At The Precipice

Chapters

Chapter 1 : Memories
Chapter 3 : A Plea for Help
Chapter 3 : A Party for the Apocalypse
Chapter 4 : Alone No More
Chapter 5 : Revenge's Bitter Taste
Prologue : Prophecy

Chapter 1 : Memories

Chapter 1: Memories

Nimble paws traced the ground with nary a sound as the shadowy form they carried stalked the forest. The shadow moved silently under the dark boughs of the trees as he fled, as he hunted.

Thin, soft ribbons trailed the beast’s careful steps, the pearly silk catching on fallen twigs and leaves as they dragged over the ground. A shaft of moonlight broke through the arching canopy, casting its ghostly light over the prominent shoulders of the shadow and forcing the practical wraith to shrink back into the darkness. Tonight he hunted, tonight he ran for refuge. Branches snagged at the beast’s fur, loosing chunks of dirt and stone dust from his ebony fur.

The beast sprang silently away from the soft noise of the dirt clods as they struck the ground and shattered with the smallest sound. The beast’s heart hummed like electricity in his chest, barely an instant laying between the fiery pumps. Emerald eyes scanned the brush for anything threatening, any malevolent monster that could be stalking him. His nose breathed in only the dry musk of dead leaves and earth, with only a kiss of the scent of an animal on a puff of wind. He let out a slow breath, then inhaled again. Sensations of smell fired up his nose like shooting stars, dozens of scents and smells attacked his nervous system in a frenzy almost too rapid to decipher. He could smell every tree’s life energy, the scent of an owl perched high in a tree, the smell of fear in a nearby raccoon and the rancid stench of some dead thing far away.

Satisfied that nothing lay in wait for him, he continued on his way through the shadows. For hours, the beast crept through the darkness, searching for safety and fleeing from the pit. Aeons stood wasted in the deep within the bowels of the earth until he had clawed his way free, free of his bonds, free of his earthen prison. Now, finally, he could hunt the One down. To hunt Him down was the only thing the beast had in life now, because of what He had done. Bound him, buried him, his only respite was the hoof that lay before him without decay; the immortals do not entropy, at least until they are killed. The image of the hoof had burned itself into his mind over the countless years and had only increased the burning hatred he held for Him.

The beast halted at the edge of a small clearing and observed the pink sky, now in the throes of the new-born sun’s rising. Far beyond the horizon, he could see his first brother still gave chase to the rising orb, gaping maw snapping at the blazing light that clawed its way over the horizon and into the sky. Suddenly, the beast was overcome in his loneliness and longing and his chin rose to the sky as his flank sat firmly on the ground. Drawing in a breath that made the trees sigh, he let loose on a call of longing for his brothers and for his family. The call lasted for far too little time to the beast and he was unsatisfied. Raising his chin again, he called once more for his kin.

As his ethereal voice drew to an end, his breath brought scent once more to him, but this time, he could smell strange, moving trees amongst the bushes. His ears perked and listened for any sound that would confirm his nose. Dry creaks and the sounds of wood scraping over wood struck his ears as two canine figures slinked from the trees, but they were made from the trees themselves. The beast’s hackles rose at the sight of them and he rose to his paws with a deep, warning rumble from his chest that made the oaks around him quiver. The two wood-wolves stopped and stared at him in the center of the clearing, watching him. A sniff of the air told the beast that two similar creatures encircled behind him as the small pack attempted to en round him.

The beast ignored them and the livid thrumming of his heart as he stepped quietly into the breaking sunlight. A louder rumble erupted from his chest, a growl that shook the earth beneath him and caused the grass to wither and die around his paws. The two before him flinched and backed away, pinning their ears back in dismay. He took another step forward and bared his teeth at them, forcing them back with the threat and his deadly glare. The smaller of the two flicked his eyes into the gaze of the beast, a signal of subjugation, and the wood-wolf began to wither. The leaves from the branches that grew upon its back turned brown and fell away. Then the branches themselves turned to ash and crumbled along with the remainder of the creature’s body until nothing remained. The one remaining spun and took flight in a panic, thrusting his wooden limbs into the ground to push more speed into his tree-body.

