The Winter Wolf

The Life Of Wolf

Chapter 1

    I awoke early in the morning by a loud rumbling sound. It was my stomach. I could imagine what I looked like from the view of a passerby. A small white ball that blends in with the surrounding snow. A black and teal mane and teal hooves. Small, helpless, pathetic. I was also freezing. I happened to like the cold, but not enough to freeze to death.

This all started several months ago. I had lived in a small mountainside cottage. It was a late night, I had just been born. All I remember was a loud banging noise, followed by my mother, whose face I couldn’t even see, carry me into the surrounding wilderness. I didn’t even get a name, or even hear my parents names. I did however, catch a glimpse of the bandit who killed my father. He was a tall creature with red eyes. He had a dark greenish blue coat. I swear, if I ever see him, he will die.

I barely survived. I ate the sparse amount of grass that has been growing on the mountainside. I’ve been attacked several times by vultures in this harsh environment. Luckily, almost all other predators ignore me, the bears must think I’m too small to eat, the hawks are small enough to repel, but the wolves... they stalk me. Trying to get as much information about me as possible. Or they’re just waiting for me to die, just like the vultures. I can barely walk, it could be from weakness or the fact that I’m barely a foal. Probably both. Winter was approaching, and I was going to die.

I wonder what death would feel like and what comes after it. I’m not very eager to find out. I gave up trying to find food for the day. There probably wasn’t any grass or berries anywhere on the mountain. The trees weren't an option either. My wings hadn’t developed yet, so I couldn’t fly. I tried every day to get them to work, they were certainly big enough, I just didn’t know how to fly yet. I always thought once I was able to fly, I’d be able to escape. It took me awhile to think; escape to what?

Back to now. I felt frostbite start to kick in. My white coat was starting to turn into a nasty shade of bluish-purple. I was shivering violently and my body was starting to cramp up. Night was falling, and I didn’t know if I’d live to see the morning. That’s when I noticed two packs of wolves. They seemed to be arguing over something. I decided to get up. I hobbled over to get a closer look. I was surprised when I could somehow understand what they were saying. They seemed to be fighting over territory. I always thought that the wolves would have bloody battles to decide who gets what. I examined the two groups. One consisted of black, brown, and dark grey wolves. There was a single white one. Some of them even had wings like mine, just much bigger. The other group of wolves were all odd shades of red. None of them had wings. One red-wolf, that I assumed to be the leader, was talking in some strange growling sound,

    “Now, Shadow Hunter, I don’t care how many members your pack has, you can not ever use our hunting grounds!”

    “Redpaw, please let us. We need the extra food, or else we’ll starve.” the wolf that I assume to be Shadow Hunter begged. “We don’t want to go to war with you, but we will do what we must!” Shadow growled. Shadow had a black coat with strange red swirls on them. He also had some armor on, it protected the top of his muzzle, his sides, and his back. It was most likely aesthetic, rather than to actually defend. He was one of the few wolves that actually had wings. He kept nervously fluttering them. I leaned in to get a better look. I leaned a little too far and started to tumble down the small hill I was standing on to overlook their conversation.

    “How dare you and Angel send a spy!” Redpaw roared.

    “Yeah, we'd send a spy to spy on our own meeting.” Angel said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Besides, it’s one of those ignorant ponies. It probably can’t even understand what we’re saying.”

    “Actually...” I started to say. It sounded like I was growling, but I could still understand everything I was saying.

    “It speaks our tongue!” they all gasped. Well, that was odd. Apparently my species doesn’t normally interact with theirs.’

    “I guess I do... why’s that so special?” I asked.

    “Well, for one, you ponies don’t normally interact with other sentient species. Secondly, you are but a foal, you shouldn’t be alive in these woods.” Redpaw snarled.

    “Ignorant as ever, Redpaw. I’ve been keeping him alive. Watching him.” Angel snapped back. That was news to me, apparently I had a guardian Angel. I got up and sat in a more dignified position. As I had my face stinking into the snow the entire time. I got a better look at Angel. She was pure white with gold patterns, much like Shadow’s. She had very large white wings, golden eyes, and ornate golden armor. I looked over at Redpaw. He had demonic red eyes, a greenish blue coat, and, unsurprisingly, red paws. He looked oddly familiar...

    “Foal, come here.” Shadow asked. I noticed that it wasn’t a command. Maybe he was inviting me into the pack? I shuffled over to him. He examined me with a critical eye. He muttered my characteristics under his breath. Such as, skinny, ribs are very visible, signs of hypothermia and frostbite, large wings, thin white coat, decent black and teal mane and tail, the list went on and on. I was puzzled when he asked,

    “Show me your teeth.”

    I opened my mouth, as I really didn’t have a choice. His eyes lit up in surprise. I was perplexed, what was so strange.

    “Strange, you have canine teeth, unlike the rest of your kind...” Shadow mumbled.

    “What do you mean by ‘the rest of my kind?’” I asked.

    “Well, you’re a Pegasus pony. Ponies are sentient herbivores that have a complex society governed by a princess.” Shadow explained. After a few moments of inspection, he spoke up again. “You seem decent... would you like to join the pack?”

