How many creatures can be loud enough to be heard in the middle of Ponyville?”

“Not many,” Fluttershy said, still not looking up. “Cerberus can do it, but he’s still guarding Tartarus. Certain breeds of Hydra have loud roars, but they only live in the Crystal Empire, not down here.”

“Could it have been a Timberwolf?” Twilight asked.

“No, not even when they form together into a Lumberwolf,” Fluttershy shook her head, before closing the book and sighing. “Nothing again. No creatures that should be living in the Everfree should have that loud a roar.”

Fluttershy returned the book to the bookshelf and walked past Twilight, whose eyes were still fixed on the rare tome. Looking around, Fluttershy quickly began to pack her saddlebags, loading them with bandages, potions and poultices, mentally ticking off the items as she packed them.

“Wait, you’re not planning on going out there are you?” Twilight asked, trotting over to Fluttershy, watching Fluttershy nod. “But, you are terrified of the Everfree Forest. Not to mention it’s really dangerous.”

“I know,” Fluttershy nodded again, taking a deep breath. “But if there’s an injured animal out there then it may need help, and I can’t let it suffer alone. Even if that means that I have to go into the gulp the Everfree Forest.”

“I’ll come with you then.”

“I thought you had another meeting with Mayor Mare,” Fluttershy pointed out.

“I…Ummm…yes, but I could postpone it.”

“No, you don’t need to do that,” Fluttershy shook her head with a smile. “You have enough to worry about with preparing for Cadence’s visit and overseeing your new guards. You don’t need to add accompanying me into your schedule.”

“But you can’t go in there alone,” Twiligh protested.

“Oh, I won’t be alone,” Fluttershy looked at her back as Angel jumped up, standing proud on her back. “Plus Mr Bear agreed to come with me if I did have to go into the forest.”

“And you can’t forget me,” came a familiar voice as Discord materialised on top of fireplace and leaned back on it, his head and legs stretching out over the side as he sighed contentedly. “You should try resting here Princess. You can l most feel myself melting away.” As he spoke, Discord began to stretch out until he finally touched the floor and ended up as a puddle of multi-coloured goo which began to travel across the floor towards Fluttershy and Twilight. “See?”

“Hello Discord,” Fluttershy smiled, shifting her saddlebags onto her back.

“Why hello Fluttershy,” Discord popped back to his usual self and planted a soft kiss on her forehoof, and hello to you Twilight.”

“Good morning Discord,” Twilight nodded.

“What do you mean by that?” Discord asked, scrutinising Twilight closely.

“I’m sorry?”

“Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?

“Ummm, what?” Twilight asked in confusion, looking at Fluttershy who simply shrugged.

“None of you ponies appreciate Tolkien,” Discord huffed, folding his arms and pouting slightly, before looking at Fluttershy. “So did I hear right about you wanting to head into the Everfree, or did I still have some chocolate milk in my ears?” To emphasise his point Discord picked up a tea cup from the table and tilted his head, pouring out some chocolate milk before taking a sip.

“Yes I am,” Fluttershy nodded, tightening her saddlebags and trotting towards the door.

“Oh horary,” Discord smiled, clicking his fingers and conjuring a sun hat and picnic hamper. “What a lovely day for a stroll, wouldn’t you agree Twilight.”

“Yes Discord, it’s a lovely day,” Twilight rolled her eyes slightly. “If you’re sure about going Fluttershy then I should get going. If you need any help please come and find me. I can move my plans around, and you know all of the other girls will help if we can.”

“I know, thank you,” Fluttershy smiled, before trotting out of the door with Angel on her back and Discord floating above her, idly picking his teeth with one of his talons.

Watching them go, Twilight turned back towards the town, heading in the direction of the town hall. She wasn’t particularly looking forward to overseeing the recruitment and training of the ponies who wanted to be in the new guard detachment. Watching ponies run around in circles for hours on end was more Rainbows idea of fun, or even her brothers. Maybe she could get him to come down when Cadence was visiting to lend a hoof. It may have been only a few days’ notice, but she could at least try asking him.

With a spring in her step at the thought of possibly seeing her brother as well, Twilight skipped back towards Ponyville.

I let out another groan as I rolled over, my eyes opening and straining slightly as sunlight streamed into the mouth of the cave. I scowled slightly at the light, but began to look around the cave nonetheless. My eyes were still adjusting to the light and my head was spinning slightly, but I could see enough to not fall over any rocks around the cave floor.

For five minutes I stumbled around the cave, supporting myself on the wall as I walked to the back of the place I had spent the night. It wasn’t massive, but it had clearly been suitable for my purposes as I’d slept here all night and I was still alive.

Stomping back to the mouth of the cave, I didn’t really pay much attention to what my feet were stepping on, and was suddenly pitched to the floor as my foot hit something soft and squidgy. Rolling onto my back I turned just in time to see a small manticore screeching as it grasped its rear leg which looked crushed.

For a long time I stared at the manticore, taken aback by the bright colours on its body. Normally every manticore I’d seen had dull, muted colours to help it blend in more, but not this one. Finally making sense of the new creature, I pushed myself to my feet and grabbed hold of the creature’s tail, hauling it up and looking closely at it, making sure to keep the poisonous barb on the tail away from my face. The manticore was still screeching, swiping it’s paws at me in an attempt at defence. With a smirk, I realised that the baby wasn’t even old enough to have claws yet, and monetarily debated letting it go. Then my stomach rumbled.

I loved to fight, and killing was second nature to me, but even I wasn’t a fan of killing children. However, when the crunch came, my stomach was empty, and I was holding easy food in my paw already. It was almost too easy.

Reaching forward with my free paw, I grabbed hold of the baby manticores head, roughly twisting it. The manticore went silent almost immediately, and a small part of me hoped that it hadn’t felt much pain when its neck was snapped. The rest of me however was more interested in feeding, and in the absence of fire, it would have to do as it was.

Bringing the manticore to my mouth, I began to tear chunks of the meat off, savouring the flavour as blood flowed down my chin and into my fur. I knew I had to find out where I was today, but right now, I was content with simply pulling whatever meat I could off this things bones.

Eventually I discarded the picked bones onto the cave floor and sighed, keeping a small rib in my paw to pick my teeth with as I looked out into the forest. I cast my mind back to the last minutes of the battle against the humans and my pack…ex-pack mates. My aching body made sure I couldn’t forget the battle with Gadburg, but it was Reyna who was drawing most of my attention.

“Freak,” I whispered softly. The word itself was next to meaningless to me nowadays, but she’d never called me that. In all the years we’d known each other, fought beside each other, she had never once looked down on me.

As I stared blankly into the distance, I felt an odd warmth flow through my right cheek, and slowly raised a finger, pulling it away and expecting to simply see a drop of blood from somewhere. Instead I saw a single tear resting on the hard flesh. For a long time I simply looked at it, my face slowly contorting into different moods, from confusion to acceptance, and finally, rage. Clenching my fist, I let out a snarl as I destroyed the tear forever, before drawing my sword.

I was going to find out where I was, no matter how many creatures I had to cut my way through, and how many long, cold nights I had to sit through. And when I found out, I was going to return home and personally tear Gadburg, Reyna and every other coward of the Dawn Tooth limb from limb. Maybe then the rest of the pack would fall in line, and if not, then there were always the other packs. Maybe if I slaughtered enough Wolfen, the remainder would fall in line. Ogma the Wolf King. It had a nice ring to it.