But the beast was faster, and stronger. His legs coiled beneath him, and with a grunt the gray beast sailed through the air faster than the wood-wolf could run. He landed on its back and placed his jaws well on the rear of the creature’s head. A quick jerk to the side ended the pathetic thing’s life with a loud Crack! He could smell the other’s fear as their alpha was killed so effortlessly, and he could hear them fleeing for their lives as he tossed the wooden body aside. But he could not bring himself to care for them, he only cared to hunt Him, The One. He left the oaken corpse as it lay, and receded into the shadows once again, to resume his hunt.

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An earsplitting howl ripped Fluttershy from her dreams and threw her back into the real world like a hawk snatching away a mouse. She covered her ears to little effect and curled into a fetal position, helplessly trying to block out the horrid sound that tore at her helpless ears. The howl lasted for several minutes, and eventually the mare buried her head under her pillows. As the haunting wolf-call ended, she relaxed a bit, allowing her hooves to fall from over her ears. Whimpering in fear of the unknown beast, she felt a hoof wrap over her shoulder and she snuggled up against the warm chest of its owner.

The howl shook the house again, the timbers rattling from the sheer volume of the terrible cry. Fluttershy squeezed her eyes tight and shifted closer to her protector as he stroked her mane. This howl lasted longer than the first, but when it ended, Fluttershy felt no safer than before. In fact, sheer terror ran down her spine like foals playing on a water slide. The hoof left her mane and ran down her back, between her wings, and back up again along her shivering vertebrae. Scooting even closer, she rested her head against a powerful and muscular chest.

“C’mon babe, best get up now.” a deep, yet soft voice purred in her ear. Giving an indignant groan, she pulled the bed sheets further up her body, cradling the warmth and safety of his embrace.

“Nnn-nope. Yer gettin’ up now, the colts gonna be up wit’ that howl an’ all.” As if on cue, a gentle knock sounded at the door and the hinges gave a creak of protest. The mare sighed and raised her head from her warm little fort. Two little colts were peeking inside with a frightened look in their eyes. Fluttershy put on the best brave face she could manage and crawled out of bed and opened the door further to reveal two small colts, one with wings and the other with an undecorated figure. The colt with a soft beige coat like his mother’s, immediately ran forward and hugged her tightly, small cerulean eyes watering like little hoses. The other, winged fire-red, walked by into the room with an annoyed shake of his head as the mother comforted her crying colt, cooing softly.

The pegasus colt walked over and nimbly sprang onto the bed with an instinctive flap of his wings, sitting squarely by his quiet father. “Quit crying, Hayseed, you’re such a wimp. Momma’s had wolves over before-Ow!”

Mac popped him over the head with a hoof and chastised him, “Ay’ you leave ‘im alone, Apple Speed. If’n Ah recall, you crahd like a filly when ya first learn’t tah swim.”

Apple looked at his hooves ashamedly at the mention of his most embarrassing memory. Hayseed sniffled in his mothers wing and wiped away the tears from his eyes. He peeked from underneath the feathers with a shy smile and stuck his tongue out at his brother. Fluttershy spotted the face and covered him with her wing again. “All right you two, back to your room please. We will head into town today so clean up.”

Their fear forgotten, the colts bolted from the room with a speed that would have made Dashie proud, especially the little pegasus. A push of his small wings gave him the boost he needed to overtake his brother in their mad race for the first shower.

Fluttershy let the shaky facade drop and closed the door behind them and turned back to the bed, only to bump into her husband who pulled her into a kiss. The mare blushed madly and her heart jumped into her throat as she pulled away timidly. “Tha’s mah girl, Ah like it when ya get all blushed up.” the stallion said in a sultry tone. He tried to kiss her again, but she turned her head and pushed her face against his toned chest.

“Please Mac, not this morning. That howl scared me. I-I don’t really feel very romantic right now.” He wrapped a hoof over her shoulder and held her for a minute. A loud bang and a shout crushed the silence and Mac broke the contact.

“Better check up on ‘em, no tellin’ what’s goin’ on in there.” he chuckled softly as he left the room. Fluttershy watched him leave, feelign less and less safe with every step he took. With a sigh, the pegasus went into their bathroom to get herself ready, brush her mane and apply a bit of makeup. Satisfied with the way she looked, the pegasus headed for the kitchen to try and knock a dent in her three ravenous stallion’s appetites.