    “Yes.” I immediately replied. I’d rather live with a pack of wolves than freeze to death.

    “Good choice.” Shadow replied. He turned to Redpaw, “Redpaw, this meeting is adjourned.”

~-<>-~

    We’ve been walking for what I guess is about ten minutes before we reached a clearing. There were several fire pits that ha wolves lined around them. The wolves were happily chatting about random topics. I tried to count how many wolves there were. I gave up when I reached 100. I wondered how there were this many wolves. Based on my past observations, in most packs, only the alpha male and female could ‘mate.’ Maybe this pack was different. I decided not to ask about it. As we walked, Shadow and Angel were whispering something. I could only make out a few details, but they seemed to be discussing the task of taking care of me and about the inevitable war. I decided to ask a few questions.

    “Since we’re going to war, how big is their pack? How much land do they have? Who are their leaders?”

    “Their pack is small, but much stronger than ours, they have a decent amount of land, and Redpaw is their only leader.” Angel answered in a professional tone of voice.

    “Then kill him.” I replied in a flat voice. A plan was forming in my head.

    “How?” Shadow asked.

    “Leave that to me... he seems... familiar...”

    “Yeah, sure, we’re going to let a foal take down the leader of a militaristic pack...” Angel replied with sarcasm dripping from her voice like honey.

“Besides... you do know him, he killed your family.” Shadow continued.

    I knew I knew that bastard from somewhere. After that we continued in silence. We continued to their den. I could see inside it through a large opening in the front. It had a large fire pit with a small pool next to it, a large kitchen area, and several sleeping. Angel and Shadow wiped their paws off and walked inside the den. I did the same. When we walked in, the floor was some sort of hard, rock like, object. Angel and Shadow jumped onto one of the longer objects.

    “Welcome to our den,” Angel explained. I walked around for a minute before I found a pile of several small rectangles that were made up of very thin rectangles. I picked up a blue one and looked at its cover. It read ‘The Equestrian Dictionary, Volume 1.’ I opened it and the first thing I noticed was that it was made up of words. How I managed to understand them was beyond me. How I even remembered anything I read AT ALL was even further.

I read some of their other books, such as a few medical dictionaries, history books, etcetera..., and learned that the land I was in is called ‘Equestria.’ I also learned more about... ‘reproduction.’ By the time I finished reading a book about medical anomalies, I had thawed out and could actually feel my still frozen hooves. I figured out I might have an eidetic memory and a gift of tongues.

I pondered this. Why was I so gifted? I feel practically useless. That didn’t matter though. I had to figure out how to kill Redpaw. My train of thought was interrupted when my stomach rumbled. Angel or Shadow must have heard because Angel came over to me and told me to follow her.

She brought me to the kitchen and we sat down. There were three plates with what looked like ham on them. It looked like it was raw. Angel and Shadow were eyeing me intently. I shrugged to myself and took a bite of the ham. It was ok... but...

    “Wouldn’t this taste better if it was heated up?” I asked.

    “I’ve never considered that...” Shadow mumbled.

    “Well, it’s something to remember for next time,” Angel commented.

    We continued to eat in silence. The meat tasted good enough, I was just hoping my stomach would agree. After we finished, we sat by the fire pit, that I learned was a fireplace to warm up a little bit better.

I looked back on recent events. One thing that struck me was that Shadow knew about my parents’ demise. I decided not to question it. He would tell me when he’s ready. Another thing that struck me was how I could even talk to and understand others. I’ve been in the wilderness for a very long time.

That just seems very illogical, I could fluently speak a foreign language with very little practice. Hopefully my talents will help me integrate back into pony society. Hopefully, I won't be here too long. Shadow and Angel are nice enough, but they obviously have enough on their paws right now.

There was also the news of Redpaw... he killed my parents, he was going to die for it. That much was clear. While I was thinking, I was observing my surroundings. The fireplace was fairly large, at about two meters wide by one meter tall. There were several logs burning in it at the moment. I looked over to a wall to the left of it. There were several hooks on the wall that were holding various blades. Those might come in handy... A specific blade caught my eye.

It was long and pure black with teal highlights. It looked like it could possibly be enchanted, it glowed in a ghostly light. It was only bladed on one side though. I decided to get a closer look. I got up from my sitting position and examined the blade more closely. I grabbed the grip with my teeth. It felt like it was adjusting to my mouth. Upon further examination, it was.

I gently put it back in its place on the wall. I wondered if I could hold it with my hoof. I read that all ponies have a small amount of magic, so I could ‘hold’ it with my hooves, in theory. I reached out to ‘grab’ it. As soon as I touched it, it molded to my hoof. It tightened and I wondered if I could get it off. I imagined letting go of it with my magical grip. It unmolded and fell off. Interesting.

I looked around for a little while longer and found nothing else that was very interesting. I found the sheath and took the sword. I walked back over to the fireplace and noticed that Angel and Shadow were arguing over something. I could make out a few details. They were discussing the ‘big hunt’ that was about to go down in a few days. Despite that they had about 100 members in their pack, they didn’t have enough hunters. Something about most of the wolves weren't healthy at the moment.