That thought on my mind I broke into a run, hacking through anything that would hinder my movements. Leaving a trail of half-cut trees and crushed foliage in my wake I made my way towards the only thing I could think of, the highest ground. It took me what I could only assume was hours to finally find the tallest hill, and even when I had got there, there were still trees in the way which had to be scaled. More than once I tried to scale the thick trunks, only to grab hold of a weak branch and crash to the forest floor again, but eventually I managed to reach the top, breaking through the forest canopy and seeing the unimpeded sky for the first time since I had woken up.

Holding the top of the massive tree with one paw, I eased my way out onto one of the thicker branches and stared out at the horizon, taking in the vast expanse of trees all around me that made up the forest. I had seen many forests in my time, and even heard of something called a jungle far to the south of the Wolfen lands, but this forest confused me. I’d only ever seen this number of trees in the Ironwood’s, the forest grove that stood tall and proud beside the Dawn Tooth Pack village, and my first thought was I was there, but I knew I couldn’t be there.

I had lived beside the Ironwood’s for my entire life, hunted in it for almost the same length of time, and in all that time I had never known the landscape to be any colour apart from white. The lack of snow told me I couldn’t be in the Ironwood, or anywhere in the north for that matter, which meant I had to be in the south. Looking out at the expanse of trees again, I shook my head. The trees were wrong, the type and the number only being found in the north, and yet the lack of snow only being found in the south. It was almost as if someone had taken the best aspects of both half’s of Aedrides and pushed them together into what now lay before me. Even Rayna wasn’t that powerful.

Was she?

I could already see the sun starting to set, and knew what the encroaching night would bring. I longed for the feeling of the moon on my fur once more, to feel its power flow into my muscles, making me run faster, jump higher and fight harder, but I also knew of the creatures that came out at night. I needed sleep, and I needed shelter, and I wasn’t going to get that at the top of the tree.

Releasing my grip of the trunk, I dropped to the floor, crouching low to try and avoid any damage to my legs. Even as I landed I knew I had miscalculated, a jolt of pain shooting up my right leg, starting from my ankle. Grunting, I gingerly put weight on it, wincing in pain, before snarling and forcing myself to walk as if there was nothing wrong with me. The pain was just a barrier, and I would get through it without showing weakness to anyone.

Following the path I had cut into the forest on my way up the hill, I began to make my way back towards the cave I had spent last night in. Tomorrow would bring more exploring and hunting. If I didn’t know where I was, I would have to assume I’d be here for a while. If that was going to be the case, I’d have to lay down a few laws to the creatures of this forest. Laws written in blood.

Twilight groaned as she trotted down the staircase in front of the Ponyville town centre for what seemed like the millionth time that week. She had thought being Celestia’s star student at the Royal Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns had been a difficult job, and she had known being a princess would be even more of a challenge, but nothing had prepared her for the veritable minefield that she found herself stuck in at the moment. Not only was she having to juggle both the new schooling system and the new guard detachment, but she was also having to content with the political fallout of having a castle literally spring from the ground in the wake of Tirek’s defeat. Politicians who felt cheated for one reason or another, ponies who had owned the land the castle now occupied and builders unions who felt cheated out of a job were all piling up around her, burying her under even more paperwork. Add to the equation trying to still fit in the occasional meeting with her friends and getting updates from Fluttershy about the search she’d been focusing on for the past two days, and it all rounded up to one Alicorn getting next to no hours of sleep a week. Oh, and Cadence was due to be arriving the next day. Oh joy.

Twilight began to slowly trot towards the Hayburger shack, intending to attempt to eat away her frustration, before she remembered that Spike would be there on another one of his dates with Sweetie Belle. While he hadn’t said explicitly that he minded Twilight seeing them, Twilight was good at reading in between the lines, plus the fact that she would have felt incredibly awkward seeing him on a date anyway.

Sighing, Twilight turned and began to walk back towards her castle, her head hanging low to the ground as she plodded along the cobbled roads of Ponyville, before something caught her eye that made her stand bolt upright. The door to her castle was wide open, exposing the inside of the castle to the world. She knew from experience just how heavy the doors were, which ruled out wind, and Spike was with Sweetie Belle, which meant it wasn’t him being careless again either.

She slowly trotted forward, poking her head into her castle and peering inside, trying to see who or what had opened the door, before cautiously advancing towards the kitchen where she could see a light, one she clearly remembered turning off.

Looking inside, she was initially greeted by an empty room. Trotting inside, she carefully looked around the room, before raising her voice.

“I don’t know who you are, but I’m warning…”

She stopped as a shadow fell across her and she whirled around, her horn already glowing as she charged a spell. Even as she did though she could already feel another spell charging, and braced herself before firing off her own spell.

The spell impacted harmlessly with a shield spell glowing with a soft purple light. Twilight instantly recognised the colour of the spell and dived forward just as the shield dropped, tackling her brother into a tight hug.

“Not the warmest of welcomes Twily,” Shining Armour chuckled, returning the hug.

“Well maybe you shouldn’t have broken into my house,” Twilight shot back, releasing her grip and helping Shining back to his hooves.

Shining nodded slowly as he looked around the room, letting out a soft whistle. “Not bad sis, not bad at all.”

“Not quite as good as the Crystal Palace though,” Twilight pointed out.

“True, but for a first castle it’s impressive.”

Twilight rolled her eyes slightly, before turning the light off in the kitchen and trotting past Shining. “Come on, we can talk in the throne room. You are addressing a princess after all.”

“Yes your majesty,” Shining Armour mock saluted, before following on after his sister as they headed to the throne room, Twilight taking a seat on the throne emblazoned with her Cutie Mark while Shining took a seat in Applejack throne. “Cosy.”

“Glad one of thinks so then,” Twilight looked around the room. “I’m glad you could make it Shiny, although I didn’t think you’d be down here for another couple of days when Cadence comes down.”

“I was close by anyway when I got your letter,” Shining explained. “Celestia had asked me to sit in on a council meeting in Manehatten. Apparently they needed a representative from all of Equestria’s allied nations and I offered to come. As I was only there I thought I’d come down earlier than Cadence and help you with your problem.”

“Thanks for coming down,” Twilight smiled. “Trying to pick out guards isn’t as easy as I first thought.”

“That it isn’t,” Shining nodded knowingly. “Being a guard isn’t easy, most ponies don’t appreciate how hard training has to be, and when they do, well they usually drop out.”

“I know,” Twilight groaned. “I had so many ponies sign up to go to Canterlot for pre-training, and almost all of them have dropped out now. Am I doing something wrong?”

“Like I said Twily, this is a hard process, but I’ll do what I can to help,” Shining smiled, getting to his hooves. “When was training supposed to start?”

“Tomorrow,” Twilight got up and walked up beside her brother. “All the documents I’ve prepared for training are in the back rooms. I’ll show you.”

“I think that will be good,” Shining nodded, following after Twilight once more. “I’ll look over what you’ve got, make suggestions and help with the beginning of training. With your permission of course.”

“You have it.”

“Thanks little sis. So who are your training staff anyway?”

“Celestia sent down Lieutenant Sentinel Shield,” Twilight answered after a moment’s recollection. “She said he was very good at helping with new recruits.”

“Sentinel? That guy?” Shining laughed. “Oh those recruits aren’t going to know what hit them.”