As she set the cookware out, Mac came up behind her and wrapped his legs about her waist. Fluttershy gave a squeak of surprise and nearly dropped the eggs she was holding. “Ah swear, these twins are crazy. Hayseed gave ‘is brother a good one on the jaw, settin’ Apple tah cryin’ again. A’hm tellin’ ya, ‘lil Hay gotta soft heart where ‘is brother all guff, but ‘e gotta bit more bite than bark.” He chuckled under his breath as he left his wife to her cooking and sat at the table.

His eyes inevitably made their way to the cooking mare’s flank as he sat and he entertained himself with a few choice memories. He didn’t notice he was grinning like a foal until Fluttershy caught him checking her out. “Stop staring please. I-I mean, if you don’t mind.” Mac laughed again and gave her a sultry wink, grinning even wider as that adorable shade of pink spread over her cheeks. “Can you please retrieve the mail for me?”

“Kay, Ah got it.” he said as he rose and left the kitchen. The pegasus at the stove returned to the omelets in the pan and dropped in a slice of butter. As the butter sizzled and melted, Apple Speed came in with a sour look on his face.

“Momma, Hayseed hit me.”

The mare sighed involuntarily, “How many times do I have to tell you colts? Fighting never solves anything.” she said softly as she flipped the cooking omelet.

“But Hay-”

“No ‘Buts’ please.” she interjected.

“I called first turn, but he pushed me outta the way and got there first.”

Fluttershy smiled despite herself, “You mean you tried to fly again and you fell down?” Her smiled widened as a guilty look spread over her son’s face. “Please don’t worry about flying. You are strong like your daddy, I bet you will be flying like Rainbow Dash in no time.”

His face lit up like Hearth’s Warming lights, “Nopony can fly like Rainbow Dash!” he announced triumphantly, flapping his wings in an excited manner. “She’s awesome and she’s captain of the Wonderbolts and she’s-”

“She’s sent ‘nuther letter to ya, Shy.” cut in Mac’s deep voice. Fluttershy dumped the last omelet onto a plate and carried it over to the table as Hayseed walked in, towel hanging over his back like a cape. The red stallion set the stack of mail down on the coffee table and sat in his seat at the head of the table. Soon, everypony was at their spot and they all dug into their breakfast. Mac and Apple ate like panthers as Fluttershy and Hayseed savored their meal, resulting in Apple trying to steal away bits of his brother’s food when his plate was empty. Several failed attempts at this resulted in several cries of pain as his hoof was slapped away from Hayseed’s plate.

“Nuff boys.” Mac chided firmly. The two colts promptly sat at attention, one still eating slowly and the other impatiently watching his brother feast with all the impudence of Prince Blue-Blood.

Seeing Apple get more and more aggravated, Fluttershy suggested he go and take his shower. He sullenly left the room and Hayseed returned his eating to a normal pace. Mac hoofed his wife the letter from Rainbow Dash and walked out the door to start work. She carefully opened the envelope adorned with the Wonderbolt’s seal and drew out the letter, smiling as she recognized Dashie’s messy scrawl and lack of regard for correct format.

“Hey Fluttershy! As usual I wrote just to keep in touch. Had a lot of trouble the other day with Spitfire, another argument again. I don’t know how you do it, with you so shy and all, but you have got a real good relationship going on. Tell Big Mac I said hi. I don’t know, Spits is falling through like all my other marefriends and I’m not sure how much longer I can keep this going on with her. She just wont listen to me, even though I’m her captain. And she always gets mad when she doesn’t get special treatment from me. I mean, just because we have been going out for like a year doesn’t mean I’ll do whatever she wants.

Do you and Mac ever get into arguments? Seems like it just come with the territory. I don’t think I have ever not had an argument besides the break up or anything. Anyway, I put some tickets to our next show in Canterlot in a couple weeks, I expect to see you there. There VIP seats so you don’t have to worry about all the noise, I know you hate all that.

Celestia, I can hardly believe it’s been like nine years since Apple and Hayseed were born. How’s my little troopers? Apple still flapping his wings? Don’t tell him about the tickets, I want that to be a surprise from Aunt Dashie! I may have some other presents for him, Hayseed too. Has the shy guy warmed up to us Bolts? I know several not-pegasuses that are still hardcore fans so he isn’t like an alien or anything. Gotta go before Spits has another fit about me writing another mare. See you next Thursday!”

