The Rise of the Apex Predator...
It was a dark, rainy night in the Everfree Forest. The only sounds nature made were that of the crickets, the gentle raindrops hitting the grass and the fallen leaves, and the distant timberwolves howling at the moon.
But then, there was silence, followed shortly by the sound of footsteps cracking through the landscape.
From behind the bushes, a human woman ran. She was carrying a bundled up baby, tucked within her arms. Behind her, the sound of heavy claws filled the landscape, and she dared not turn back.
She was already heavily wounded. Large gashes and cuts covered her body, while blood trickled down her legs and her arms.
And despite this, the adrenaline and the sheer willpower to protect her child overlapped her legs' strong temptation to give out.
But before she could reach the next clearing, a lion's roar made her stumble just enough for the creature behind her to lunge onto her back, shredding through her already torn shirt, and drawing more blood. Agony surged through her right shoulder, as the massive jaw of a lion punctured through her skin and muscle. A resounding crack came from her bones, and her vision blurred heavily, as she fell to the ground, using her own body to curl over her child, as a last-ditch effort to save her poor boy.
She closed her eyes, and heard the sound of another lion emerging from the bushes. Hope seemed lost, as she felt the claws of the lion that assaulted her slice into her back.
But then, she felt the heavy weight of the lion lift, as the second lion crashed into the first... perhaps this was a territory war between the two, in an attempt for a free meal?
She didn't want to risk her child's safety, so she opened her eyes and weakly crawled away from them, towards a bush she could hide the baby in.
But the first lion tore into her ankle before she could get close enough. She looked down and attempted to kick the lion off of her, until she saw the second lion bite into the first one's neck, forcing it off.
It was then that she noticed something off about the second one. First, the second stood an entire head taller than the original lion. Second, upon tossing the first lion away from her, she could've sworn she was seeing it flare a pair of bat-like wings out, and whip its scorpion-like tail after the original King of the Forest. Finally, she saw the winged lion look towards her... almost like it was warning her to leave.
She eventually crawled behind the bush and leaned against the tree. Her baby was crying heavily, as the sound of the lions fighting behind her started to fade out. She tried to comfort her baby, but the weight of the infant, and the lack of blood, made her eyes slowly close, until her head slumped over. The baby remained tucked into its mother's arms, while she spent the last of her breath assuring the child that she was there for it.
From behind the tree, the Manticore with a blue marking on its forehead approached the lifeless woman. It brought its face up to her head, then sniffed a few times, and growled. She has succumbed to her wounds, and was now just another pile of meat for her to consume... even if she didn't want to at the start. However, she had a pack at her cave, and more importantly, cubs to feed her milk to... and that milk would need plenty of nutrients to give her cubs a long life.
Before she could take a bite out of the corpse, though, the blanket in its arms shifted a bit, before practically screaming and crying. Curious, the Manticore looked down at the blanket, and gently bit it to drag it down just enough for the source of the crying to see the light.
There, bundled tightly in the blue blanket, lied a brown haired, blue eyed baby boy who, after looking up at the Manticore, stopped his crying and stared at her in awe.
The Manticore brought her face closer to the infant and sniffed its chest curiously... only for the infant's tiny hands to tap onto her face a couple times, and force her to reel back in confusion.
The baby then started to giggle and swing its arms around... it was fascinated by her, no doubt.
She thought hard about something for a moment, before the distant sound of leaves cracking caught her attention. She then noticed that the shadows on the ground were getting much more darker... something was behind her! Quickly, she reached down and bit onto the baby's blanket, carefully so as to not bite the human, himself, then took to the air, right as a massive bugbear emerged and crashed into the spot they once were.
The bugbear then roared, before digging into the woman's body, having lost interest in the Manticore and the human baby.
The Manticore was frustrated at this, because she was hunting alone this time. A bugbear was, naturally, too dangerous for her to face alone, so she had to cut her losses on the meal and make a quick retreat, so that her better doesn't target her, next. However, upon looking down at the baby who laughed at the wind tickling its face, she was at least happy, on the inside, to have a new member of her pack.
Upon landing in the clearing in front of her cave, she was quickly surrounded by a group of timberwolves, shorter manticores, and even a few lions, tigers, bears, and normal wolves. Each of them had blue marks on their fur, as an indication that they were all part of the same pack.
Once she stepped towards the cave, a few of the timberwolves and manticores started to growl hungrily at the baby in the blanket, who was just looking at them curiously.
"Sss!" the Manticore hissed from its grit teeth. Immediately, the creatures stopped their growling and backed off from her, as she entered her den.
Once inside, she gently placed the child on the ground and approached a small water spot that, deeper inside the clear liquid, held a strange blue sand underneath it. The Manticore lifted its paw and pressed it into the water, and scooped up some of the blue sand, before pulling her paw out and approaching the baby once more.
Minding her claws and the baby's eyes, she pressed the sand onto the baby's forehead and drew a blue line on it. The child was now, officially, part of the pack... but most of all, the baby was marked on the forehead like her - a sign to the other creatures of her pack that this child was now marked as the Beta.
She would do her best to raise this baby into, what she hoped would later become, the next Alpha of her pack.
Then, she took a deep breath, before letting out a loud roar. A pair of manticore cubs emerged from the entrance, and she lied down on her side, flashing her puffed teats for her young to feed.
The cubs paid the child no mind, as they began to suckle for the nectar of life they needed, having finished roughhousing outside.
Soon, however, her cubs were finished, and her attention drew to the human. Though it felt unorthodox to her, she decided the child also needed to survive from her.
And so, she used her paw to carefully bring the child closer to one of her unused teats, and closed her eyes when the baby started to drink the milk from its new mother figure.
*ROAR!*
The Manticore's call was loud enough for the pack to hear. Quickly, the two adolescent manticores rushed over to their mother and followed her into the cave.
From inside the cave, the human boy's blue eyes started to open, and he turned towards his mother.
She clicked her tongue twice, and the boy's eyes opened in alarm. This was the "Follow Me" command. He felt a great sense of happiness, as he was now on the way to learning how to hunt!
The Manticore was accustomed to creatures of varying species. Upon killing off a hostile Sabertooth years back, she was able to rip one of its fangs out of its skull, and she gave it to the boy, on the account that he use it for protection, since he lacked the claws his brothers and sisters had.
"Mmm!" he hummed his "Approval" response before gripping the fang and approaching her quickly.
Raised in the wild, he was without natural fur, so on one of her hunting trips before, the Manticore tore the hide from a boar, and gave it to the boy, who was able to use it as a makeshift cloak by sliding his arms through two holes where the boar's legs once were... shabby, but effective! Around his waist, however, was his old blue blanket he grew up in. He tied it into a makeshift loincloth for warmth, and has worn it ever since. A bunch of dust accumulated over the years, but he was not afraid of getting mud on his clothes.