I groaned as I trudged back into the cave, my blood-flecked sword dragging along behind me, loosely held in my right hand, while my left hand held the fruits of my hunt, a strange crocodile with the skin on its back made of rock and stone. I hadn’t been able to get through its armour initially, but luckily its stomach had been much more susceptible to my sword, and it was now dinner.

I threw the dropped the creature down by the bones of the manticore child, before dropping to the floor myself and groaning. The hunt certainly hadn’t been the easiest I had ever been on, and I had a few more cuts to add to my collection from where I’d got careless. My wounds I’d gained in the battle against the humans and Gadburg were still raw and painful to the touch, and I was struggling to put weight on my ankle, but I wouldn’t get anywhere by lying down and crying about it, nor was the world going to give me anything on a silver platter. I’d learned long ago that survival only owed itself to the fittest and the strongest creatures, and if I had to kill every creature in this forest to prove I was strongest before I could find out where I was, then so be it.

Looking across at the corpse, I began to cut away what meat I could from the rocky outer skin, before removing what I could of the bones. It was long and difficult work, made all the harder because of my lack of knowledge of this creature, but eventually I had two piles beside me, one of edible meat and organs, while the bones were added to the small pile from before to gnaw on later. I found myself once again wishing for fire, and part of me regretted never learning how to make one, but just like whining over my injuries wouldn’t help anyone, whining about my inability to make fire wouldn’t help me in the slightest.

Leaning back on the small pile of leaves I had collected to soften the floor I was sleeping on I grabbed one of the bits of meat and bit into it, a bit more blood rolling down my chin and adding to the crimson mass of matted fur. I let out a soft chuckle as I thought that if Rayna could see me now she’d probably have a fit, before forcing me to wash. Now there was something I really wasn’t going to miss.

Letting out a louder laugh, I began to gorge myself on yet more meat, before suddenly finding myself flying across the cave, slamming into the rock wall before I knew what was happening. Looking round, I saw something dart in front of me, before letting out a scream of pain as something stabbed into my stomach, hauling me off my feet and tossing me across the cave once more, sending me bouncing across the rock before I finally came to a halt just outside my temporary home.

I was panting hard now, my breathes coming in short sharp bursts as I tried to steady myself, getting to my knees and spitting out broken teeth, before clutching my stomach with my hand. I felt a warmth on my arm instantly as blood soaked the fur again, except this time the blood was mine. I looked up just in time to see the creature that had attacked me before barrelling towards me, and I instantly recognised it as a Bull Manticore, before its head slammed into my stomach and threw me back again.

Landing in a heap I forced myself to stand up swaying from side for side as I reached for my sword, only to catch a glimpse of it still in the cave, sitting beside another Manticore. Cursing myself for letting it leave my side I weakly raised my arms as the first Manticore charged again. When it hit me, the spikes on my gauntlets dug deep into its flesh drawing a roar from its own lips, before I was once again tossed aside.

Scrambling back to my feet I began to stumble through the forest, crashing to the floor a few times before forcing myself back up again. I could hear the Manticore behind me, and I did not want to be caught again. I was embarrassed by the events, running from my prey, but my mind was already clouding from the blows to my head and I had to act now.

Leaping at a tree, I dug my claws into the bark, howling in pain as my chest tightened as I climbed, finally reaching a thick branch and sitting down on it, resting against the trunk as I peered down at the Manticore. The creature was glaring up at me, its tail swinging from side to side, the tip covered in blood, and for the first time I looked down at my stomach wound.

It was deep, a massive circular puncture wound with blood oozing out. Luckily for me it looked like it was the dark kind of blood, not the light stuff, which I remembered was a good sign, but right now I really didn’t find much comfort in that. I also saw a green liquid smeared inside the wound and in the blood. I could feel the venom already setting to work, my vision going dark around the edges, and I almost fell out of the tree, only staying put as I dug my claws in once more.

Looking down again I saw the other Manticore walking towards the Bull, and silently cursed as I drew connections between those from my world and this world. It was a female, and considering the Bull was a male and they were together, it was probably safe to assume that they had bonded. Considering the fact that they were both here, it didn’t take me long to draw connections between the dead baby, and what had to be its parents.

“Real cleaver Ogma,” I grunted, before glancing at the cave again. I could see my sword in there, and knew that I would need it if I wanted to get out of this alive. With another grunt of pain I reached behind my back and pulled my shield out, slipping the unfamiliar object onto my left arm. Hopefully the metal would stop the Manticores, otherwise this would be a fairly short plan.

Groaning I released my claw-hold on the tree, before leaning to the side and plummeting downwards. The Manticores both looked surprised as I fell towards them, not moving until it was too late. With a roar I landed on the head of the Bull Manticore, knocking it to the floor as the female bore down on me.

Raising my shield I managed to catch her teeth, before she reared back and stabbed downwards with her tail, the tip denting my shield. With a roar she tried again and again as I felt the Bull Manticore move beneath me. Taking a deep breath, I rolled to the side just as her tail arced down again. Instead of slamming into the shield again, the poisonous barb slammed down into the neck of the Bull Manticore as I stumbled away, dropping my shield as I jumped onto all fours, concentrating solely on getting to the cave.

I could already hear the anguish filled roars of the female from behind me, before they were replaced my roars of anger and a heavy pounding of feet behind me. I didn’t dare look back as I approached my sword, and for all I knew, each second could be my last, even as I drew closer to my sword.

With a roar I dived forward, screaming out in pain as I rolled across the floor, grabbing my sword and turning to face the Manticore, holding my sword outwards in both hands. The Manticore had been right behind me, and hadn’t expected me to stop so suddenly. Even so it tried to stop, digging its paws into the floor. If it had been outside it might have been able to stop, but now it just slid on the lose stones on the floor before slamming into my sword.

It roared in pain as the pair of us slid backwards, my sword driving forward as I forced it to go deeper into the Manticore. Its movements were already getting weaker, but so were mine, the added weight driving me to my knees. With a last scream I pushed upwards, my sword piercing through the Manticores back even as its tail came down and slammed into my leg.

Panting, I felt my grip on my sword loosen as I fell back, the Manticore falling on top of me. It wasn’t moving, and I allowed myself a weak smirk, running my tongue over my broken teeth, before my head lolled back and my world went dark.

Fluttershy carefully trotted around the entrance to a rabbit warren, before continuing on deeper into the Everfree Forest. She had very rarely been this deep into the forest, having past the castle of the Two Sisters hours ago. Usually she would have had to be heading back to Ponyville already if she wanted to be back before nightfall, but this time she had Discord to help with protection on the way back. He had said that he couldn’t teleport properly in the Everfree Forest if he was carrying other ponies as well, but the added security of having him there meant Fluttershy could stay out in the forest longer to search for the wounded creature.

“So Fluttershy, how long are we planning on keeping this search up?” Discord asked, floating beside Fluttershy. “Not that I’m not immensely enjoying our daily walks, but I do believe we wanted to try and find some rare flowers which only bloom every five years.”

“Oh I do what to see them,” Fluttershy nodded. “But if there’s an injured animal I need to help it. If that means that I’ve got to wait another five years to see the Purple Spotted Orchid then that’s just what I’ll have to do.”

