Ages Prior:

The remains of the Equestrian Army stood as firm as they could, just across the field -even with the thick fog covering them- was a Caribou force, poised and ready to strike them down in their weakness. Celestia was still devastated by having to banish her sister, and Equestria was likewise reeling from it. Most of the ‘standing’ military (if they could be called more than reserves) had deserted and returned to their homes. Celestia, as much as it irked her that they’d abandon their own country, felt no desire to punish them. She too felt the desire to simply give up.

But, she couldn’t. Her ponies needed her strength and guidance through this harsh time. That’s why she was here with the remains of the Royal Guard, prepared to fight and die for the regular ponies that didn’t need to see this war.

Throughout the thin ranks of the Royal Guard tensions were high, they had no plans on turning face and running… but they new for certain without some sort of reinforcements or a miracle they’d all die out here.

Everything was made worse as they heard the loud beating of war drums ahead of them, the Caribou were rowdy and ready for the coming fight, they knew the ponies had little chance of standing against them if their scouts were to be believed, they would win this battle and take over a defenceless country.

Just as Celestia was about to give the order to fall into formation one of the Equestrian scouts returned, he had been sent out to locate any aid from anything nearby. He was panting heavily, clearly having flown here as fast as he could.

“P… Princess… I-I found help…” He breathed out, nearly collapsing on the spot.

“Y… you did? Who is it?” Celestia quickly asked, the guards around her perking up at that amazing news.

“I… I don’t know, t-they were already armored… t-they were riding on wolves and mammoths… I-I think they’ve been stalking the Caribou! T-the second I approached t-their leader rode up to me… i-it was like he knew I was coming…” The scout said.

“Mammoths?”

“Wolves?”

“Enough, let him speak!” Celestia ordered.

“Their leader… a-and a small detachment where behind me, the rest.. They’re p-planning on circling around the Caribou… they mean to slaughter them!” The scout continued.

Hope was growing stronger in the Royal Guards’ hearts, help was on the way!

Celestia created a silenced bubble around her forces, “Here me, soldiers of Equestria! Hope is not lost! We can win this day, a new force comes to join us in our fi-”

Her announcement was cut off as a massive pure black wolf walked in, atop it an equally huge stallion, his armor a mixture of iron and furs. His face though, was uncovered, his helmet in one hand, in the other a battle axe that’d stand as tall as any of the soldiers in Celestia’s army.

Her eyes fell upon him, studying him for a few moments, from everything she could see he appeared to be a hardened warrior. His icy blue furred face gave no indication of friendliness or ease. He was poised and ready for battle.

Though, he appeared as a sharp contrast to the twenty or so earthy toned stallions who came in on silver coated wolves behind him, the icy color of his coat, and the snow white mane made him quite clearly stand out if he didn’t have his armor on, or if he simply dismounted.

He seemed to likewise be studying her, and for a few moments, the heavily armed group that had come up from her forces’ rear didn’t seem so friendly. He set his helmet upon a holster on his beast’s saddle and then dismounted. He strode calmly over towards Celestia, making no gestures or even giving a sign that he cared about the guards raising their shields and weapons around him.

In truth it would have been a useless gesture had he tried to attack, his battle axe -which was now over his shoulder- would have cleaved through shield, armor, and bone alike.

“And who are you?” Celestia questioned, several guards taking position to defend her.

“N-no he’s their leader…” The scout coughed out.

“You should have stayed with our shamans, they’d have brought you back to health.” The stallion spoke, contrary to his rather icy appearance, his voice was truly warm and caring. He glanced down to the scout before unshackling a canteen from his waist and handing it to him. “Drink, it will revitalize you.”

The scout took it, and despite the unknown substance inside, drank. His thirst needed to be quenched, and this strange tasting liquid, though it nearly made him gag, was quenching it quite well.

“I am King Tharian.” The massive warrior-king introduced himself. “And these…” He motioned back to the riders who had come with him.

Upon noticing their king motioning to them they let out a shout and smashed their weapons against their shields, startling the guards who were near them.

“Are my loyal warriors.” He continued, extending a hand to her. Celestia cautiously took it. “Fear not, I, nor any of my warriors have any intention of attacking you.” He assured.

“You’ll forgive me if I’m a bit cautious…” She began.