When he was with the Hunting Pack, he eagerly awaited his orders. This was a huge day for him, for he was about to learn to hunt for food, and provide for his beloved pack!
His brothers beside each shoulder looked at him and let out a few challenging mewls, while he grunted in kind, taking them up on their challenge. They were all eager to please their mother. Alongside them was a timberwolf cub who was also eager to join in on the fun.
The Manticore finally took her spot, as she stood in front of the four of them. She then turned her back towards the group. With one loud roar, she, her cubs, and the timberwolf, all began to run extremely fast, while the boy lagged behind a fairly substantial amount.
The boy sniffed the air and ground, as he followed his pack's trail. A few trees were clawed up in subtle areas to assist him by his mother, since she knew he was a biped, and naturally slower than the rest of the pack. However, he was also a bit disappointed in himself, as he was likely missing out on some important hunting lessons by the Alpha.
Then, he heard a snap behind him, followed by a growl. Turning around, he was met face-to-face with a fully-grown, unmarked cheetah.
It hissed at him, while he quickly prepared his fang for self-defense. He masked his fear with a glare, so as to prevent the cheetah from finding a weakness, but deep down, he was still afraid, for he had yet to actually experience a real battle!
The cheetah started to circle around him, while he locked eyes on it, circling in the opposite direction in response... a maneuver his brothers taught him during their play-fights. Eyes on the opponent, and distance for the prowl. Remain on your toes, and get ready to react quickly, while spacing yourselves out to give yourself more reaction time.
He saw the bushes begin to shake behind the cheetah, and was able to pick up a familiar scent. His fear was gone in an instant, and replaced with determination.
Then, the cheetah charged... for only a split-second. A scorpion-like tail shot from the bush, and punctured its left hind leg, causing it to stumble and fall, while venom seeped from its wound.
The cheetah roared in pain, as the Alpha rushed after it, followed by its two cubs. Then the boy and his brothers watched in awe, as their mother made short work of the cheetah - sinking her fangs into its neck, and twisting it with a following snap.
With the cheetah dealt with, the cubs approached the carcass and began to dig into its stomach, while the boy waited patiently for his turn.
The Alpha knew that the boy couldn't handle raw meat like the others. Back when his teeth grew out, he was mostly on a berry diet, which didn't do too well on his weight. She was also not sure how to make fires, either. However, it wasn't until he was five years old when she stumbled near a griffon camp during a hunting trip, and saw a few of them holding a couple slabs of meat over an open fire before eating it.
Upon scaring the inhabitants off, she took the remainder of the meat they dropped and brought it to him. To her relief, he was able to eat it all up without any issues!
She took a mental note since then to seek out the smoke that rises above the trees. She could use the smoke to pinpoint a place where there's, for the most part, a fire to prepare the boy's portion of the meals he ate. Since then, he was on a healthy, steady diet, and was growing to be a strong human, even for a child.
The Alpha approached the boy and gently rubbed his chest with her head, as a sign of affection to show that she was worried for him. He gently patted her on the head in response, as their own secret way of saying he understands, and appreciates her concerns.
Then, out of nowhere, a loud bang filled the sky, scaring off the birds and making the entire Hunting Pack jump up in alarm.
The Alpha flared her wings out and growled, while her young hurried behind her for safety, boy included. Then they began to prowl, as they approached the sources of the strange sound.
After another one of the loud bangs, they had a much more accurate pin on the location, and quickened their pace.
They were all behind a tree surrounded by bushes when they came upon a horrific sight. There was a huge clearing, where several trees stumps sat in places that once bore trees for both shade for the land-creatures, and shelter for the birds and the rodents.
And in the center of it all was a group consisting of one griffon and three pegasus ponies. They were all wearing matching camouflaged clothing, and the griffon was holding a strange, metal-tubed device in his claws that had a wooden handle and a trigger between where the metal and wood combined. His eyes were scoping the area around them.
The ponies were harnessed to a large wagon behind them, which all had cages... and within one particular cage, lied a lion that had a blue stripe on its left cheek - a Hunter of their pack! And he was not breathing.
The griffon adjusted the lenses of the magnifying goggles on his head, then shouted strange words to the ponies. They shouted the strange words back to the griffon and started to move towards another sight - a lion cub, who was huddled to the ground in fear, as it witnessed the death of its parent not too long ago. They grabbed the cub and opened another cage in the wagon, then tossed the poor cub inside it, locking it back immediately afterwards.
The boy and his brothers growled at the sight, and took a step forward.
"Sss!" came their mother's command, blocking their path with a wing. They heeded her order, and knelt down even lower, while she entered the field.
She growled at the ponies, who in turn, looked back towards her and gasped. They started to shout something at the griffon, and he nodded his head, before he started to chamber a strange golden sharp-tipped bullet inside it.
Immediately, the Alpha sprang into action - pouncing one of the ponies while the other two scattered and screamed in shock. She tore through his throat in one bite, then ripped her teeth out, sinking them into the chunk she removed from the dead poacher.
Then she leapt into the air and scooped the second pony up, as she took to the air. He screamed for only a bit longer, until after he landed from a lethal height.
The third and last pony rushed over to help his companion, when the Alpha landed on top of the dead body and turned around, plunging her stinger into his neck, while the griffon remained in the background of the fight, lifting the barrel towards the Manticore's heart.
*BAM!*
The world froze for the hunting pack, as their mother let out a loud, agonized roar, before falling to the ground.
She was breathing heavily, but unable to move, as blood seeped from her bullet wound. The griffon approached her and shook his head, before lifting the barrel up and placing it on her forehead.
She grit her teeth and roared one last time, before the second shot silenced her for good.
The pack's eyes were wide, as a surge of panic and anger immediately clouded their judgement. Then, in unison, the three young hunters charged at the griffon full-force.
The griffon heard their movements and turned around. Upon seeing the manticores and the human rushing after him, he lifted the barrel towards the left manticore.
*BAM!*
The manticore cub fell to the ground behind them, while the remaining two hunters pressed on - the human briefly looked back at his fallen brother in pained remorse, as he saw that he was no longer breathing. The shot killed the poor cub on impact.
Then the griffon angled the barrel over to the next in line... the human boy who, upon realizing the danger, immediately fell to the ground as the bullet flew just inches past his head mid-fall.
Then the remaining manticore cub was closing in on the griffon, so he decided to change his target for the next shot.
Suddenly, the bushes behind the griffon sprung open, and the timberwolf cub leaped out of it, latching onto the base of the griffon's left wing.