Angel looked up at Discord and stuck his tongue out, before unfolding his arms and hugging Fluttershy’s mane, shooting another smirk at Discord. Discord glared back at the rabbit, before nodding. “Of course Fluttershy. We can’t leave an injured animal out in the Everfree on its own. After all, helping animals is what you do.”

“I’m so glad you understand Discord,” Fluttershy smiled, before looking over at the bear who was accompanying them as he stood up on his back legs and sniffed the air, before covering his nose and whining softly. Fluttershy quickly trotted towards the bear, laying a hoof on his back. “What’s wrong?”

The bear moaned softly, before pointing into the tree’s, Angel quickly hopping off Fluttershy’s back and bounding into the forest, disappearing from view for a few seconds, before returning and beckoning for the others to follow.

“Looks like the bra…I mean ‘little darling’ has found something,” Discord glared at Angel before looking at Fluttershy. “I think we should look at this and then head home. I know you don’t like to be out here at night.”

“No, I don’t,” Fluttershy shook her head, before trotting forward, poking her head through the tree’s branches and instantly seeing a massive path gouged out of the forest floor, strewn with fallen leaves and branches. “There’s a path here Discord, looks like Angel could have found the creatures trail.”

“Finally did something right then,” Discord muttered, before looking at the bear. “Come on, or do you want to learn the unicycle instead?”

The bear instantly hurried after Fluttershy, shaking his head as he ran past a chuckling Discord who floated after the group, disappearing from reality before popping up next to Fluttershy again, a large magnifying clutched in his right paw as a few bubbles floated out of his pipe. “Now, to accurately track this beastie we will need clues, evidence, more clues! Fluttershy, begin dusting for finger prints while I look for hair fibres.”

“Discord, I don’t think we need to,” Fluttershy pointed out. “We can just follow the path. And what’s a finger print?”

“Ask Grissom,” Discord shrugged, before his pipe and magnifying glass disappeared and he struck a pose, pointing down the path. “Onwards my fellow explorers. Let us find and treat this injured beastie.”

Rolling her eyes, Fluttershy followed on after Discord, making sure that they were still heading in the right direction. By the way the branches had fallen, she could see that it had been quite large and not really caring about making a mess. There were also drag marks on both sides of the main path, one thick and one extremely thin. She didn’t know what either one of them had been made by, but she wanted to find out.

Eventually the forest began to clear slightly, and an odd odour began to fill Fluttershy’s nose. As it got stronger, the bear began to whine again, shaking his head.

“What’s the matter Kodac?” Fluttershy asked softly, rushing to the bear’s side again, and receiving a few low growls and snorts in response. “A strange smell? Yes, I can smell it too, but we’ve got to keep going.” Kodac shook his head again, taking a step backwards as Fluttershy sighed. “If you don’t want to come any further then of course you can wait here. Just be careful, you don’t want to wander off and get lost now do you?”

The bear shook its head before turning and walking a little way down the trail again and sitting down. Walking further into the clearing, Fluttershy noticed that the smell was getting stronger as she walked towards the rock wall, before she suddenly froze, her pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks as she focused on a sleeping Manticore.

“D-Discord?” she whispered, the Draconequus appearing beside her, covering her eyes with his tail.

“I don’t think you want to go over there Fluttershy,” he shook his head, his voice taking on an eerily serious tone.

“I know, it’s a Manticore,” Fluttershy replied.

“Was,” Discord corrected her.

“Was?” Fluttershy asked in confusion. “What do you mean wa…”

Her ears instantly flattened against her head as she backed away from the creature, expecting to stop when she reached the rock wall, only to find herself backing into a cave, her hoof stepping in something warm and sticky. She froze again, the fur on her back standing on end as she took a deep breath.

It was a mistake and she realised it the second after it was too late. The smell that had been strong outside was overwhelming in the cave, and she stumbled forward, tripping over a lose rock and slipping backwards, landing on something soft and wet. Whipping her head round, Fluttershy found herself lying on top of a dead Manticore, blood still leaking out of a wound on its back. There was something beneath the dead Manticore, but Fluttershy didn’t care what it was.

Letting out an ear pitching scream, Fluttershy bolted out of the cave, her mane and tail streaming behind her as she sped past Discord. The Draconequus looked after her in shock, staring at the blood that covered most of her back, before sprinting after her, scooping up Angel and the bear as he went, before grabbing hold of her as well and running through the forest, heading back to Ponyville. He hadn’t seen what was in the cave, but given Fluttershy’s condition, it hadn’t been anything good.

I groaned as something screamed beside me, before I heard footsteps running out of the cave. Forcing my eyes open, I was just in time to see a yellow and pink… thing, running away from the cave, before an odd mismatched creature grabbed hold of it and ran off into the forest.

Groaning, I forced my arms upwards, the Manticore rolling off my body and pulling its tail free from my leg. I roared in pain, before clenching my teeth and forcing myself to stand up. The pain in my stomach and leg was indescribable, and I almost passed out again as my vision swam in and out of focus, but I forced myself to stay awake, grabbing hold of the handle of my sword.

With a grunt I ripped my sword free before sheathing it on my back and kneeling down. My head was swimming, and reason told me I should wait until I knew whatever poison the Manticores had in their tails and what was now in me, but something about the screaming creature had captured my attention. Logic had never been my strongest point, and now wasn’t going to be any different.

Leaning, well, falling, down, I crawled towards the Manticores mouth, grabbing a tooth and ripping it free, before stumbling towards the Bull Manticore. Aside from the bloody dent in the side of its head, it had a large puncture wound like I had in my stomach in its neck. I let out a laugh, which quickly turning into a choking cough, before I managed to free a tooth from its mouth as well, slipping them both into the pouch on my armour.

Staggering to my shield, I picked it up and placed it back on my back, before slowly stumbling forward, my leg threatening to give out at any moment as I followed the trail the weird creatures had made.

3. Cooking up a Storm

They cower, we carve.

Twilight smiled happily as she trotted towards the Ponyville train station, humming to herself as she approached her destination. She had slept well last night, for once not waking up due to nightmares or strange feelings. She had only been roused from her sleep by the sound of two stallions shouting, which she had quickly discovered were coming from her brother and Sergeant Shield, both of whom seemed to be screaming blue murder at the fresh recruits arrayed in the castles courtyard.

Twilight let out a soft chuckle as she reached the platform, sitting down on one of the benches to wait for the train from the Crystal Empire. Shiny was certainly right about what he had said yesterday, the recruits really hadn’t known what had hit them.

She was wrenched out of her thoughts by a rapidly approaching screeching, quickly getting louder, to the point where Twilight had to cover her ears, finally stopping as the huge train pulled into the station. Letting out a sigh of relief, Twilight got back to her hooves, trotting towards the door as it slid open.

There was the usual contingent of guards leaving first, taking their position around the door, before finally Cadence appeared, smiling as she walked towards Twilight.

“Oh Twilight,” she beamed, before jumping forward slightly. “Sunshine sunshine, lady bugs awake.”

“Clap your hooves and do a little shake,” Twilight laughed, finishing off the rhyme, before wrapping her forehooves around Cadence’s neck. “It’s good to see you Cadence.”

“It’s good to see you too,” Cadence smiled back. “We really must try and meet more than a few times a year, and actually act on it this time.”

“Yes, we never seem to get enough time to ourselves, what with these,” Twilight spread her wings out. “Maybe for once we can meet without something going…”

“No, don’t jinx it,” Cadence cut in with a giggle. “For once I’d like to have a day without the usual sort of things happening.”