“Yes, I understand that. It’s why I came instead of sending one of my Hands.” He said, taking his hand back. “I wished to inform you not to send your soldiers out. It’d be a pointless endevour.”

“How is that?”

“My warriors will be more than enough to decimate these wretches.” Tharian growled, glancing towards where he knew the Caribou would be. “They assume they can get away with the sacking and torching of one of our fellow tribes… they’ll regret it before long.” He squeezed the pole of his axe. “It just so happens that they’re also attacking you.” He offered her a smile, “Well, allow me to be the first to offer, I, and the tribes I lead, desire to join you today.”

“W… what?” Celestia coughed.

“As allies of course.” He laughed, “Let me share this victory with you as a first token of our friendship, and of course, you’re all invited to the celebration we’ll be having soon after.”

She couldn’t believe her ears, everything was against Equestria, and… these warriors, yes they appeared strong and fearsome… but this ‘detachment’ she expected a hundred stallions… yet there were less then fifty here! He had no army, this was a bluff, a ploy by the Caribou. They had to be changelings… there was no other way around it. She glanced down to the scout who was coughing a little.

“Gah… w-what was that?” The scout grunted.

“A potion, it’s meant to restore the spirit, though, from my experience it tastes like poor mead, and burns just as much.” Tharian chuckled, “Though, you should survive now. Exhaustion won’t take your life today.”

Celestia watched him for a few more moments, her magic slowly dissipating. Only when the barrier began to fall did they hear it… silence.

The Caribou’s war drums had stopped completely. Something was definitely wrong.
After a few moments more of silence they heard the war cries of the Caribou.

“GET IN FORMATION FORM A WALL!” Celestia’s voice boomed. The Royal guard immediately turtled up, forming a wall of shields and spears to prepare for the onslaught, they’d be tricked and lulled to let their guard do-

They heard what sounded like a trumpet in the distance, followed by much louder and more fierce war drums. The Caribou’s war cries died down, instead a sense of dread came over the field.

Then Tharian’s wolf came up to him and he unhooked a single large horn. He put it up to his lips and blew, the sound it let out was heard for miles around. But, something even louder sounded in return, another set of war cries. The fog had begun to lift, and they could make out shapes in the distance. Almost immediately, the thought of a ruse, or even a trick by the Caribou was thrown away, massive beasts were ramming into their lines.

Celestia magically forced the fog away, her curiosity getting the best of her. In a moment the entire line of Guards was witnessing the battle taking place. They saw mammoths towards a nearby treeline, drummers beating away at the war drums put atop them. Wolves were barreling through the Caribou lines, throwing -those unlucky enough to get surrounded- around like chew toys. Their riders were tearing through the others in some unholy berserk rage, caring little for the injuries the Caribou tried in vain to inflict.

It was an awesome sight to behold, the army that had just been threatening an entire country was now being beaten back by a massive horde of barbarians, their numbers seeming endless and their will seeming just as unbreakable as the tide.

Tharian was utterly silent, he seemed to be watching for something in specific.

“There were more with the…” He was cut off as guards on the left flank shouted and the clash of metal on metal was heard. Tharian shouted something that Celestia didn’t understand, and his warriors charged to join the fight. “Prepare yourself! They have magic too!” He said, hoisting his axe with both hands and readying himself for whatever may come.

The Royal Guards fell in on the Caribou attacking their flank, surrounding them all too easily.

Celestia felt the growing force of magic behind her and she spun around, Tharian seeming to notice it too. She was met with the General leading the Caribou forces, a sickening smile on his face. He didn’t care that his forces were dying, he wanted one thing alone. She felt the stab of magic as a bolt tore through her armor and hit her in the stomach, she was sent back into Tharian who easily supported her.

The unicorn who had attacked Celestia prepared a spell to hit Tharian, the stallion was unmoving however. “Fo-” The unicorn’s attempt at speaking was cut off as he was ripped to shreds by Tharian’s wolf, the beast biting hard into him nearly rending him in two.

Celestia magically braced her injury. She was so focused on the General in front of her that she definitely didn’t miss the look of utter terror on his face as a battle axe cleaved him in two.

Blood splattered and shot everywhere, covering Celestia and Tharian, the king proving to be incredibly agile and skilled with his impractical weapon. The head of his axe came to rest in the ground, every inch of it soaked in the dead General’s blood.