He yelled in agony, as the blood quickly spurted from his wing. The impact forced his rifle down and to the side, making him miss his shot by a couple feet. The dirt next to the manticore cub bounced up in a splash, as he leaped up and gripped onto the griffon's neck with his teeth.
He choked out as blood began spewing from his beak. Then, before he knew it, there came the roar of an unknown creature, making the timberwolf and the manticore cub leap from the griffon.
His blurry vision was only able to make out the silhouette of the roaring human that leapt into the air, fang in hand. He grabbed onto the griffon's shoulder, plunged the fang into his throat, then sliced the fang downwards, opening the wound even wider.
The griffon fell on his back and bled out rapidly. He tried to lift the barrel of the gun at the boy, but he quickly stepped on the gun, pinning it to the ground. Then, in one fell swoop, he plunged the fang into the griffon's chest, and repeated the process over and over again. With each stab, more of the griffon's blood coated the boy's body.
The fang then caught onto the griffon's ribcage and chipped. The sharp end of it broke off inside the griffon's body, and the boy fell back, dropping the broken fang, and looking towards his mother's and brother's bodies.
He crawled over to her and whined, as tears began to fall from his eyes. Then he slowly placed his hands on the fallen Alpha's face, looked up, and yelled at the sky. His remaining hunting pack, the timberwolf and the manticore cub, both gathered next to him and joined his yell in their own mourning way - the timberwolf howled, and the manticore roared.
The boy knew that it was going to be difficult for him to be Alpha. He was not strong like the manticores, or most of the pack, really. He was still a cub, after all... and so, he needed to find a way to survive, and lead the pack.
He looked around at the bodies of the ponies and griffon, and the gears in his young mind started to turn.
These strange creatures had padded clothing on them. It was likely to help them with surviving the stranger elements of the forest... and so, he began salvaging whatever gear they had for his own.
He slid one of their vests on over his chest, and the arms seemed to reform themselves, as if by magic. He then patted them down for any more tools, until he yelped and pulled a hand back, licking his bleeding finger.
Curious, he looked back at the place his finger was, and he gripped onto the handle of a sharp metal cutting tool. Though he didn't know what it was, he could make out how to hold the bowie knife.
He then went to the remains of the griffon, and felt that the chestpiece was far from salvageable at its current condition, though the leather pants could provide adequate warmth for his usually cold legs. However, curiosity mostly struck him when he saw the strange orange goggles covering the griffon's eyes.
He pulled the goggles off of the griffon. The boy then tilted his head thoughtfully, before putting the goggles on, over his own eyes, and staring into them.
Immediately, he felt a lot more aware of his surroundings. With the goggles on, he was able to see a whole lot further than his naked eyes could allow him. He placed his hands on the sides of the lenses, and figured out that he could adjust the zoom level at will.
The strange new device fascinated him beyond belief. Then he took a step forward, and felt the barrel of the gun beneath his foot.
He picked it up and thought long and hard about how the griffon operated it. Fascination once again adorned the boy's mind, as he slid the lever of the bullet chamber down, and looked inside it.
There was a bullet within it. He picked the bullet up, and looked to the ground, where he saw one of the shells of the other bullets that were used.
He picked up the shell as well, and observed them both carefully, as he ran the math in his head.
Then, he started to lick the shell. It tasted odd, to say the least, and he felt the need to lick the blackened tip of the opening.
He regretted it immediately. Reeling his head back, he spat at the ground. "Pff!" He then gagged a bit, before tossing the shell to the ground in disgust.
Then he checked the wagon after letting the lion cub free from it. He found a green piece of cloth that he used to tie over his nose and mouth and keep his face warm. Searching a bit deeper, however, and he found a large metal container with several more of the long bullets inside, as well as strange metal tools and gunpowder used to mold metal into the bullet casings.
He sniffed the gunpowder, and recognized it as the same thing he tasted from the shell. Putting two and two together, he decided he would bring the box with him, and the weapons, so that he could examine them... maybe learn how they function, and how to make them?
It would likely take years of trial and error, but something inside him compelled him to at least give it a try. He knew the forest well, and thought back to a few strange herbs and mushrooms that had unique properties once struck by something.
But before any of that, he had to address his hunting pack.
Now clad in basic equipment for a leader, he stood up tall and bowed his chest up fiercely, while the pack looked up at him. He raised one of his hands in the air and spread his fingers up, so as to sign that he was addressing everyone.
Finally, he clicked his tongue twice, picked up the metal container, and started walking back to the den. His pack would follow him through to the end.
After all, he was no longer just going to be their brother... he was going to be their Alpha much sooner than planned.
Once back at the den, he let the rest of the pack know that the Manticore was dead. They all mourned that night, while he stepped deeper into the cave.
A group of glowing mushrooms lit the walls within the cave, but the boy showed no fear. Once he reached the end of the cave, there stood a tree with several blue pawprints on it, each from the former Alphas that came before. Below the tree was another puddle of water that had the blue sand inside it.
He gently rubbed the empty bark of the tree, right next to the pawprint for the previous Alpha. Then, he took a deep breath and placed his hand into the blue sand. He pulled his hand out of it and placed it onto the empty spot next to his mother's print.
As soon as he removed his hand, his own print was embedded onto the tree. From that moment on, he was no longer just the boy... he was now Alpha.
The day marked the 40th anniversary since the Princesses of Equestria retired their leadership to their queen, Twilight Sparkle. As such, many immigrants were moving from around the world towards Ponyville, where a celebration to commemorate the day she met the Bearers of Harmony was being held... and they would take paths of various degrees of danger just to reach it.
For a certain pony couple, their route lead them from the mountainous city of Canterlot, down into the center of the Everfree Forest: a blue coated, rose-eyed stallion with a blonde mane, and a pink coated, blue-eyed mare with a silver mane. They remained on a path that was well-known to be mostly safe, so they didn't have any worries about it.
The stallion smiled at the mare, and asked, "So, you looking forward to the new home?"
She rolled her eyes and smirked at him. "Uh, yeah! Who do you think it was that got you out of bed this morning, dear?"
He chuckled, before a look of unease filled his expression. "Ah, jeez... I probably shouldn't have drunken that coffee, though... hey, hon, mind if I head out to a bush right quick?"
"Ugh! Can't you just hold it in for, like, another thirty minutes or so?" she asked him.
His knees buckled as a response. And so, he detached from their wagon and broke from the path. "Don't worry, I'll let you know when I'm coming back! No tricks, I promise!"
She rolled her eyes and unhooked herself from the wagon. She chuckled once he was out of view, and lifted the veil of their wagon up just a touch. They had all their important belongings inside it, and so, she felt maybe it would help if she just adjusted the positions of some of the contents inside.