“So would I,” Twilight nodded with a soft chuckle.

“Well then, I guess we should be getting off the platform, we don’t want to get in the way of the other ponies.”

Twilight nodded, keeping pace beside Cadence as the two walked through the town, chatting about what they had been up to since they had last met, and occasionally stopping at a shop or stall of some description, including the ponies in their good mood, and being sure to leave those who they had spoken to in a better mood than they had been when they started.

“Even after all these years I can’t wrap my head around your magic,” Twilight smiled as they left yet another pony smiling broadly. “I mean, especially as you were a Pegasus before you became an alicorn. Even I can’t handle sentiment spells quite like you can.”

“You mean there’s a school of magic that you haven’t mastered yet?” Cadence faked a gasp. “By Celestia, this will not do. Quickly, call Spike, get to the li…brary.”

Cadence trailed off as she mentioned Golden Oaks, looking ahead as she saw where Twilight had been walking subconsciously, her eyes falling on the ruin of the tree. Cadence looked across at Twilight, the younger mare letting out a sigh as a small smile worked its way onto her muzzle.

“It was hard to come to terms with it at first,” Twilight admitted. “But things have got better, and I’ll always have a piece of it in my new home to remember it by.”

“How so?” Cadence asked, putting a wing around Twilight.

“Come on, it’s easier to show you rather than to explain it,” Twilight slipped out from under Cadence’s wing as she spoke, breaking into a trot as she headed towards the outskirts of town where her castle was clearly visible. “Plus this will be as good a time as any to show you around. You showed me around your palace, it is only fair that I return the favour to you.”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Cadence smiled. “Lead on.”

I crashed to the floor for what felt like the hundredth time in the last minute, my vision swimming in and out of focus as I stood up once more, swaying unsteadily for a moment before walking forward once more, my sword carving out a large gouge in the land as I dragged it behind me.

I remembered this feeling well, the one that usually came after a feast in the Packs feasting halls, but unlike those times I didn’t have the solace of the party to remember, only the throbbing headache that I was living through now.

Pausing, I sniffed the air, trying to differentiate between the smell of my own blood and the distinct spell of the two creatures I had seen running from the cave. One was a soft smell, a mixture of scents from different animals, while the other was an incredibly sweet one which I could not put my finger one, while at the same time being a mismatch of other scents. It was mostly that scent I was tracking, it being so far removed from anything else I had ever smelt that even I in my current state couldn’t miss it.

I crashed through the undergrowth as I stumbled forward once more, barely noticing as the dense tree cover began to thin out, until eventually I was able to walk at full height without knocking into tree branches, and then, just shortly afterwards, I found the abrupt end of the forest.

I was hesitant at first, looking out at the land beyond. Since I had arrived in this forest, I had stayed within its confines. Now though, I had the opportunity to leave it, and yet I felt like going forward would pitch me into even more trouble than going back in to face the beasts once more.

I almost turned tail then and there, content to simply lick my wounds and follow the scents another day, but a new smell hit me, snaking its way into my nostrils and pulling my head back round. Instantly drool began to fill my mouth and leak out of the sides in big drops as I breathed in once more, filling my lungs with the heavenly smell, before heading towards it. There was only one thing that smelt that good.

Cooked flesh.

“Well, it’s certainly impressive,” Cadence whistled softly as she and Twilight finally finished the tour of the castle, stopping just outside of the doors to the main hall.

“That’s one word for it,” Twilight nodded. “I saved the best till last though.”

With that, Twilight threw open the doors with a pulse of magic, allowing Cadence to see inside, before the pink alicorn gasped in amazement. “Twilight, is that…”

“Part of Golden Oaks,” Twilight smiled happily, trotting towards the suspended branch and looking at the gems hanging beneath it. “Each one of the gems holds a memory of my old home. It made settling in here much easier.”

“Your friends’ idea?”

“With a little help from Spike, yes,” Twilight nodded happily.

“He must have grown up a lot to suggest something like this,” Cadence looked around as she spoke. “Where is he anyway? I half expected him to be in the kitchen making another gem cake.”

“No, he’s off with Sweetie Belle at the moment,” Twilight chuckled. “I think he finally realised that he and Rarity had too much of an age and maturity gap. He seems happier though, which is the most important thing.”

“I’m glad he’s enjoying himself then,” Cadence nodded. “Young love is such a beautiful thing. Even when between two species as different as a pony…”

“Twilight? Are you home?” Spike called out, his voice echoing around the halls of the castle, before he poked his head around the door. “Oh, hey Cadence.”

“Your ears must be burning,” Twilight teased. “Where’s Sweetie? I thought you were spending the day with her?”

“He is,” Sweetie Belle piped up, hobbling around the corner behind Spike.

“Oh Sweetie, what happened?” Twilight asked, hurrying over towards Sweetie Belle and taking a closer look at her left foreleg, the usually white fur singed and blackened, and in some place burnt away completely, revealing angry red burns beneath. The smell was repugnant, but Twilight was actually used to it by now, coming with the territory of growing up with a dragon. “Spike? Did you do this?”

“Yeah,” Spike groaned, looking down at his feet. “I was trying to show off and…”

“It’s my fault,” Sweetie Belle butted in. “I was asking Spike about being a dragon and asked him to show me his fire. I got a bit too close, and well…” she winced as she held up her hoof.

“It’s fine,” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Spike, take Sweetie Belle into the kitchen and run some cold water for her. I’ll go and find some bandages.”

Nodding, Spike lead Sweetie Belle out of the room towards the kitchen, leaving Twilight alone with Cadence, the younger mare sighing and rubbing her temple with a forehead. “I knew it was too good to be true, this day has been far too quiet. Do you mind waiting here while I go and…”

“Twilight?!” Pinkie Pie shouted, appearing in front of Twilight in next to no time, the door still swinging as she pushed past it. “Twilight! Twilight! Twilight!”

“Pinkie?!” Twilight shouted to make herself heard, putting both hooves on Pinkie’s shoulders and forcing her to stop bouncing. “Calm down, please.”

“Calm? Calm?!” Pinkie shouted, shaking Twilight. “How can I be calm when I keep doing this?”

Pinkie let go of Twilight as her entire body shook violently enough for her to rise off the ground, and continuing for almost ten seconds before she fell back to the floor, groaning and holding her head. “Oh make it stop.”

“Is she alright?” Cadence whispered, moving closer to Twilight.

“It’s her Pinkie Sense,” Twilight explained. “Don’t try and figure out how it works or you’ll drive yourself crazy. Just accept the fact that Pinkie can sometimes predict the future.”

Twilight turned back to Pinkie, helping her back to her hooves. “Are you ok Pinkie? That looked like a pretty big doozy.”

“It was,” Pinkie nodded, her face stony. “Something big is going to happen soon.”

“You’ve had a doozy before, and you were happy about that,” Twilight pointed out.

“Yes, but this time it’s different. This time it’s going to be something bad.”

“Bad how?” Cadence asked in a concerned voice. “We had Sweetie Belle come in a few moments ago with some bad burns. Could that be what this doozy is about?”

“No way, hosay, this is going to be something huge,” Pinkie shook her head so quickly it turned into a blur for a few moments, before she stopped, her eyes still spinning in her head. “Mark my words, this will…”

“Twilight! Please tell me you’re home,” came the familiar voice of Discord.