Fluttershy frowned at the news about Spitfire. Rainbow hadn’t failed her reputation for quick relationships until that mare came along, or rather, since Dash came out to her fellow teammates.

The letter warmed her heart some, she knew Apple would be ecstatic about the tickets, but her brave face still quivered as it barely held the numbing fear down. Her thoughts inevitably turned to the terrifying howl earlier; no wolf can howl like that. Even if it was in the room with them it wouldn’t be that loud. Her mind began to produce horrid fantasies about the beast or whatever it was, making her shy form tremble in fear and almost drop her fork. She silently thanked Celestia the colts hadn’t noticed how much she was quivering. With shaky hooves, she returned the plates and glasses to the sink and washed them, hoping with all her heart that the activity would shake away the terrible thoughts. It didn’t. In fact, the work was almost absentminded, leaving her cruel brain to go on rampage. She didn’t even realize her legs were shaking until Hayseed brought his plate up.

Either he didn’t notice or didn’t want to say anything as he left for his room. When she finished with the dishes, she took the tickets and the letter to her and Mac’s room, depositing them in a drawer in her nightstand. She fell onto the bed and snuggled up under the covers, wishing for some warmth and for some small feeling of safety. Wishing Mac was there to hold her, the trembling mare swam further under the blankets until her entire body was buried underneath their warmth.

Not really feeling any better, she sighed and brooded over the walk to town. At least town will be safe. She told herself. Nothing would come near the village, she was sure of that. When she would take one of her sick animals into Ponyville, they would always be terrified of the buildings and all the strange ponies.

Now, slightly more assured of herself, she abandoned her cocoon and left the room to retrieved her colts for the walk into town.

The smell of flowers and some other animal graced the beast’s nose along a puff of wind as he padded through the brush like mist; silent. Skoll snapped fiercely after the sun and a sudden gust of wind from his breath sliced through the air. On it came hundreds of subtly different scents of the same animal he smelled earlier, the smell of the ponies.

Ponies surely meant the One was near, the Sleipnir, the one he hunted. Breaking his silence, he spun and raced off in the direction of the smell like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky, startling a number of animals all around him. His stealth forgotten, the beast crashed through the brush like a charging bull for several minutes until the forest abruptly ended. The sudden onslaught of sunlight forced the beast to flinch and shelter his eyes until the sun eased its attack.

As the spots slowly faded from his vision, the beast found some strange shaped bushes and hid in them. His ears twitched as shrill shrieks of laughter reached him from his hiding place. Shuffling forward, he poked his nose out just enough to see the source of the merriment.

Three young ponies danced about each other with obvious joy written upon their faces as they played some sort of game. A bright green one with a horn, female judging from her scent, chased two males about, a sandy colored normal one and a winged pony the color of hot magma. The beast let out a soft sigh as the female caught the normal pony in a fierce tackle. He used to pounce on Hati like that when he was young, so many aeons ago.

To his mild surprise, the normal pony began chasing the others, but he fumbled about slowly.

“Hold your body lower to the ground. There that’s it. Now move your legs slowly. Your legs must out run your mind if you are to catch your prey.” A little pup did as his elder brother told him, stretching his paws out before him with the lethargy of the tides. His impatient young mind fought hard to be set free and scramble all over the field like a drunk, but he held it down with several slow breaths. “Good, now let us be off. Mother will have a fresh kill tonight.” The pup turned his head and looked at his brother in his golden coat. Eyes blazing like the sun itself gazed sternly at the spectacle before him as the little one practiced the hunter’s steps towards his big brother.

“Skoll, what will Mother have for us tonight?” the pup asked. In the distance, they heard their an eerie howl ring from the mountains where their home was. Skoll’s ears flicked upwards towards the sound and he listened intently. The little pup beneath him spotted a cricket and tried to sneak up on the little black thing, black like his own coat. The little creature hopped away half a heartbeat before his paw hit the vacant ground.

“Fenrir, come along now, we must hurry.” the golden wolf said quickly as he picked the pup up by the scruff of his neck. The small package held in his legs as he swung beneath his elder brother’s throat.