The stallion sighed in relief. After having done his business behind a tree, he turned to leave. However, before he could, his ear twitched, as the sound of a snapping twig could be heard nearby.
He turned around quickly, and moved his head left and right. Starting to get nervous, he took a step backwards, unaware of the shadow behind him.
Before he could even realize it, something long and sharp punctured through the back of his neck, sticking out of the front. He could only manage a choking sound, before the sharp object pulled itself back. He fell to the ground, head-first, and his blood trickled from the front of his neck.
The mare looked worriedly towards the spot where her husband went. He was gone for well over ten minutes, and she knew it wouldn't usually take him that long for just a simple tinkle break! She looked back at her wagon, as if lost in thought, before shaking her head. "I'm sure it'll be fine. It's just for a minute or so."
And so, she went towards where her husband went.
Upon reaching the clearing, she gasped when she saw a puddle of blood, with no body nearby.
Then she heard a branch break behind her, and turned quickly around, backing up slowly.
She looked around repeatedly, as the leaves started to fall around her, but couldn't find any signs of her husband anywhere.
Then, the shadow below her began to get darker. She looked up, and immediately, her eyes shrunk down into pinpricks.
Meanwhile, at a distant campsite, the fire in the middle of it burnt softly, while a slab of Boar Meat, stabbed onto a long wooden stick, hovered just a little ways above it, now cooked to a crisp.
The pair of thick fur-gloved hands pulled the meat back, while the long brown-haired, pale-skinned man in orange goggles lowered the green cloth from his nose to just below his gruff, stubbly mouth. He then took a bite and exhaled slowly over the good taste of a well-earned hunt.
His dusty, camouflaged, bulletproof vest was covering a brown leather long-sleeved shirt; hand-stitched from the hides of various creatures held together with plant fibers that he grew, and threads that he looted from a few abandoned wagons. His brown leather pants were tucked into a pair of knee-high fur boots. Around his waist, a small, faded blue blanket was tied up, as a memento for his childhood. Covering his vest and his back was an altered saddlebag that was hoisted over his shoulders, and tied up from his sides for stability. The bag had multiple pouches sewn into the front, and significantly expanded storage size in the back, so as to make it more akin to a backpack that was similar to what Minotaurs and any other bipedal creatures would wear.
Yes... the Alpha was a fully grown man, now. His years of survival and constant combat against the forces of nature was enough to build his muscles into an impressive level of strength. Now he towered over the ponies and griffons by at least three times their height, and could kind of understand a couple of the common words that they used.
He couldn't speak them, of course, and could very well be wrong about many of their words, but he could at least pick up the phrase that they said when they were about to run away from something... which more often than not was himself, or his hunting pack.
Sure, there were a few instances when he killed some ponies and other creatures so that he can feed his pack, but eventually he came to understand a much more profitable solution: let them live and get away, so that they can bring more stuff for his pack to plunder. Then, he can at least have a constant supply coming in, should that hunt bear no significant results... and there have been a few, especially during the cold Winters... which was dawning near, if the slight chill of the air was anything to go by.
He took the last bite of his boar meat, when from the distance, a loud piercing scream echoed through the forest. The Alpha turned to face the source, and quickly picked up his rifle, then rushed over to where the sound came from.
The Alpha approached the clearing with caution. He saw the blood in the dirt, and immediately knew that there was something nearby. The Alpha walked up to the puddle of blood and removed a glove from his hand. He then felt the blood, and rubbed it against his fingers.
It was still warm. It was very fresh.
He put his glove back on and hummed. "Hmm?!" He sensed that something was close... very close.
Noticing the shadows below him shift an inch, he quickly rolled to the right. Immediately following this was a large bee-like stinger narrowly missing his head, and piercing into the tree in front of him.
The stinger withdrew, leaving a large, gaping hole in the tree, and flew up into the thicket of branches above, while the Alpha knew better than to let it slip his vision. He lifted his rifle up and immediately shot a bullet into the leaves, just a little ways above where the stinger was.
A loud roar bellowed from above. The Alpha looked down briefly enough to see the shadow darken around him, and increase in size.
He dashed forward and rolled out of the way, as the mighty bugbear crashed and skid into the ground, kicking up dirt.
It was enraged and now carrying a bullet wound on the side of its stinger/tail.
Its mouth drooled with the blood of its recent victims, and it let out a hungry snarl at the Alpha, while stretching its six powerful arms out in a threatening manner.
It then roared once more, while the Alpha pulled the lever of the rifle and chambered his second bullet.
He managed to shoot the bugbear in the skull, but due to its thickness, it only broke the skin and fur, which only made the bugbear angrier.
He pulled the lever once more, but the bugbear quickly leapt into the air and grabbed something from above the vines and branches.
Then the Alpha rolled out of the way again, as the bugbear tossed the body of the stallion to where the Alpha was just moments before.
Rather than fire again, though, the Alpha braced himself, as the bugbear hurled the second body after him: the mare.
He side-stepped out of the impact range, and then rolled once more to the side, as the bugbear lunged its entire body at him.
Then, the Alpha let out a loud, high-pitched whistle.
Within a pair of bushes shortly behind the bugbear, the blue-striped manticore leaped up, latched onto its back, and plunged its fangs into the bugbear's top left shoulder.
The bugbear roared loudly, as pain surged around its neck. It made an attempt to back into a nearby tree and press its massive weight against the Manticore, but before it could move more than a few feet, the bushes behind the Alpha split open, and the blue-striped timberwolf immediately rushed ahead of the Alpha, then leapt up to grab a hold of the the bugbear's very lowest-right arm, and scratch at its stomach with all four sets of claws.
The bugbear spun around while the Alpha knelt to one knee, taking careful aim at a particular part of the bugbear down below. He saw the bullet wound on its bug-half, which was a clear sign that that must've been its weaker half.
Then he saw the long, spike-like stinger emerge from the bugbear's lower half. It spun rapidly in a circle and swiped the timberwolf from its arm, sending it flying into the dirt with a whine. The spinning forced the manticore to release its grip and slide into the dirt alongside its timberwolf companion. The bugbear then spun itself to where the sharp end of its body was hovered over the manticore. It reeled its stinger back in an attempt to jab into the dazed manticore's neck.
The Alpha then took his shot and fired his gun directly into the stinger, itself. The bullet's sheer metallic power snapped the stinger from the bugbear's body, and into the dirt. The impact and the pain forced the bugbear to reel forward, while the manticore shook the dizziness off and plunged its tail into the bugbear's back.
The impact left a small red mark on the bugbear's thick fur, but it wasn't enough to break the skin, nor deep enough to inject venom to wear it down.