“Oh, what now,” Twilight groaned in exasperation. “I’m in here, Discord, what do you…want?”

Twilight trailed off as Discord entered the room, her eyes instantly falling upon Fluttershy, shaking violently as Discord held her tight. More worryingly however was the fact that both Discord and Fluttershy were covered in blood and dirt, and that Discord himself looked gaunt at whatever he had seen.

“F-Fluttershy? Are you ok?” Twilight stammered.

Fluttershy didn’t answer, not looking around straight away, before finally forcing herself to look at Twilight through tear filled eyes and giving her the tiniest of nods, before burying her face back into Discords body. Taking up the question, Discord looked down at Twilight, his signature humour devoid from his voice in a tone Twilight had only heard him use once, when he had been betrayed by Tirek.

“We were looking for that creature in the Everfree Forest. We managed to go in deep and find the Cawing Cliffs quickly, and Fluttershy saw a dead manticore just outside of a cave. I…I tried to stop her going into the cave to the cave, but she wasn’t listening properly. She tripped and landed in a pool of blood from another Manticore, she hasn’t said a word since.”

“Oh Fluttershy,” Twilight gasped, wrapping her hooves around Fluttershy and pulling her into a hug, not caring about the blood she got on her own fur. “It will be ok, I…”

“There’s more,” Discord cut in. “I don’t know what it was that killed the manticores, but I saw a shield on the floor, and a sword was through the back of one of the manticores.”

“You mean somepony did this?” Cadence gasped. “They could be hurt, we need to go and find them too.”

“It wasn’t a pony,” Discord shook his head. “I’m not as smart as I once was, but the cave and the clearing bore the marks of a warrior, or a monster, much bigger than a pony. And worse, I think it followed us.”

Twilight and Cadence stiffened at Discords words, the colour draining from their faces, before Twilight managed to find her voice, keeping it level as she forced herself not to panic. “Discord, please take Fluttershy upstairs to the bathroom and was the blood off her, then take her to my room, make sure she’s comfortable. Cadence, go and find Shining Armour, I think we should call out the guard, just in case.”

“Where are you going?” Discord asked as Twilight headed towards the kitchen, cadence disappearing out of the back of the main room towards the training yards.

“To find Spike,” Twilight replied. “The princesses have to be informed about this as soon as possible. The Tartarus gate is in that forest, and if it’s a monster like you said, it could be from there. Who’s to say that it was just Tirek that escaped when Cerberus disappeared?”

With that, Twilight took off at a gallop, her hoof steps echoing throughout the halls as Discord hurried towards the stairs, making sure not to jolt Fluttershy too much, not wanting to traumatise her any more than she already had been.

My slow loping stride slowly broke into a haphazard run, adrenalin coursing through my system and making me forget my pain in favour of the idea of cooked meat. Eating food raw was all well and good, and I would be lying if it wasn’t gratifying, but cooked food? The smell, the taste, the texture, it was better in every way, and I would be a fool to pass up the opportunity to get some of it, regardless of what stood in my way.

It was not long before I finally crested a small hill, the smell of meat growing stronger with each step, and allowing me to look down into a valley, laying eyes on the cluster of buildings nestled within. Almost immediately I shied away, covering my eyes and snarling as the bright colours assaulted my senses.

Finally, I cracked my eyes open once more, glaring down at the offending colours and snarling once again. The buildings were almost painful to look at, and the faint smells weren’t much better. What really caught my eyes however were the inhabitants.

Never in all my life had I seen anything quite like these creatures, even back home. The closest I could get to them were the four legged creatures that some of the humans occasionally rode into battle to allow them to keep up with my kind, but they were much larger, as well as much less stupidly coloured. Pink, blue and every colour in between were displayed bellow me, as well as some more interesting differences, namely the odd horns some of them sported, while others bore wings upon their backs.

For a moment I was stunned, before a gust of wind brought the scent of meat back to my nose, and I let out a loud, bellowing roar.

Before my cry had died in my throat, I was running once more, sheathing my sword and switching onto all fours. In the forest I had wanted my sword ready at a moment’s notice, even if that meant sacrificing speed, but these creatures in the village did not look like they would pose any threat.

My roar rolled around the surrounding hills, and as I got closer to the town I could hear screaming breaking out as the creatures scattered before me. I barrelled past the first ones, knocking those who didn’t get out of my way in time aside without breaking stride, before my ankle gave out for a second, sending me crashing through a building.

Dazed, I managed to push myself to all fours again, grabbing hold of what was left of the wall and pulling myself out. I could smell smoke as I got up, but I ignored it, and the strange screams of the creatures as I sniffed the air once again.

It was not hard to discern the smell of meat from the disgustingly sweet smells that surrounded the rest of the town, and my eyes eventually settled upon a strange castle, shaped like a tree, on the far side of the town. Licking my lips, I headed straight for it, my vision narrowing in until all I could see was the castle.

Spike blew a puff on green fire on the scroll Twilight had hastily written, the parchment turning to pure magic and quickly flitting out of one of the open windows, heading towards Canterlot.

“And now, we wait,” Twilight sighed, looking at Sweetie Belle. “How are you feeling?”

“It hurts,” Sweetie winced. “I don’t suppose you have anything for the smell, do you, Princess?”

“Sadly, no,” Twilight shook her head. “Spike, keep an eye on her. I need to go and check on my brother and Fluttershy.”

Ducking out of the room, Twilight trotted out of the room, heading towards the training yard and looking out from the balcony above it, quickly catching sight of Cadence and her brother and spreading her wings, landing beside the pair.

“How is the training going, Shinny?” Twilight asked, looking at the twenty or so ponies milling around the yard.

“I told you Sergeant Shield would get them into shape, and I meant it,” Shining Armour nodded. “Now what’s this about you wanting to deploy them now? They’re nowhere near finished, you know that right?”

“I do, Shinny,” Twilight nodded. “But if Discord is right then we could come under attack at any moment from a monster. The princesses have already been informed but the common ponies deserve to see that we can protect them.”

A roar echoed across the training yard as Twilight finished speaking, unlike anything that any in the yard had heard, and causing Twilights fur to stand on end. A few seconds later, the screams of ponies joined the howl, breaking Shining Armour and Sergeant Sentinel Shield from their shock at almost exactly the same time.

“Right you lazy dogs! Pick up your weapons and strap up your armour!” Sentinel roared, slipping his own helmet one and turning to Shining Armour, the white Stallion slipping his own purple helmet over his head. “Prince Armour, we march at your command.”

“Then what are you waiting for, Sergeant?” Shining asked, drawing his sword with his magic. “I will be with you presently, deploy the men to the streets and hold back whatever is attacking.” He then turned towards Twilight and Cadence. “Cadence dear, I would like you to stay in the castle, ensure that Sweetie Belle and Fluttershy are safe. Twilly…”

“Get my friends and help,” Twilight finished for him, before spreading her wings once more. “Good luck, big brother. Sergeant, leave two unicorns with me.”

“Good luck, little sis,” Shining nodded, before galloping out of the courtyard after Sentinel and the other soldiers.

Twilight watched as her brother left, before lighting her horn, a purple shield encompassing the castle completely, and turning to the two guards. “This is a simple shield spell, a disruption spell will allow things to pass through it. I’m going to send every pony here, let them in.”