The beast shut off the memories, fearful of what had happened afterward, fearful of that terrible memory. Some small flame of yearning snuck an involuntary whine from his throat. The three ponies instantly stopped in their tracks and stared at the bush which hid the beast. He shrunk deeper into the leaves and prayed that they would dismiss the sound. But his hopes sank like a scuttled boat as the red colt inched closer.

“Sounded like a dog or something.” he announced to his playmates as he stepped near to the bush. He stuck a hoof out and moved a few leaves. The beast inside shrunk further in, but his hind paw fell upon a twig which snapped with a thunderous sound in the silence. The little pony jumped back with a thrust of his immature wings in shock. His search for the One forgotten, the beast decided that he might as well show himself. He carefully stepped forward into the sunlight, keeping a steady eye on the winged pony before him. His nose was filled with the colt’s fear as he rose to his full height, towering over the young colt.

The youngling promptly gasped and fled.

Realizing his mistake, the beast shrank lower to the ground and held his ears upward, trying to be friendly. Some small part of him wanted the attention, and he yearned for that feeling he had lost so long ago. His attempts were rewarded by the sandy colt walking closer, “Don’t worry, Momma has had wolves at our house before. I think he wants to be friends.”

The beast’s eyes flicked to the female, she didn’t smell afraid, just nervous. The colt however, stank more of fear than the red one that had fled, but he continued to move closer. The beast stretched out his head and sniffed at the approaching pony. He could smell dozens of other scents in his fur, animals, strange blunt smells, and sour scents flooded his nose like an ocean.

He started somewhat as a small pressure touched the top of his head and the colt flinched, but held his small hoof upon the beast’s forehead as a smile drew over his face.

A shrill scream split the air and the beast instantly went into a fighting stance. The source was an adult female with a horn, screaming at the two younglings. The beast’s hackles rose at her harsh tone and he lifted his lip just enough to show teeth. He would not have some pony yelling at him for no reason. Just then, a sharp pain lit up his backside and the beast whirled at the unknown opponent. Running at him were several males, all equipped with tools and clubs of one sort or another with a few throwing rocks at him.

Drawing in a powerful breath, he let lose a violent bark that stopped the mob in their tracks and even halted the stones in midair. Turning angrily, he trotted back to the forest with his ears pinned down, a furious snarl etched into his features. When he reached the trees, he stopped and turned back to look at the ponies. They remained where they stood when he barked, watching him like statues. Satisfied that they understood that he was not the be trifled with, the wolf turned back to the trees and entered once more into their shadowy embrace.

The wolf strode angrily for what seemed miles, fuming at the mob that had nearly attacked him. His hackles stood in a perpetual salute, heightening his awareness and only compounding his fury. All he wanted was to be friendly, he was not being aggressive in any way so why would they chase him away? His anger pushed a violent growl from his chest and wherever his paws touched the ground, his tense claws carved vicious divots into the dirt.

The ruined dirt left a trail, and the wolf knew it would be followed once the mob regained their composure, either by hunters or the crowd themselves. But he didn’t care, if they came after him they would receive much worse than a little bark, this he vowed to himself.

After a few hours of rampaging through the brush, the wolf finally calmed down enough to steady his paws and his breathing into a silent rhythm. Silence enveloped him like a cloak and his shadowy figure vanished from sight. He took a slow and steady sniff of the air and found that he was not near so far from the forest’s edge as he supposed, both the ponies scent and his own hung strong in the air. Their’s was fresher, so it was clear they had followed his angry trail.

With a toothy smirk, he crept through the shadows back the way he had come. Before long, he could hear the Stallion’s voices through the trees.

“Damn, we lost him. The tracks just end right here.”

“A wolf that big doesn’t just disappear.”

“Ah’m not goin’ home till we catch that thing. It was havin’ at my colt when Miss Sweetie Belle found ‘em.” Said a deep, accented stallion. Anger dripped with a tangible hatred from his voice. “If’n Apple Speed hadn’t come got us, both Hayseed an’ Grace would o’ been eaten. Tha’ thing is dangerous an’ Ah intend to kill it before day’s end.”

The wolf growled in the shadows at the accusations, he hadn’t tried to kill them, he had wanted to befriend them. The angry voices stopped at the sound and he mentally slapped himself for his carelessness. He shrank further into the darkness, thankful that his coat was darker then the void.