So, the manticore stung at the bugbear again, while the Alpha started rushing towards the fray. The timberwolf, no longer dazed from the crushing blow of the bugbear's three-armed swipe, circled around it to find an opening.
The bugbear then quickly spun around when the manticore made a third attempt at its minor flesh wound with its tail, and caught the sides of the manticore's poisonous barb. Then it pulled the manticore's tail up and plunged its own teeth into the non-poisoned ends of the manticore's tail. This sent serious pain surging into the manticore, as its wings flared out, and it lifted its head up, roaring loudly.
The timberwolf, now directly behind the bugbear, leapt to the manticore's attempted rescue, and plunged its teeth into the bee-like tail of their towering opponent.
This, however, only made the bugbear growl in frustration and turn its eyes towards the timberwolf.
Thankfully, though, this distraction was enough for the Alpha to get in up-close. He climbed onto the manticore's back, aimed his rifle point-blank at the bugbear's right eye, and shot his rifle's last chambered bullet into it, sending blood gushing from its now empty right socket, and releasing its grip onto the manticore.
The Alpha then used this opportunity to throw his rifle's strap over his shoulder. He drew his Bowie Knife from its sheath on the back of his belt, which was tucked beneath the blanket, then leapt onto the bugbear's chest.
The bugbear attempted to swat him off , but he was one hell of a climber at this point. He climbed up higher, then threw his legs over its right shoulder, and was now tucked away on its back.
The bugbear then flared out its bee-like wings, and took to the sky, with the Alpha latched onto its back. It spun wildly in an attempt to free itself from his grip, but he was strong, and very, very determined to bag this beast as the next meal to provide for the pack.
And so, when he saw the bugbear's upper arms reaching over its shoulders, he loosed his grip just enough to slide down until he was midway at its back. He then tucked himself further into the beast's fur, so that it couldn't get a hold of him with either of its arms.
It spun around once again, until from the bottom of the Alpha's view, he spotted the manticore flying up to join in on the sky war.
The manticore, with the bugbear distracted by the Alpha, was able to lock its jaw onto the bugbear's chest and pierce through its thick fur, drawing blood out to the beast.
It started to swipe at the manticore, but with the manticore's adrenaline and the bugbear's intense pain, it wasn't able to do as much damage as it could before.
The Alpha then looked over at the bugbear's wings and shifted his hold on the knife, until it was reverse-gripped. He then brought the blade to the base of one of the bugbear's wings, and jabbed at it with all his might, repeatedly.
Soon, the wing flew off, and the bugbear was lowering its altitude at a rapid pace.
The Alpha whistled, before sheathing his knife and kicking himself off the bugbear. The manticore swooped down, and caught him on its back, then spread its wings out to slow their descent, as the bugbear plummeted to the ground.
When they landed back in the clearing, the Alpha hopped off of the manticore, and started pulling bullets from his vest, which he slid back into the rifle, one by one.
The bugbear, meanwhile, was now hunched over on all eight of its limbs, with its one remaining eye fixated on the pack.
It was drooling out a mixture of saliva and its own blood.
It roared, but it was a lot weaker than its previous roars. The pack knew this, and growled at the bugbear, before rushing in, full of energy.
The Alpha finished reloading his rifle, and approached the frenzy, taking careful aim so as to not hurt his pack.
When he was only a few meters away, he let out another loud whistle, and at once the timberwolf jumped off of the bugbear's back, and the manticore jumped off of its chest, which now had numerous claw marks on it, and a nasty opening in the center of its chest, where the muscles were pulsing.
The Alpha then walked up to the bugbear while it stood up on its hind legs and roared with its arms outstretched. Rather than back down, though, the Alpha raised the barrel at the creature's chest and fired a single shot into it.
The bugbear then fell on its back, while the Alpha walked up its legs, and onto its stomach. He shot once more into the beast's chest, and its arms flailed out. It spat out blood, while the Alpha pulled the lever of his rifle and shot it in the chest once more, until his foot reached the wide-open wound.
The bugbear let out one last roar before the Alpha placed the barrel into its exposed eye socket, and fired one last time, silencing the bugbear for good.
The Alpha and his hunting pack breathed heavily after the intense hunt... but when their breathing steadied once again, the Alpha raised his rifle in the air, grasping it in both hands, and let out a victorious roar. His pack, now brimming with pride, roared along with him, as they all looked up at the sky, no doubt very pleased with their huge achievement this very day.
Then, when all the celebration was done, the Alpha threw his rifle back over his shoulder and pulled the knife out of its sheathe again. With the claw marks on the bugbear's pelt, it was a lot easier for him to cut the thick-hided beast open.
No doubt this pelt would make for some good protection against other predators.
The timberwolf and manticore approached the bugbear's carcass when the Alpha tore its hide off, exposing the precious meat underneath. Their mouths were watering, as their instinctive nature was starting to cloud their judgement, due to the auroma of meat filling the air.
However, the Alpha growled and turned towards them in response. He lifted his left hand up and, with all five of his fingers splayed out, hissed. "Ss!"
Immediately, they snapped from their stupor and bowed their heads to him. They recognized the hissing as "Stop", while all five of his fingers splayed out meant he was addressing it to "Everyone".
They knew better to question their Alpha. Since he was their leader, it was by innate law that he got the first take of the kill. And so, he turned back to the bugbear and resumed his work, this time without distractions.
He drew a thick green cloth bag from inside the larger vest-side of his backpack, and unfolded it. The bag was once owned by a pony who forgot it in their camp one night. Ever since he stumbled across this bag, though, he used it quite often. Sure, it had a few tears here and there at the top, and it also had a lot of dried blood at its base, where he used the bag to carry previous meats around easier... however, it still functioned well enough, and made his yields of the hunt more sizeable.
After cutting out a large chunk of meat from the bugbear, he bagged it up and tossed it over his shoulder, then motioned towards the remainder of their prey, and whistled.
Now it was their cue for the manticore and timberwolf to start eating their spoils. After all, the fight was tiresome for them all. They had to eat to recover this energy for their next hunt.
The Alpha watched his pack consume their fill, until they couldn't eat anymore. Then, once they backed up for him to examine its remains, he frowned a bit.
It was a big beast. As such, there were still so much leftovers, that it would be very wasteful to just leave it there. And so, he pulled out two more cloth bags and started filling them up with extra organs and chunks from the bugbear's body.
Though still nowhere near completely harvested, what he could fit into the extra bags would have to do. He tied them all up and clicked his tongue twice, telling the pack to approach him.