“Of course, Princess Sparkle,” one of them nodded, before Twilight took to the skies, angling towards the rising smoke that was coming from Ponyville.

I roared as I knocked a creature aside, this one wearing golden armour and carrying a tiny sword that would have only just been a dagger in my paw. The majority of them looked terrified and were clearly inexperienced, while two of them were cut from a different cloth, one wearing purple armour and the other wearing a simple gun metal grey armour, both of whom were avoiding my blows, although they were not able to get any of their own in in return.

“Wasting my time!” I roared as another creature tried to dart towards my bleeding ankle, only to have my other foot slam into his armour, denting the metal and sending him skidding across the grass.

Raising my head I looked back to my destination, before snarling. The castle was now surrounded by an odd purple bubble that certainly wasn’t there before, and considering the fact that a bird was furiously pecking at the inside of it, I assumed I wasn’t going to be able to just walk through it.

Not that that minor detail was going to stand in my way, and with another roar I leapt forward, the creatures attacking me scattering out of the way as I bounded forward. Just before I reached the bubble I dug the claws on my back paws into the ground, skidding slightly as I drew back a fist and slammed it into the shield.

It was like punching stone, and I howled in pain as my paw crumpled against its unyielding surface. Glaring down at my paw, I could see blood leaking from within my fist, and whenever I tried to move it a new lance of pain shot up my arm.

Staggering backwards I felt another stabbing pain in my foot, and saw the creature wearing the plain metal armour had used my pain to his advantage, driving his word through my foot. Screaming in rage and pain I leant down, grabbing hold of the creature with my one good hand, slamming my head into it, letting it flop in my paw.

My access to the cooked meat was now cut off, but my ability to make more wasn’t. I could smell the smoke in the air, and turning around, I quickly saw a fire blazing in the building I had crashed through earlier. Twisting my mouth into a snarling smile, I set off once again, easily outpacing the creatures around me as I headed for the fire, the unconscious one clutched tightly beside me. Large blobs of drool leaked from my mouth as I neared my prize.

Shinning Armour coughed painfully as he pushed himself back to his hooves, gingerly touching his head and wincing. He knew he was going to have a massive bruise there come the morning, but right now that was the last thing on his mind.

“On your hooves, now!” he bellowed, picking up his sword again. “That monster has got Sergeant Shield, he is not keeping him. Time to shine colts.”

“Sir, yes sir,” came the bellowed response, the soldiers quickly falling in behind Shining Armour as he galloped after the beast.

The world seemed to run quiet as Shining Armour sprinted after his stolen comrade, giving him an open mind in which to think clearly, putting the current situation in context. This creature had been living in the Everfree Forest. In that time it had killed two Manticores, and potentially a host of other creatures as well. From the looks of things it had not been easy, as the creature had been limping and trailing blood before any of the guards got to grips with it. All of this bore the trappings of a beast, and normally Shining Armour would have categorised this thing as just that, but he also didn’t know of any simple beasts that wore armour, and carried and Sword and Shield. Whatever this thing was, it was potentially intelligent, or at least able to work a forge, even while it seemed to be driven only by a very basic instinct, to eat.

It was when that thought crossed his mind that sound returned to the world as a sudden realisation about what the beast may want, and what they were heading towards.

“Double time it!” he bellowed, pushing himself even harder, despite the protests in his muscles. Shining Armour quickly began to outpace the new recruits, his newfound drive and determination pushing him harder than he thought possible.

“What’s the situation?” a familiar blue Pegasus asked as she quickly kept pace beside him.

“Bad, Rainbow,” Shining Armour grunted. “The creature has a pony, and I think he means to eat it. We’ve got to…”

“Say no more, I’ll round up the girls and…” Rainbow cut in, only to be cut off by Shining Armour once more.

“No! You and the girls are to stay away from this. That is an order.”

“No offense Shining, but we don’t take orders from you, and this is our town,” Rainbow replied, before flaring her wings and vanishing from Shining’s sight, heading towards the town hall.

Shining Armour would have liked to turn around and ensure that Rainbow Dash didn’t do anything brash, or to drag her friends into doing the same, but he didn’t have time to waste as the beast was getting closer, finally stopping by a burning building and holding a weakly struggling Sentinel Shield

“Let go of me!” he screamed, flailing a hoof wildly, but only managing to draw a roar from the creature, spit covering Sentinel. His screams of rage soon began to turn to screams of pain as the creature thrust him closer to the flames licking the building, quickly beginning to heat his armour to the point where it burnt his fur beneath.

“Beast! Release him!” Shining Armour roared, hurling his sword forward and watching it stick into his back.

The beast roared again, this time in pain, before turning to face Shining Armour, pulling Sentinel out of the fire slightly. The beast snarled, slowly reaching for its sword with its free hand. It was clearly in pain as it drew the blade, and would probably be much slower to attack, but Shining Armours own blade was still sticking out of his back, putting him at even more of a disadvantage.

Tensing up, Shining Armour lit his horn, preparing himself to fight.

I let out a sharp laugh at the folly of the tiny horse, scraping my sword against the stone ground and causing a few sparks to join the fire burning behind me. I could feel my fur beginning to singe, but it was offset by the smell of the creature behind me beginning to cook, his struggles getting weaker and weaker.

Then, I felt myself flying through the air, both the horse creature and my sword falling from my grasp as I crashed through the remaining wall of the burning building, coming to a halt on the other side. My head throbbed painfully, threatening to send me spiralling into unconsciousness, while my chest felt like I had been hit by one of Reyna’s bolts of pure magic, my skin bubbling and warping under the intense arcane powers.

I let out a small cough, watching as blood spurted from around my bitten tongue and broken gums, before my eyes focused of a group of the small horses making their way through the ruins of the house towards me, the flames seeming to wither and die with every step they took, until eventually they were arrayed in front of me.

It was hard to make out how many there were, or indeed what they looked like in my current state, but I could make out two purple blurs, one from the armour it wore, the other looking like it was its actual fur colour, while a third looked like it was a light blue. I was dimly aware of words falling from their mouths, but whether that was because of them speaking a language that I did not understand, or because of the spinning in my head I couldn’t say.

A flash of steel caught my eye, and I saw a sword hovering above one of the creatures. In an instant I was alert, and forced all my remaining strength into my legs, my mind pushing the pain as deep down as it could as I surged forward, seeming to catch the creatures before me off guard as I bounded forward once again, pausing only to scoop up my sword, before heading towards the forest, a trail of blood following behind me.

Twilight was stunned for a second, not even bothering to get up from the sprawled out position she had been thrown into when the beast ran past, her mind still working furiously to catch up with the events of the last few minutes. She had quickly found Rainbow Dash after she had left the castle, and between the pair of them and Pinkie searching on the ground, they had quickly found Rarity and Applejack, meeting up again in the centre of town, just in time to see the beast hurtle past them, a kicking and swearing pony clutched in its paw.

She usually prided herself on self-control, but when she had seen the beast actually trying to cook another pony alive, a surge of anger had over taken her, just like it had done when Tirek had destroyed her library.

Now, as then, she had acted purely on instinct, her horn almost working ahead of her as it fired off a shot of pure force. She hadn’t tried to cast any particular spell, and the result had been instantaneous, hurling the beast back with enough force to destroy the remains of the home that had been burning. She made a mental note to find out whose home it had been, before she became aware of a voice calling to her.