“Wha’s that? I heard somethin’.”

“Mac, your mind is playing tricks on you. You’re just so caught up in bloodlust-”

“ ‘Ow would you feel if’n that was yer boy tha’ was attacked? You’d wanna get that beast jus’ as much as I do.”

Several heavy hoofsteps drew closer to the wolf’s hiding place and the hidden beast backed away quietly. The hooves drew closer and closer as the beast focused on calming his racing heart. He steadied his breaths and his hackles slowly lay flat against his back. The wind shifted, and the stallion’s earthy smell filled the wolf’s nose. He smelled like he had been rolling in mud. The smell of dirt stung his nostrils and pressure began to form in his chest. Closing his eyes, he fought back the impulse with everything he had, but in vain. A mighty sneeze erupted from his snout and threw his head forward in a spray of spittle. Pandemonium ensued as the stallions burst into a panicked frenzy, scrambling over each other in fear. Only one pony remained resolute. A flash of red tore through the leaves and the hard keratin on a hoof slammed into the wolf’s snout.

Red spots flashed before his eyes as another kick whipped his head back. With a growl, he backed out of range just as yet another hoof snapped a hair’s breadth from over his eye. The wolf sprang from the brush and landed atop the stallion. With a ferocious cry, the pony kicked the wolf hard in his gut and the beast fell onto his side. Gasping for breath, he struggled to his paws before his side erupted in pain and he was thrown several body-lengths away.

A moment of time slowed to the length of years and the pain in his body vanished as he felt a surge of adrenaline. From the corner of his eye he saw the red stallion charge forward like he was running through sludge. The wolf crawled to his paws and bolted around the edge of the small clearing. Time dragged by like a snail and the stallion barely turned his head before the wolf had ran all the way around him and leaped upon his back.

With a sickening lurch, time sped up again and the stallion thrashed about with the beast on his back. His claws slipped and a powerful hoof caught the inside of his leg. With a yelp, he let go and fell onto the ground. He rolled away just as a hoof crushed the dirt where his head had been and sprang to his paws. He tried the same tactic and raced around the pony, but the pony spun and kicked at the wolf as he tried to leap onto his back. With a twist of his spine, the wolf barely avoided the blow, but missed his ultimate target, landing in a dead run.

He repeated the poor tactic once again, but when the stallion swung a hoof at his assailant, the wolf leapt to the side and rammed him with a lowered shoulder. The stallion fell with the beast on top of him, but still his eyes held only hatred and the smell of fear remained absent. The wolf lowered his jaw into his face and growled, but the pinned stallion under him remained passive and fearless.

The wolf reared his head for the killing blow when he was sent flying by a winged pony that flew into him with the force of a tsunami. His paw lashed out on instinct and caught the bird-pony in the wing before he landed in the brush. Struggling to his paws, he glared at the bird-pony that had hit him. The speck of courage that remained in the winged stallion vanished in an instant as he made eye contact with the beast. He struggled to scramble away when the beast placed a powerful paw on the torn wing, forcing the fragile bone to shatter and pin the stallion down.

The pony wailed like a new-born cub and pulled at his ruined wing that was held firmly to the ground. Another stallion made a move to help, but a dark glare from the wolf held him firm. Releasing the stallion from his paw, the beast faded into the shadows, satisfied that they would not follow him again.

Chapter 3 : A Plea for Help

Chapter 2 : A Plea for Help

Darkness slid over the world and the moon peeked over the horizon as the night set in. A pattern of stars in the shape of a wolf’s snapping maw could be perceived along the edge of the moon and the star-wolf seemed to be about to devour the pearly orb. Far below the watchful shafts of moonlight an eerie call echoed across a dark forest. The long call spread over the forest and far beyond, ringing over the cobblestones that lined the streets of the nearby town and shaking the rafters of all the buildings. Inside the buildings forms shivered in terror, knowing of the beast that howled endlessly throughout the night. Families huddled close together, babes wailed their discomfort, colts and fillies huddled with their parents for some kind of safety from the horrible sound. And finally, at the night’s end, the howls ceased though no pony felt safe. Instead pure terror flooded their hearts, fear that the monster would enter town and prey on them.