“Hey, Shadow. I happened to overhear your little... predicament,” I explained.

“You have? I’m sorry, but what do you think YOU could do? I doubt you’re strong enough to help us take down anything with enough meat on it to feed hundreds of wolves.”

“What about these weapons you’ve collected? Do you even know they’re used for?” I asked.

“Yes, but no wolf has ever been able to use them before!”

“Strange, I seem to be able to use them just fine,” I smirked. I yanked the blade out of its sheath. I waved it around a little to demonstrate my non-existent abilities. He seemed mildly impressed. Probably just because I could use the blade.

“Well, Foal. If you can help us with the hunt, that might just make it so you could join the pack.”

“If I may, Shadow. He needs some training. He may be able to use a blade, but he isn’t exactly the strongest wolf in the pack...” Angel interjected.

“Fine, train him. You have three days,” Shadow sighed.

~-<>-~

    We retreated into our respective rooms. There were only two, so I just took the empty one to the right. The room was mostly empty, just two small mattresses made of what looked like grass. I trotted over to it and tentatively laid down on it. It was far more comfortable than it looked. I sank into the mattress and just laid there. I was exhausted, but I couldn’t find sleep easily. I just laid there for several before finding a dreamless sleep.

I awoke to what I felt was only a few hours later. I just opened my eyes and sat up. I rolled off the mattress and took a brief walk outside the den. I looked to the horizon. The sun was just rising. I sat on my haunches and just watched the sunrise. After what I guess was half an hour, Angel sat beside me.

“It seems you’re also an early riser. I thought I’d have to wake you up.” Angel commented. I remained silent.

“Well, let’s begin your training.” Angel continued.

~-<>-~

    She brought me to a more reserved part of the forest. We walked for what seemed to be miles. We went around several bends, rivers, and chasms to get to the clearing we were currently standing on. I was exhausted.

    “For your first task,” Angel paused. “you must get back... without using your wings.”

    I looked up at the sky. Apparently, it was getting dark. We had been walking for the entire day. I looked over at Angel, who was about to fly away. I just nodded. She flapped her wings and presumably flew off back to the den. I smirked as I recalled the path we took. This was too easy.

I walked through the thick foliage and arrived at a gaping chasm. When we came here, we flew over it. I had no idea on how to get over it without using my wings. I walked along the chasm for what seemed to be about an hour. I was about to give up and try and find an alternative route, when I spotted a bridge.

It looked relatively old. I gently put my hoof down on the first plank and took a step. The bridge held. I started slowly moving across it. I was about to get completely across when my hoof crashed through one of the final planks. I yanked it back up and jumped to the other side of the chasm. I had jumped just in time, because the bridge had fallen.

“Oops.” I muttered aloud.

I continued walking for about three hours before I met my next obstacle. A giant green serpent was fighting a smaller purple one. The purple one was losing very badly. The green one was starting to strangle the purple one. Its tail was on the land though. I galloped over to its tail and sliced off part it with my sword. The green one gave a giant roar and turned on me. It lunged at me. I jumped up onto its snout and stabbed my sword through its right eye. I swung the sword left into its left eye, effectively blinding it. I yanked my sword out and jumped off the beast. It was gripping its eyes in pain. The purple one mouthed something like ‘thank you’ and swam away.

The water calmed down and I quickly swam across. I sat down for a moment and rested for a moment. It was well past midnight by this point and my throat was very parched. I licked the blood off my blade. It didn’t taste very different from the meat I had earlier. It quenched my thirst all the same. I got up and continued the trip home.

There were no other obstacles along the path home. I finally reached the pack’s territory. I walked into the heart of the territory. Oddly, no wolf was there. I knew what was coming next. The wolves probably thought I was some sort of enemy, as Angel and Shadow had never told them about me. I knew I would be screwed if a different wolf tried to confront me.

I hurried along to their den. I was about to reach their den when a grey wolf confronted me. It was pure grey. Grey coat, grey eyes, grey claws.

“Who goes there?!” He snarled.

I was saved from having to respond when Angel walked out from the den.

“Settle down, General Grey.” Angel ordered. “This is the foal I was talking about earlier. He just completed the ritual.” Angel continued. She seemed to be eying me over again. “He shall be referred to as ‘Wolf’ from now on.” Angel finished.

I felt a small burning sensation on my flank. It looked like angel howling over a teal buzz-saw.

I felt like I finally belonged somewhere. Grey seem to be sniffing me. I resisted the urge to back away from him. He spoke,

“He seems to have slain a mighty beast! Wolf, what have you killed recently.”

“I believe I killed a serpent earlier.” I replied, recalling the giant green beast I had stabbed. It must have bled out by now.

“Well let’s go get it! We all need some meat!” Grey exclaimed.

At the mention of food, several dozen wolves came out of their hiding spots and asked me to lead them to the serpent. As if I had a choice. I agreed and we set out to the river.

A/N: How's the re-write? Please vote and give me advice on how if you didn't like it.