He then gave the largest bag to the manticore, who carried it in his jaws. Then he gave the smallest to the timberwolf, due to his wooden organs not being sturdy enough for extremely heavy loads. The medium bag, he would carry, himself.
And so, hoisting the bag over his shoulder, he clicked his tongue twice once more, and began to head towards the den.
But then, from the distance, screaming and crying could be heard. This stopped them all in their tracks, as they turned towards the source of the crying.
The Alpha was first to react. He placed the bag of meat on the ground and hissed. "Ss!" He was letting his pack know to watch over his share of the meat, which they did without question.
He then drew his rifle and snuck past the treeline. By the time he was close to the road, his rifle was already fully loaded for whatever creature lied ahead.
The screaming was very high pitched, almost like the sound of a cub whining out for its mother. This made him lower his barrel to the ground, as he looked around the road for the source.
One more loud cry, and his head was now fixed onto the abandoned wagon the ponies were carrying.
He approached the wagon carefully and, using the barrel of his gun, lifted the cover up. He heard crying, but could not find the one who was doing so. The wagon was mostly just full of expensive plates and a large, wadded up pink blanket- nothing of importance to the Alpha.
That was, until the blanket started to move.
He jumped back a bit at the sudden movement, and raised his rifle towards it... but then, it only cried even more, while a thin strand of white hair poked out of a crease in the blanket. Curious, the Alpha lowered his gun again, and reached out towards the blanket.
Then, he pulled it open.
Inside the blanket was a tiny female foal with a blue coat and silver mane. Its light blue eyes were filled with tears as it continued to cry... but then, with the sudden appearance of light, its crying ceased, and its eyes turned to face the Alpha with curiosity.
They both just stared at each other there for what felt like eternity... but the Alpha was the first to make a move.
He brought his head closer to the foal, and started to sniff at it curously. When he was within its reach, though, the foal lifted its front hooves and tapped on his face.
He reeled back from the strange contact in confusion, but stared at the foal through his goggles.
Then she reached her hooves out towards him and giggled. He couldn't recognize the smile, nor the significance of it... and yet, he still felt the instinct to protect this frail, innocent little creature from the harshness of nature.
It wouldn't last long out here, and he sensed that its parents were nowhere in sight. Whether dead or otherwise, she was not going to be found anytime soon.
He was briefly tempted to just feed it to the pack at home, but he knew that if he did, the taste for Pony Blood would grow for the more challenging of his pack, so he dismissed the thought almost as soon as it came.
He remembered that he had to kill a few of his own when they challenged his orders to stop chasing the outsiders who continued to, albeit unintentionally, bring them food for the pack in the form of the wagons they often brought with them. The pack members who did disobey his orders were usually the ones who viewed him as either being too soft and unworthy to rule, or too weak and as feeble as the prey they hunted.
And so he knew that they no longer considered themselves as part of his ruling, and were challenging him for the position of Alpha, so as to take control from him by force.
Thankfully, a quick introduction to his rifle was enough to put any of the pack's other insurrectionists in line. After witnessing him win against the manticore that challenged him last, all creatures that remained in the pack were now completely loyal to their Alpha, and dared not challenge him again, lest they suffer a similar fate.
He wasn't tempted in any way to bring her into civilization, either. After all, it was civilization that killed his mother, the previous Alpha. In the event that she be raised with them, there's a risk that she may end up their enemy, and would suffer an ill fate later on down the line.
No... she was in their world, now, whether she, or her parents, wanted it or not.
And so, his mind was made up about what to do with the foal. He put his weapon away and wrapped her into the blanket, then picked her up, cradling her over his shoulder. Her eyes were wandering around curiously, as she made little baby-like noises. Her front hooves would occasionally tap on his shoulder, and she'd sometimes squirm, but eventually her eyes just grew too heavy, and she fell asleep without a care in the world.
She was a curious little creature, for sure. She watched the wagon vanish behind the trees, and she was eyeing the world around her before she fell asleep. The sound of growling made her ears twitch, but her baby blue eyes remained closed.
The Alpha looked over and found that his hunting pack was now staring at the filly, and growling curiously at her.
He raised his other hand and splayed his fingers out. "Ss!" he ordered.
They stopped their growling and bowed their heads. He then picked his bag of bugbear meat up, and began to head back to the den.
After clicking his tongue twice, his hunting pack followed right behind him, with all eyes fixed on the filly, wondering what would happen next.
When they made it to the den, there were a few curious stares and growls by the other members of the pack, as they laid eyes on the foal. A quick hiss from their Alpha, however, was enough to silence them, as he walked into the cave.
He gently set her sleeping form on a fur pallet, then walked over towards one of many wooden chests. He opened it up, and fiddled around through its contents, until he found a bottle. He saw a pony couple using these once to feed milk to their young, and managed to find one in an abandoned wagon that he and his hunting pack looted.
Then he stepped out of the cave, and towards a leafy brush, where one of the manticore members were breast-feeding their young.
Upon looking up at her Alpha, she growled out in a questioning gesture.
He lifted the bottle and popped his lips together twice, making what sounded like water dropping in a cave.
The manticore nodded her head and brushed her young off of her teats, then stood up and approached him. Then, when in reach, she turned to the side, and let out a feint growl.
He crouched down below her and gently pinched the milk from one of her unused teats, filling the bottle up until it was full enough.
He nodded to her with a grunt, and she returned to feeding her young, while he in turn went back into the cave.
The foal was still asleep, but tossing and turning in her blanket. When he gently picked her back up, she whined for a brief moment, and her eyes slowly cracked open. However, when he placed the tip of the bottle into her mouth, she quieted down, and suckled the life nectar from the container.
She continued to drink the contents of the bottle, until it was completely empty. Then, when he pulled the bottle from her mouth, she spat a little of it up, and started to whine.
He brought her back up to his shoulder, then, and patted her on the back, in a way similar to how the ponies would do it.
When she let out a small burp, he felt her nuzzling his shoulder with her cheek.
He didn't expect the creature to take up to him so quickly. Though he never smiled, nor understood what a smile meant, he was still filled with a hint of pride. He was knowledgeable enough to at least know this creature could, and likely would, grow strong while under his personal care.
And yet, she still had to be marked for the pack.
So, he stood back up and carried her over to the back of the cave, where their sacred tree stood. All the way, the foal's babyish noises echoed, which made it giggle even more.
He tucked the foal into his left arm and placed his right hand into the puddle of water. With his thumb, he brushed some of the blue sand up, and lifted his hand up, until it was hovering over her.
He thought long and hard for this one. After all, once your place among the pack was established, there was no turning back. He could mark one of her cheeks to make her a hunter for one of the next hunting packs to come - left for the leader, and right for the support. Or, he could mark her on the tuft of her chest to make her an Omega, where she would mostly just be safe and ignored altogether by even the fiercest in the pack, as she wouldn't be a threat to them in the hierarchy.