“Twilight? Twilight, wake up!”

Nodding, Twilight focused on Rainbows voice, slowly pushing herself to her hooves and taking in the scene around her, her eyes quickly catching sight of the trail of blood leading back towards the Everfree Forest.

“Did…did we win?” she asked, rubbing her head and groaning.

“Easy there Twi, you took quite a smack to the head back there,” Applejack cautioned her. “But yeah, ah think we did.”

“If you can call it that,” Shining Armour grunted tersely from the side, barely looking up from Sentinel Shield as he quickly stripped him of his armour. “Sentinel Shield was one of the bravest ponies I knew, one of my closest friends, and one of the best guards I ever had the honour of serving with. He’ll be lucky if he walks again, let alone fights.”

“Don’t…count…me…out…Shinny,” Sentinel wheezed, flashing the girls a toothy grin and revealing how many teeth he had lost in the fight. “Take more than…an overgrown dog…to put me down.”

“Like not staying still with a potentially broken spine,” Shinning pointed out. “Now, be quiet and lie still.” He turned to the girls, scanning them over with a practiced eye. “Are any of you hurt?”

“No, although it may take me a while to get the soot out of my mane,” Rarity pouted as the others simply shook their heads, before withering under a venomous glare from Shining Armour. “I mean, no, not at all.”

“Good. Twilight, you and the girls are to take Sentinel Shield to the Hospital, then help with crowd control,” Shining began again. “When Celestia and Luna arrive, inform me and meet me in the castle.”

With that, Shining Armour turned and galloped back in the direction of the castle, leaving the five girls and Sentinel Shield alone by the smouldering house.

“Since when does he call the shots around here?” Rainbow asked no one in particular.

“I believe considering the fact that we were just attacked means that this is a matter best commanded by someone with military experience,” Rarity countered. “He seems like the most qualified in this situation, no offense Twilight darling of course.”

“None taken,” Twilight shook her head, starring after her brother. “I’ve never seen him like this before, I’m worried. Still, he gave us a job to do, let’s get to it girls.”

Lighting her horn, Twilight carefully surrounded Sentinel Shield in a purple aura of magic, making sure to be as careful as possible as they began to take him towards the hospital. It didn’t take them long to reach their destination, Sentinel Shield being whisked away from them by a host of nurses and doctors almost as soon as they stepped hoof inside the building, leaving Twilight and the others slightly shocked in the atrium.

“Do you think he’ll be ok?” Applejack asked, grimacing slightly as she looked at the number of occupants in the waiting room.

“Are you kidding?” Pinkie bounced up and down. “I mean, did you see him after the fight? Shining was all like ‘oh he’ll never walk again’ and he was like ‘just watch me sir’, and then Shinning was all like ‘be quiet you. Girls, take him to the hospital’, then we were like…”

“Yeah, we get the picture Pinkie,” Rainbow rolled her eyes, before looking at Twilight. “Twilight? What was that thing?”

Twilight suddenly felt very self-conscious as all the noise in the room died down, all eyes turning to look at her. For a moment none of the onlookers said anything, before a small voice piped up.

“Princess Twilight? Do you know what that thing was?”

“What are we going to do, Princess?”

“Are we still safe in Ponyville?”

“Are there more of those creatures, Princess Sparkle?”

Twilight slowly raised a hoof, silencing the slew of voices as she finally organised her own thoughts. She didn’t speak quickly, instead considering every word that came out of her mouth, not wanting to incite panic if she could avoid it. More ponies had crowded towards the hospital doors now, until it seemed that the entire town was watching and listening to what Twilight was about to say.

“I don’t know. What I do know however is that Ponyville has been through worse than this a lot of times, and we’ve always come through it, together. If we just…”

“We’ve never almost had a pony die before,” a soft voice croaked out from within the crowd.

The words were softly spoken, but their effect was like throwing a pebble into a pond, ripples spreading out through the crowd as ponies began to whisper in hushed, scarred tones, until finally, somepony screamed.

That was the final straw, and almost as one, the screams of panic were taken up by the rest of the crowd, ponies beginning to run wild as the reality of this new villain besetting the town set in. Twilight and the others exchanged worried glances, before trying to raise their voices above the crowd, struggling to be heard over the din of terrified ponies.

“…please calm down.”

“Everypony stop shouting and listen…”

“If you would all just…”

“Can Everypony please…”

It was no use, and Twilight watched as ponies continued to run to and fro, bringing back painfully familiar memories of how they had reacted during the parasprite invasion or the smartypants fiasco.

“CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE!”

The words had an instantaneous effect on the ponies, and many stopped exactly where they were, even if that was mid-stride, causing a few to fall over and crash into one another, while others looked up into the sky, shielding their eyes from the almost blinding light that was descending towards them.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight beamed happily as she ran forward, stopping just in front of her old mentor. “You got my message then?”

“Indeed we did,” Celestia nodded. “And I came as fast as I could. Luna will be here shortly, she is just gathering ponies to assist us.”

Celestia quickly turned back to face the assembled, and still frozen, ponies before her, lowering her voice to a normal level this time. “Citizens of Ponyville. I understand that you may be scared, but that is no reason we must abandon our good senses. My sister is on her way as we speak, Princess Cadence is here visiting from the Crystal Empire, and my faithful student is here, just as she always has been. Whatever has beset you this day, I can think of none finer than her to help you overcome it. All I ask of you is to not panic, and to work together in harmony as I know that you can.”

Twilight watched with a smile as the ponies slowly began to move again, no longer cowed by their terror and by the appearance of Princess Celestia. Slowly, the crowd began to disperse, many returning to the hospital, while others returned home or moved towards the damaged buildings, helping the occupants in any way they could.

Satisfied that her words had had the desired effect, Celestia turned back to Twilight and her friends, her reassuring smile shifting into a concerned frown.

“I read your message, Twilight, and I came as soon as I could.”

“Thank you Princess,” Twilight nodded, before gesturing towards her castle. “I think if would be best if we spoke inside.”

“Quite,” Celestia nodded. “I am not sure that my little ponies would like what I am sure you are about to tell me.”

“Probably not,” Twilight sighed, before turning to the others. “Come on girls, let’s move out.”

“Speaking of the girls, where is Fluttershy?” Celestia asked, looking around as they began to walk towards the castle. “Or Cadence for that matter?”

“Ah was kinda wonderin’ the same thing Twi,” Applejack nodded as Pinkie and Twilight exchanged worried looks.

“Both of them are in the castle already,” Twilight answered, a soft tinge of irrational dread creeping into her stomach. “Along with Discord, Spike and your sister, Rarity?”

“Sweetie Belle is there?” Rarity asked in surprise. “Did she come to see you?”

“No,” Twilight shook her head slowly, looking at Rarity with a slightly confused look. “You mean you don’t know?”

“Know what darling?”

“Nothing, never mind,” Twilight brushed the question aside. If Rarity truly didn’t know, then it was not her place to tell Spikes and Sweetie Belles secrets, and if she did know, then there was no harm in not telling her for five minutes. “Come on, we should hurry.”

“Agreed,” Celestia nodded, a dim light surrounding her horn for a second, before vanishing once more. “My sister is on her way as we speak, with members of her guard to help ease the public’s nerves.”

Nodding in thanks, Twilight broke into a trot, the others doing the same as they headed towards the castle.