Wolfsing

“Celestia! I demand that action be taken. A strange stallion has breached our defenses and is now wandering freely among our ponies!”

Solomen scuffed his hooves nervously, but Selena merely smiled, completely unconcerned beneath the surface, though outwardly she looked just as concerned as Cakern.

“What?” Celestia replied, looking alarmed. “What do you mean breached?”

“Just what I said! Breached! There has been a stallion that no one has seen before spending time with Wolfsing. He’s the biggest pony I’ve ever seen! They may even be working together to do…something,” Cakern hissed, fuming.

“Is that all?” Celestia answered, looking annoyed. “I know about this stallion. I’ve seen him as well, and I’ve decided that he’s no threat to Wolfsing or Canterlot. This is hardly the kind of news you should be wasting my time with.”

“Well of course he’s not a threat to Wolfsing! They’re plotting together. She’s too clever to make it obvious,” the pegasus stallion cried.

“Alright,” Celestia replied reasonably, though she was obviously tiring of his yelling. “Bring him here and I’ll see for myself. Just tell them that I called on them and I’m sure they will come. I would appreciate if you would not use force.”

“I will, Princess Celestia,” he replied, turning with a huff, and for a moment she was a bit concerned that he meant that he was using force.

“I’ll go with him,” Selena replied with an empathetic look, “to make sure he doesn’t get himself into trouble.”

“Thank you, Swallowdeath,” she answered, missing her sour look as Selena turned away. “I’m always grateful for a bit of help with these kind of things."

"I'm always grateful to help," she replied as she turned to leave, Solomen at her side. He felt relieved as soon as they were out of the room, wondering how the pony princess could have possibly miss him.

"For something that happened over nine centuries ago, before either us were born, she sure seems to dwell on what she did to her sister," Selena commented, seemingly out of nowhere.

"What happened to her? You aren't to tell me that she’s lived that long. Nobody can live that long," Solomen muttered as he walked alongside her so he wouldn't have to speak louder than he had to. He hated when Selena started talking to him like this, as if there were no chance that anyone was listening.

"Nopony," she corrected him. "For somepony that wants to stay out of sight, you certainly don't bother to blend in."

He wanted to contradict her on which one of them was responsible for his lack of blending, but held his tongue. He knew it would do him no good to argue with her, though he felt that if ‘anypony’ was trying to make him stick out, it was Selena herself. She didn’t seem interested in continuing their conversation anymore so he continued following her in silence.

Ahead of them, Selena could just barely make out what Cakern was saying. It was something about how he swore they were in the woods. He seemed to go into the forest without any worries at all, which Selena found silly of him. There were many vengeful wolves in this forest, and his silly wings would hardly carry him away fast enough if they caught him here. As it went, no wolves seemed to be around and none barred his path.

“Are you sure we should be following so close?” Solomen asked Selena quietly. “There are wolves all around us. I don’t know why they haven’t done anything yet. It’s almost as if they’ve got orders not to attack the likes of us.”

Selena glanced around, using a bit of her magic to check, and she found he was right. “Don’t worry about it. They won’t be able to come anywhere close to us even if they do choose to attack.” Her horn glowed and Solomen paused for a moment. It felt like there was a layer of silk covering him as he walked. “That will prevent them from seeing or smelling us, so we won’t have to worry about being cautious.”

Solomen nodded as he walked alongside her, still feeling uneasy though the wolves around them seemed to stop paying attention to their movement altogether. He imagined Selena’s spell also had an element to it that made those who were seeking them forget what they were looking for, because he knew for a fact that this strange pack wouldn’t simply give up on them just because they disappeared out of the blue without a cause.

They nearly ran into Cakern. He stood stunned as he walked Raisong and Wolfsing. He was standing in thick bushes, but Selena didn’t doubt that they would notice him when he was standing there, gaping like that. She knocked him out cold and he fell with a soft thump. She was glad that they didn’t hear it, though the next moment she nearly forgot about it.

As Solomen walked up beside her, he looked a bit shocked as well.

“We can definitely use this,” Selena said with a malevolent grin. “I’ll have to remember to clear Cakern’s little mind of the last few minutes as well.”

***

An hour prior, Raisong found himself rushing Wolfsing through the forest. “I’ve waited too long,” he explained, “It’s not fair of me to keep this from you much longer. Don’t worry about anyone following us either. I already told my pack not to attack any ponies they see in case they’re your friends from that castle.”

“I hardly have friends from the castle,” Wolfsing replied, though that wasn’t entirely true. She had to admit that she did care about some of them, but she didn’t think those ones would actually follow her this far. “What is this all about?”

“I can’t tell you yet. You might get upset,” Raisong warned her. “I just want you to trust me.”

She considered stopping and not moving again until he told her exactly what he was planning, but a part of her was afraid that if she did that he would turn her back on her. She couldn’t stand the thought of him leaving her, the thought of being all alone in the castle again, being doted on by Croll and harassed by Cakern.

