You Can't Change Nature

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.