The Caribou attacking the Guard had witnessed him die so spectacularly, their will snapping as they realized this was pure suicide now. They had no hope of escape and those that weren’t willing to die surrendered.

The rest of their forces had already been routed, the tide washing over them proving to be unstoppable.

Celestia’s adrenaline wore off and she nearly collapsed, her magic beginning to fade as pain overtook her. Tharian was quick to kneel and help her down, applying pressure to her injury. The canteen the scout had handed back to Tharian was suddenly pressed to her lips. “Drink.” He gave one simple command, Celestia was too weak to resist, and as she did she felt the subtle magics of whatever was in the potions wash over her. The pain of the magically applied stab was beginning to dull, and she found Tharian applying less and less pressure as the bleeding slowed. Thankfully, that wasn’t her only treatment, as several medically trained Guards were quick to rush to her. Immediately they began to examine her body, making sure she’d be fine.

Celestia however wasn’t paying much attention to them. Tharian had pulled the canteen back from her lips and capped it. His tough visage had slipped as soon as the battle ended, and now she could see how much he did care about all of this. Though, right now he seemed to just be focused on her.

“The wound’s… closing?” One of the medics muttered.

“Thank you… Tharian.” Celestia said.

“For what? Isn’t this something friends should do?” He chuckled, glancing to his soldiers who were carrying wounded to the Equestrian lines, looking for some sembalence of aid.

“Go, make sure their forces are helped to.” Celestia said, waving the medics off of her.

“But… Princess…”

“Will I survive?” She asked.

“Yes…”

“And, is the wound healing on it’s own?”

“Yes.”

“Then go! Our allies need help too.” Celestia said, Tharian slowly helping her back up. She glanced to him, “I’m sorry for not trusting you.”

“Don’t be, I know the feeling of standing against everything… you had no reason to trust my intentions.” Tharian said, “I’m just glad everything turned out for the best here.”

Celestia glanced to the mangled body Tharian left behind, truly awe struck at his strength and speed, “As… am I.”

“Now, we have a celebration to begin, don’t we?” Tharian grinned, approaching his wolf (who was still eating the remains of the unicorn) and grabbed a second much smaller horn from it’s saddle. He handed it to Celestia, “It is your land, so why don’t you do the honors?”

Celestia was a tad curious now, so she blew the horn and a thunderous shout and stomping was heard. Tharian’s warriors clearly had been waiting for it to be sounded, and now the mammoths that had been in the distance approached, not only were they carrying drums and drummers, but massive barrels were affixed to their sides, she could only guess what they might contain.

The barrels were lowered and crates were dropped down as well, as soon as the barrels were cracked open and she wandered over with Tharian she noticed what was inside.

“Fresh mead for all!” Tharian yelled, before yelling something in his native language. His warriors responded by charging over, dipping horns that had been attached to their mounts saddles into the thick alcohol. Tharian did much the same after his wolf finally arrived, having taken part of the Caribou General’s body with him. He offered the horn to Celestia. “Did you want a drink?”

Celestia was silent for a few seconds before swipping it out of his hand and downing it. In truth, she wasn’t a heavy drinker, but she did enjoy the taste of good alcohols, and this… ooh boy, if she had enough of it she’d be sure to turn into an alcoholic. Tharian laughed loudly, walking to one of the crates and wrenching it open, revealing the food stashed inside, “If any of you are hungry, come eat! And join us in drinks! You’ve all earned it!” He shouted to the Equestrian forces, his soldiers offering their filled horns to share.

From all accounts there, it was the beginning of Equestria’s most fruitful and close ally. These horses, simply calling themselves Tribesmen, proved to be a strong and sure partner whenever they were needed, always there to share food, and beer with any guards they came across.

Present:

Celestia stood up from her chair and teleported herself in front of Tharian, hugging him tightly.

The stallion slammed his axe into the ground, returning the hug in full. “It’s good to see you again!” He smiled, letting go of her and stepping back, “It’s been far too long…”

“Yes, yes it has.” Celestia smiled widely, “I’m so happy you’re alright!”

She expected him to laugh, and make some joke about it. Instead he frowned a little. “Yes… I am.” He sighed.

Author's Note

I honestly don't know if I'm getting better at writing these types of scenes, though they are fun to write!