But then, another thought came to mind. He knew that one day, he may not be able to lead them anymore. He was still young and spry, and likely would be for ages to come... but in nature, you can never guarantee a tomorrow, no matter how young or old, nor weak or strong you are.
And so, he made his decision.
Bringing his thumb up an inch over her eyes, he pressed down on her temple, making her close her eyes at the strange contact. Then, he bushed his thumb across her forehead, leaving a blue trail across it.
She opened her eyes and nibbled on his finger, while he simply allowed her to teeth on it. He went over to his pallet and lied down with her cradled onto his chest. Her eyes slowly grew heavier, and she released his finger, then fell asleep on top of him.
Tomorrow, he would let the others in the pack know. She was now one of them... but most importantly, she was now marked as their new Beta.
A tan stallion with spiky brown hair was trotting through a relatively safe part of the Everfree Forest. He was carrying a covered wagon, and humming happily to himself.
It was the 50'th Anniversary of Queen Twilight coming up, and he wouldn't miss it for the world! He was so lost in his own world, that he failed to spot the pack of creatures watching him from behind the bushes and the trees up ahead.
The Alpha adjusted his goggles a bit more, before nodding his head and grunting. He looked down to his right leg and knelt towards the blue filly with silver hair that lowered to her shoulders.
She looked up at him curiously, while he motioned towards a certain spot on the road, followed by a tree opposite of where they were crouched at.
She nodded her head and grunted back at him in approval. "Mmm!"
She was wearing a green saddlebag with a long rope wrapped around her waist, and tied up at the top. Her right hoof was covered in a strange, metallic mechanism with two curved bones, a rounded hook halfway up her arm, and a leather strap tied between the bones. Nestled on her back was also a spear made of wood and bone, which was sharpened enough to at least be able to puncture through basic creatures' hides.
She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a thick arrow that had a strange, red nut at the tip of it, instead of a sharp point. Carefully angling the back of the arrow onto the strap, she used her teeth to pull the mechanism back, and attach it to the hook.
Her arm started to shake a bit, so the Alpha placed his hand underneath her for leverage. She smiled at him, before closing an eye and taking aim at a distant tree, right as the stallion began to come into view.
He passed by her range for only a split second, when she bit onto a strap at the side of her hoof's contraption, and pulled. The hook lowered down, and the strap slid out of its hold, launching the arrow across the area, and onto the tree.
Once the red nut hit the tree, it burst open, and let out a loud pop. This startled the stallion, and made him jump up in shock, before turning towards the source of the noise.
"H-hello?! Who's there?!" he asked... but no response came. He sighed, before turning to leave again, when another one of the noise arrows flew behind him, and hit another tree; this one being a bit closer to him.
He rolled his eyes after being startled yet again, and detached from the wagon. "Hokey Pokey, I swear to Twilight, if you're pulling another prank on me, I'm going to clock you!"
He then trotted over towards the trees, oblivious of the blue filly with the blue mark on her forehead. She was now sneaking over to his abandoned wagon, while he was distracted.
However, when he saw that nothing was there, he turned and gasped. "H-HEY! THAT'S NOT YOURS!" he shouted, which startled the filly and made her leap from the wagon.
Then he sighed, shaking his head. "Wait, hold on! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you... are you lost, little filly?" he asked, now approaching her with a softened expression.
She was crouched down and shaking at the strange stallion who was making strange noises with his mouth that she didn't hear before.
However, when he got a little too close, she quickly drew her spear out and firmly held it out to his neck.
He lifted his fore hooves up and smiled nervously at her. "H-hey, now hold on! There's no need to be hostile here!"
When he tried to gently reach his hoof to move her spear away from his neck, she swung it in the air, almost hitting him.
He jumped back and yelped, before waving his hooves in a calming manner. "Hey, easy, easy! I can take a hint!"
Then he turned around to return to his wagon, but froze in place when a blue marked manticore emerged from the other side, snarling at him.
He quickly motioned towards the filly. "Quick, little filly! R-run away before-"
Another growl behind him made him turn around. A blue-marked timberwolf emerged from the bushes, and stood between he and the filly. The filly sheathed her spear back over her saddlebag and hid behind the timberwolf's right hind leg, staring frightened at the stallion. The timberwolf, rather than turn towards her, took on a defensive stance, as it made it clear who was protecting who from the stranger. He quickly realized at that point: the timberwolf and the manticore were protecting one of their own.
They both walked towards him, and he backed up a couple paces... then, from behind a tree, he saw something different - a long-haired creature with orange goggles and a green face mask that towered over him almost as high as a Minotaur... possibly even higher, as far as he knew.
He then yelped in fear, before turning around and running... right smack into the wagon's left arm. His hooves flew into the air, and he fell flat on the ground, now unconscious, as his fate was now in the pack's control.
The Alpha approached the stallion and placed a hand over the victim's chest. Upon hearing the growls of the timberwolf and manticore, he raised a wide-fingered hand. "Ss!"
They went silent and bowed, while the filly approached the stallion curiously.
This was the first time she saw one of her own kind, so naturally, she did the first thing that came to mind. Slowly trotting up to the stallion, she began to sniff at him, while his eyes slowly started to open up.
He just lied there, though, as he felt the filly poking at his body with what felt like a stick, and sniffing around him.
Then when she was right below his forearm pits, she sniffed once and reeled back, sneezing softly, and scrunching her nose in disgust.
"Today was not a good day to wear Deoderant... or maybe it was, if she planned to feed me to her pets." he thought to himself, before slowly turning around onto his back, and sitting up to where he was sitting down. This made the filly jump backwards in response, as she twirled the blade of her spear until it was pointed forward. She then placed the tip of her spear against his neck and nodded towards the opposite end of the road, moving the spear between his neck and where she nodded.
"Fff!" she demanded, much to the stallion's confusion. In truth, she was trying to whistle for him to leave, but sadly she still had yet to learn how to properly whistle. Even if she could, however, it was pretty clear the stallion still wouldn't understand what she was demanding.
And so, the Alpha clicked his tongue twice, and she backed away, allowing him to make the message clear.
He picked the stallion up, which naturally made him panic and curl up like a kitten. Then the Alpha placed him on the ground, right beside the wagon, while the pack behind him, manticore, timberwolf, and filly, all looked towards their Alpha for his next command.
The stallion backed away slowly as the Alpha leaned closer towards him. Then, the Alpha balled up his fists, spread his arms out wide, and let out a loud, bellowing roar.
