One With the Pack

The chill of winter is something that many experience to some extent. This winter, however, was everything but calm and gentle. The winds howled, the branches on the tall pines were weighed down with heavy snow, and the ground itself was pure white. A lone wolf trudged across the terrain, her paws crunching the snow beneath them. She suddenly paused, her ears perking up to the sound of something else moving in front of her. A doe walked out of the brush, its eyes focused on crossing the frozen lake in front of it. The wolf crouched low, her emerald green eyes narrowed in concentration. She was a Hunter, and a good one at that.

The doe started to cross the lake, oblivious to the furred creature slowly coming up behind it. The ice underneath it started to creak, and it slowed its pace. It wasn't enough though, as the thin ice broke, causing it to plummet into the frigid waters below. The wolf took this as her chance, running out and jumping onto the doe’s back, her claws digging into its flesh. It began to cry out in pain, but the cry was silenced when the wolf bit its neck, ripping out the main artery in it with a sharp tug. She carefully pulled it out of the water, dragging it back towards land. The now dead doe’s fur was getting slightly covered in blood, a bright crimson trail following it as it continued to be dragged along the path. The wolf soon stopped after some time, knowing that this would take forever.

She stood still and started to change form. She became taller, her light gray coat thinning out and lightening even more into a sky blue. A light brown mane and tail with light pink streaks in them sprouted, and her claws retracted into her paws as they turned into hooves. The only thing that didn't change were her eyes, still a sparkling emerald color. She then hoisted the doe onto her back, carrying it towards a cave etched into the mountainside in the distance. Upon nearing it, she slowed her pace, realizing that she was stepping into a rather heated argument. A red earth pony stallion was yelling at a dark blue pegasus stallion, who was yelling back at him just as loud. On the sidelines, two mares sat; one unicorn with a light blue coat and dark blue and white streaked hair, and one lilac coated pegasus with black tipped wings and black and gray hair. The unicorn turned and saw the sky blue earth pony and gestured for her to come over to them. “Alphas? What's going on?”, she asked.

“Collin and Ember are having another one of their dominance arguments.”, the unicorn answered simply. She then pointed at the doe. “Could you bring that to the Den? The kids have been bugging Firefly all morning for something to eat.”

The earth pony nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”, she said before heading into the cave.

The pegasus mare leaned over and poked the unicorn in the shoulder. “Do you think they're going to stop soon?”

“I doubt it, Sirena. Unless one of them walks off or submits, they'll be here all day.”

Sirena sighed, her magenta eyes flashing red without her really noticing it.

“You flashed.”, the unicorn noted.

“I did? Sorry. I'm just a bit annoyed with these two.”

“How do you think I feel?”

They then started to pay attention as the dark blue pegasus’s eyes starting turning into an icy light blue. “I have as much authority over things as you do.”, he growled at the red stallion.

“Excuse me? Last time I checked, I was the Lead Alpha around here, not you. The only reason why I let you two into this pack is because I saw that you had potential to becoming great Alphas yourselves. But clearly this is not the case, as you keep disrespecting me!”, the earth pony growled back, his eyes also now blue.

“Then stop treating me like an Omega, Ember! That's all I ask.”

Ember looked appalled, his eyes fading back to their original red for a moment.

“An Omega? I wouldn't treat you like that, not intentionally anyways.”

“Then why won't you let me take some responsibility for a change? You have enough on you taking care of the 9 of us as is.”

“That is what I'm supposed to do, Collin. Now leave me, before you get me even more mad.”

Collin glared at him, before spinning on his heels and stomping angrily into the cave. Sirena stood up and went to follow him. Ember sighed before pacing back and forth, his eyes flickering between red and blue. The unicorn stood up and walked over to him. He stopped in front of her, looking up to meet her eyes.

“You're mad.”, she said softly.

He scowled. “I know that already, Shine.”

She winced and whined as he said her last name. If he wasn't mad before, he definitely was now. Her eyes turned red and she sat down again. The stallion sighed and sat down in front of her.

“Sorry, Speckle. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just… Gah, that pegasus can be so-”

“Stubborn?”, Speckle finished, giving him a knowing look.