“I promise my intentions are good,” Raisong reassured her, seeing the pain and uncertainty on her face. “I’m just really scared because I don’t think you’ll like what you see, but I promise I won’t hurt you.”

It felt strange to hear him admit that in his deep, foreboding voice that would have scared lesser ponies away, but Wolfsing was strangely reassured nonetheless. When they finally arrived at his cabin he looked nervous and agitated as he turned about. His dark, green eyes betrayed his worries despite how his face always seemed devoid of emotions. His mane seemed to shiver.

“What I’m about to show you might scare you, and I don’t know what it might look like to you. You can close your eyes and open them when I tell you to, or you can just watch,” he explained.

She didn’t have time to ask him what he was talking about, and she didn’t bother to close her eyes. Her breath was taken away as he suddenly changed before her. The tall stallion was replaced by a huge wolf, and Wolfsing felt a sense of relief rather than fear when she realized that she had suspected this the entire time. Perhaps not on the way here, but here and now it all made sense. The only thing that could have been wrong with this was his blaring colors, lime green with a dark blue stripe down his back starting from his forehead. His coloring as a pony certainly didn’t flatter him as a wolf. Even so, she loved him no less.

“You aren’t afraid?” Raisong asked her, and she was surprised for a moment. Raisong had hinted that the wolves could speak the pony language, but his own pack simply didn’t want to talk to her.

“Of course I’m not!” Wolfsing replied after the initial shock wore off. “I love you for sharing this secret with me!”

“Then you understand that it’s a secret to be kept from those in your castle,” Raisong stated more than asked.

“It’s hardly my castle, but of course I wouldn’t mention this to them. They would simply become frightened, or worse. At best they wouldn’t believe me and would disallow me to come out here again.”

Raisong’s fur stood on end and he snarled as Selena came out. He changed back quickly, as if that would be enough to make her forget what she saw.

“Don’t worry,” she explained as Solomen walked out behind her. “I won’t tell anyone yet. I have mistrust to sow first.”

“Swallowdeath?” Wolfsing asked with some trepidation. This unicorn was the last mare she would expect to see out here, and as far as Wolfsing knew, she preferred to stick to herself. What was she even doing so far out into the woods?

“I would prefer if you would call me Selena, not that you will remember that. It’s a real shame,” Selena replied as Raisong’s pack surrounded her. She sneered, hardly worried about it even as Raisong’s horn started to glow dangerously. She wasn’t worried. She doubted he knew anything beyond pragmatic magic, and maybe a few weak attack spells necessary to survive so long on his own.

As he charged at her everything seemed to freeze. Everypony except for Solomen and Selena herself seemed to be stuck in a bubble, including the wolves. She smiled as Wolfsing shot her a dirty look a moment before she erased their memories. Memory tampering was one of her many talents, after all. They all collapsed, a part of the effect of the spell.

“What are you going to do now?” Solomen asked him, his nostrils flaring and his hooves scoring the earth. “This looks like a big mess.

“There’s nothing left to be done. Everything that I need to do here has been taken care of. They won’t remember that I saw that brute change forms—probably a curse, but that’s not really important—and Cakern won’t remember what he saw either. It’s still there though, and I’ll be able to unlock it again when I need to. For now let’s get out of here before any of them wakes up again.”

She turned about and brought up her cloaking spell again before walking away, Solomen following after a moment. Her magic made him nervous to say the least. She seemed dangerous even among ponies, or perhaps she was just dangerous.

All of them awoke feeling groggy and confused, but Wolfsing felt a sense of relief. She still remembered the fact that Raisong could change into a wolf. She wanted to ask him a thousand questions—even if it were possible for her—but the next moment all those thoughts were shattered as Cakern awoke as well and stepped forward, looking angry.

He glared at them, and for a moment she was afraid that he had seen Raisong change as well. His next words dowsed her doubts. She knew that even he wouldn’t care about this more than the fact that there was a pony amongst them that could become a wolf.

“What do you think you two are doing? There’s no way I can condone the two of you coming so far into the woods just to be alone together,” Cakern hissed.

“He lives here,” Wolfsing growled back, “and you’re trespassing!”

“Trespassing? Nonsense! This is wild land that belongs to nopony. I should report him for this and I should turn you into Celestia for this treacherous behavior,” Cakern hissed at her. “Don’t you see that he’s an outsider? That he means you nothing but harm?”

“Is he an outsider or are you just an elitist like the rest of them? Don’t you see how much I hate it there and how much I hate all of you and your elitist attitudes? I swear if my parents were still alive I wouldn’t even be living amongst Celestia’s courts. I would be far from here by now!”

Cakern frowned before turning away from her and taking a couple of steps before glancing back at them over his shoulder. “Both of you come with me, or you’ll be considered enemies of Equestria and scythe ponies will be sent to apprehend you—or worse.”

“What did you—!”

“I think we should go,” Raisong told her, stepping ahead of her.