The stallion screamed in terror, then turned and ran back the opposite direction. He dared not turn around and tempt fate at this point. He would run as fast as his hooves could take him, until civilization was back in view.
The pack, however, did not give chase. They saw that both of his hands were balled up in fists, after all - a sign that means "I Move, You Stay."
When the stallion was out of reach, the Alpha raised two fingers up and hissed. "Ss!"
Two fingers was soon established to mean "Everyone except Beta" after he marked her ten years ago. And so, the manticore and timberwolf both held their positions, while the Alpha clicked his tongue twice, ordering her to follow.
When they were at the back of the wagon, the Alpha grabbed the cover and pulled it off, revealing the contents within the wagon.
There were small crates with fruits of various shapes, sizes, and colors. One had apples, oranges, and bananas, while the other one had watermelons and cantaloupes. That was only the right half, though.
The left half had a crate with several cooked apple and cinnamon pies. A basket, which stood in the center of the wagon, was covered in a plastic bag, and held a large pile of hay inside it.
The Alpha brushed his hand across the fruit, when he felt the filly tap on his right leg.
"Hmm?" she asked, pleading him to help her up on the wagon.
"Mmm." he approved, picking her up and placing her to where she could see the fruits as well.
Though her mouth watered at the sight of such delectables, she sat down and looked at the Alpha, allowing him to taste test the contents, first, as the rule went.
He started with the basket of hay. Lowering his mask, he took a small pinch of the strange substance, then nibbled on it.
To him, the flavor was absolutely horrible. He spat what he got in his mouth onto the ground and gagged a little, before looking at the filly, who smacked her lips at the sight of it.
He then brought the hay to her mouth. She opened wide, and scooped up the hay with her tongue, then chewed on it a bit, while looking over to the side as if thinking about if she liked the taste enough or not.
Then, with a nod, she grunted her approval. "Mmm!"
He nodded back at her with a responding grunt, then picked the basket up. He then placed it in front of her, and untied the rope from her waist. Then he placed the basket on her back, balanced by the saddlebag's corners, and tied the rope over the basket, securing it on the filly's back.
He then helped her back down to the ground and took out two cloth bags. Unlike the last ones, these were fairly clean, and didn't have any bloodstains on them.
He filled the bags up with fruits, separating the small ones from the large ones. Then, when he had all bags filled up, he whistled for the other pack members to approach him.
When they were close enough, he handed the bag of small fruits to the timberwolf, and the bag of melons to the manticore. As for himself, he lifted the crate filled with pies, and lifted it up to his chest.
With the wagon picked fairly clean, he walked back into the forest, towards the den. He clicked his tongue twice, and the others followed suit, with the filly secured between the Alpha, and the two hunters behind her.
After setting the fruits and pies into the food cache, which was a few wooden crates and chests placed at the side of the right wall, the beasts relaxed over near the entrance, while a few of their other pack members approached them in greeting.
Meanwhile, the filly followed the Alpha over to the back of the cave, where he looked at the paw print of his mother and sighed.
He signed the meaning of this tree to the Beta, who understood it well enough.
The Alpha spent a few moments to silently honor the former Alphas, and especially the previous one. Her spirit was strong, and in a way, he felt like her spirit has guided him to where he stood, now.
After a few moments in silence, he turned to face the filly, who was now sound asleep on her own bedroll. He thought about what the future may hold, and nodded his head in approval.
She did good today. She listened, and obeyed without question. Sure, she might've gotten afraid of the stallion that stood taller than her, but he couldn't hold it against her... she was just now learning how to face the unknown.
Although he had to help her with the sling-bow, he was certain that she'd be able to handle it on her own one day. Perhaps then, she could use spear-tipped arrows, and hunt unmarked creatures or smaller prey with it.
And naturally, once she's mastered the art of the kill, she could learn how to provide for the pack as a whole, rather than for her own survival.
He would teach her how to carve a corpse, and maybe even cook the meat, just in case another of his kind arrives. She would then be able to support them when they need it.
His stomach started to growl a bit, which made her ear twitch, and his thoughts to be broken for a moment. He approached the food stockpile and looked through the supplies. After giving it a bit of thought, though, he decided to take an apple pie.
He sat down cross-legged, and sniffed the strange new food. He tried nibbling on the top, but it was covered in a plastic lid, so he couldn't get any of the flavor that the deceptive smell would provide.
He growled a bit, as he examined the item curiously. He shook it around for a bit, until eventually a corner of the lid slipped open.
Then he lifted the corner up, and the delicious aroma assaulted his nostrils. Now he was the one with his mouth watering.
He lowered his mask and scooped up a small pinch of the pie, then licked it curiously, just in case it wasn't as good as it smelled.
Then he slid his fingers into his mouth and ate the scoop of the pie, exhaling deeply at the amazing new flavor.
He scooped up a bit more this time, and ate another, more confident bite... and then another, followed by a few more.
"Hmm?" the filly's hum echoed in the cave, stopping the Alpha from getting another scoop.
He turned his head, and found that the filly was now looking up at him, smacking her lips hungrily, and sitting down, as if waiting for him to provide her with an answer.
He thought for a moment, before nodding his head and grunting in approval. "Mmm."
She smiled and let out an excited gasp, then trotted her way over to his left leg. She nuzzled her head into his left arm, while he lowered the tray onto his left knee, balancing it between the two of them. He scooped up a pinch of the pie and ate it, before scooping another one and offering it to her. She opened her mouth and sighed in delight as she ate the portion he gave her.
They took turns with each scoop, until the pie was completely gone.
He was proud of her for her hard work today. She definitely earned her share of this delicious new treat. And though he never would smile, nor would he ever truly know its meaning, that didn't mean he wasn't happy.
After all, he was the Alpha, and she was his Beta. On the day nature takes him, the pack would turn to her for guidance and leadership.
And it made him most happy to know that he would be the one to guide her the way... to becoming their pack's next Alpha.
Author's Note
And that does it for this quick little one-shot!
Wait, hold up! You mean you, Justin Daniels, whose library is about 99.9% "Incomplete", actually finished a story for once in your life?!
Why yes, yes I did! And I'd do it again, see?!
Anyways, I hope y'all had as much fun reading this as I had writing it!
...
But that being said, there's still plenty of open space for this canon to grow even further! For instance, maybe there were some trials during the Alpha's growth that could be expanded upon? Perhaps a bit more Beta footage, as she grows and flourishes into a seasoned survivor and future leader of the pack?
Whatever the case, if you enjoyed this one, I encourage you all to let me know if you'd like the possibility of a single or, dare I say, multi-chapter sequel! If we hit enough Likes, then that may very well be a possibility!
Until then, though, I bid you all a great day! 