He nodded, watching as her eyes faded back into their sapphire blue. “Can you blame him? All you male Alphas are stubborn to some extent. It's how you are.”

“I guess, but-”

“You should cut him some slack. He is Second in command, after all.”

“I know, I know. But where did he pull the Omega line from? He knows that I treat the two rankings differently.”

“I'm not completely sure about that one, either. But I'm guessing he's just frustrated that he's not getting the power that he thinks he should.”

“I suppose. But that still doesn't mean he should disrespect me.”

Speckle shrugged. “Guess different ponies show anger in different ways. He’ll come around though. He usually does.”

Ember smiled slightly and leaned down to kiss her. “You should have been ranked a Beta.”, he murmured. “You can read ponies like a book.”

She scoffed. “I'm perfectly happy with being an Alpha, thank you very much.”

Ember started to say something else when an urgent voice called out, “Alpha!” He stood up quickly, watching as a light green unicorn stallion with black hair ran up to him.

“What is it, Scout?”, he asked.

“Sir, I spotted a Rogue in our territory. I asked him to leave but he's not backing down.”

The earth pony’s eyes widened. “Well, that's a first.” He turned to Speckle. “Go get Collin.”

She started to speak. “But Sir-”

“I don't care if he's still mad at me, this is important. Go get him.”

She nodded quickly. “Yes, Sir.”, she said before running inside.

"And Mark?”

“Yes, Sir?”

“Could you go check the west side of the perimeter? I've been smelling some strange things over there.”

The unicorn nodded. “Of course, Sir.”, he said before changing into his wolf form and taking off.

The wind had calmed down at this point, although a slight fog was taking its place. The two wolves made their way quickly through the snow, but the way to the east side of the perimeter wasn't the shortest. So, with nothing else to do, Collin decided to strike up their previous conversation. “I'm still mad at you.”

“Well, get over it. We don't get everything we want, now do we?”

“Says you. You're the Lead.”

“I am, and thank you for finally acknowledging it. I didn't ask for this, Collin. It was given to me, and I had no other option but to take it.”

“How so?”

“Ugh, I am not telling you my life story right now. We have this Rogue to deal with.”

“Fair enough.”

They stopped in their tracks as a low growling sound emitted somewhere in front of them. They quickly scanned the area, before slowly stepping forward. A black wolf suddenly stepped out from behind a tree, bearing its teeth at them. Collin started to growl at it, but stopped when Ember raised a paw. He turned into his pony form, Collin following suit. “Show yourself.”, Ember said to the other wolf. It changed as well, revealing a tall dark green unicorn stallion with light green hair and piercing blue eyes. “Who are you?”, Ember questioned.

“I may ask the same about yourself.”, the unicorn replied.

“I'm Ember, the leader of the pack whose territory you're trespassing.”

“Your little Scout told me about the whole trespassing thing. I don't see why you Alphas are always so picky about your territories. The whole forest is our territory, why can't you all just share it?”

“If you were an Alpha, you'd understand why that isn't a good idea.”

The unicorn's eyes flashed red for a second, then he smiled. “My apologies. I forgot to tell you my name. I'm Grassblade, pleasure to meet you. I'm just passing through, trying to get someplace warmer, you know?”

Collin snorted and snarled, “If you really want to go down further, turn around and try crossing the lake. You'll probably die of hypothermia in the water while you're at it.”

Ember turned and gave him a glare, before turning back to face Grassblade. “I'm afraid my answer is no. I'm not saying that you're not trustworthy, but I'm not taking any risks.”

“I understand. I'll be taking my leave now.” He turned back into a wolf, giving Collin one last look before slinking off the same way he came.

Ember turned to look at the pegasus. “What was that for? And don't say it was because of me. What if that was a lead Alpha? I would have been called out on it for sure.”

“I just didn't like him. And didn't you notice that his eyes flashed red for a moment there? Don't only female Alpha’s eyes turn red? And he was clearly a stallion.”

Ember scratched his chin in thought. “I did notice that. That's odd. We're going to have to ask Quetzal about it.”

Collin gestured behind him. “Lead the way, Alpha.”, he said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“Don't push me, Rookie.”, Ember muttered before they changed into their wolf forms and headed back to the cave.