“What? We don’t have to do anything he says! He can’t send anypony after us and he knows it,” Wolfsing snapped.

“Maybe, but I think it’s in our best interest just to go,” Raisong answered. “I think it’s about time I identified myself to this court of yours. I would hate to cause more trouble for the both of us, and I would hate for more of these ‘scythe ponies’ to find my home.”

Wolfsing nodded quietly and followed behind him without a word. Many of the ponies that were out that day stared openly at Raisong as he was led by Cakern. They hissed and whispered when they noticed Wolfsing behind him, as if it were any of their business.

“Old hens,” she hissed again and again.

Though on most days Princess Celestia would have been too busy to see them on the spur of the moment, she seemed intrigued to meet Raisong, and he showed similar interest in her. “I’ve never seen an alicorn before,” he whispered to Wolfsing.

“Maybe I’ll be an alicorn one day,” Wolfsing replied, though it was only a joke.

“Maybe,” he replied seriously.

“Princess Celestia,” Cakern addressed her, sounding on the edge of exploding, “This blood traitor—going by the name of Raisong—was found living in the Everfree forest. He has a cabin there and everything. He stole Wolfsing away. Who knows what he would have done to her if I hadn’t arrived!”

Celestia looked more amused than concerned as she watched Raisong carefully. Finally she asked him, “Is it true? Do you live in a log cabin in the woods?”

Raisong didn’t hesitate, holding his head high as he replied, “It is true. My father built that cabin and I was raised there. You cannot ask me to leave the forest.”

“I wouldn’t dream of telling you to leave your home. You’ve obviously done a good job at keeping yourself safe,” Celestia told him. “What I want to know is—tell me, is your father, by chance, named Asana?”

“You’re not going to punish him?” Cakern interrupted, scraping his hooves.

“Please be quiet or I will ask you to leave my throne room,” Celestia hushed him, still watching Raisong. “I’m sorry if my question is a bother to you. You look so much like him in body. Your colors are like those your mother had, if I recall correctly.”

Raisong nodded quietly before responding, “Yes. Asana was my father. He taught me everything I needed to know to survive and I still thank him every day. I understand that he used to be a knight here, before he left to leave in the woods before I was born. He didn’t talk about it much, but when he was out my mom would tell me stories all about him. I must admit he hated it here, and he seemed to nurse a dislike for you.”

Celestia smiled apologetically as she explained, “I simply couldn’t keep order during his time. There were too many things going on at the time that I wasn’t aware of until it was too late to stop it.”

Raisong nodded, though he didn’t seem content with her explanation of things. “An alpha needs to know what’s going to in their pack in order to prevent in-fighting or their pack is going to fall apart from within. I believe alone you’re spreading yourself too thin.”

“An interesting way to put it,” Celestia replied, “and what about you, Wolfsing? What do you think?”

She jumped. She hadn’t been prepared to be questioned. “I—I think there needs to be somepony who is watching out for everyone, both servants and nobles. I also think there shouldn’t be such a big gap between them.”

“That’s exactly the type of thing your father would said,” she replied warmly, “and I agree. What would you say if I made you the ponies responsible for that? Raisong, Wolfsing, I need help, and I believe I can trust you both. Will you both serve Equestria by being my knights?”

Wolfsing looked at Raisong for a moment and he gave her a small nod so she stepped forward. “We would be honored to be your knights just like our parents were.”

Raisong stepped forward and bowed gracefully, more gracefully than Wolfsing honestly thought his huge frame would allow, and he said, “As long as we are your knights I swear that we will do whatever it takes to straighten out any kinks in your system, and we will do anything to defend you, or end you if you should become corrupt. This I swear.”

“R-Raisong,” Wolfsing nearly whispered, starting to feel scared and embarrassed.

“That is more than what I ask of my knights and I’m glad to have somepony like you here to keep everypony in place,” Celestia answered. Upon hearing these words Cakern was on his last straw and he was out the door in seconds, “And what about you, Wolfsing?”

Wolfsing gulped and she replied, similarly bowing, “I swear to keep the peace and to lead those under me with a kind, but firm heart. I will not allow corruption to stand, even if that means fighting those who are higher ranked than me.”

Celestia nodded appreciatively and said in a quieter voice, “The reason why I indoctrinated you like this, on such short notice was that I’m worried about what’s going on with my ponies. With all my royal duties I have little time to actually be amongst them, as you’ve seen when you were simply a lady of my court. I fear there is rebellion brewing and the only other pony I can trust at this point is possibly Swallowdeath and her servant. I especially fear the scythe ponies as they’ve started to get a mind of their own and seem to take joy in making their own rules.”

Something made Wolfsing uneasy at the mention of Swallowdeath, as if it was unorthodox for the Princess to know anything about the mare and her servant beyond seeing her every now and again, but she swallowed her fears. They were probably good friends and Celestia probably knew her better than Wolfsing thought.

Celestia smiled kindly at Wolfsing and Raisong as they were dismissed.