At the towns center, a beige pony with a wavy gray mane called for a town meeting, a meeting to decide what was to be done with the monster.

“Alright, alright. Settle down everypony.”

“We don’t wanna settle down Mayor Mare, that wolf is nothing to settle down about.” called a mare from the midst of the crowd.

“Wolf? I heard that it was a black monster from the Everfree.” called another.

“Yeah, a shadow beast, made of ghosts and smoke.”

“Silence everypony, we must have order if we are to decide anything. To those of you who have heard about some smoke monster, there is no such thing. we have several witnesses that saw it and say it was just a wolf.”

“No wolf can take down Big Macintosh!” somepony yelled. The crowd broke out in a frenzy, yelling absurdities over each other about demons and dragons and all other kinds of monsters.

“EVERYPONY SHUT THE BUCK UP!!” Screamed a familiar voice from the back. Every pony in the room instantly silenced themselves and looked to the source where a seething pegasus stood panting. “Oh! if that’s, um, ok with you... please?”

Giving Fluttershy a thankful glace, Mayor Mare resumed speaking, “Now, as I was saying, it is a wolf that attacked the stallions, but it is a very large wolf. Several stallions tried to hunt it down, but they said that it attacked them in the forest. Mr. Blue Skies is in the hospital with a shattered wing and many witnesses said that the beast paralyzed them with a glance when they tried to help. It is clear that we don’t have anypony qualified to defeat the monster, but we can’t-”

A violent howl shattered her speech like glass and tore through the air with a volume that humbled a volcano. Everypony fell the the floor with their hooves over their ears as the sound battered at them and threatened to crush their skulls. Mayor Mare could feel the wooden floor tremble under her like an earthquake as she curled into a fetal position. After an eternity the howl ended and the mayor slowly returned to her podium. As the others in the room regained their bearings she retrieved several papers that had fallen to the floor.

When everypony was situated, albeit some who remained motionless on the floor, she resumed where she had left off, but with a bit more conviction. “We cannot allow this monster to remain. We must ask for help from the princess.”

“We could get the librarian to send it!” a stallion from the crowd yelled.

“Very well, I will go to the library and send a letter to the princess. Everypony should go home, there isn’t much else we can do but wait.” With that stallions and mares alike nervously left the building as the mayor gathered some parchment and quills from her office. After she was ready, she left and headed for the library.

A small bell tinkled above the door as the beige mare entered the large tree-library tentatively. Half an instant later, a rough adolescent voice called, “Be right down!” from the stairs across the room. The mare walked up to the service desk and sat down her things and began to write her letter.

After a few moments, the stairs groaned in protest as a gangly dragon with two small wings sprouting from his back descended the wooden steps.

“Can I help you Mayor?” asked the teenage dragon.

“Yes Spike, I need you to send a letter to the princess. It’s about the wolf that has been terrorizing Ponyville.”

“Boy you sound a lot like Twi, always sending letters off to the princess. But now that seems to have switched around a bit.” He chuckled at his own joke and the pony offered the letter to the librarian, but he pushed the rolled parchment away.

“You don’t have to bother her with that. You have a genuine dragon right here, I can take on any wolf, a breath of fire will send him scurrying.”

“Not this one I’m afraid, it almost killed Big Macintosh and hurt a pegasus really bad. You heard those howls right?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s the wolf I’m talking about. I don’t think normal wolves can howl like that.”

“You sure?”

“Very.”

The dragon sighed and thought for a moment, tapping a claw against his chin. “Okay, I’ll send the letter but I will take care of the thing right now. After I kill it or run it off or whatever, we will send a second letter to let her know that I took care of it, deal?”

“Okay.”

Taking the roll of parchment up in his claw, he bathed the letter in fire and watched it turn to smoke and vanish out the window. Turning on his heel, he squeezed through the doorway and vanished into the night. The mare inside the library spotted a stack of books laying atop the desk and picked up the one resting on the top. “Might as well get comfortable.” she mumbled to herself as she opened the book.

A loud knock startled the dozing mayor awake and she accidentally knocked the book she had been reading onto the floor. Shaking her drowsy head, the mare retrieved and replaced the book on the desk.

The door shook in its frame as whoever banged on it once again with more force. Mayor Mare hurriedly opened the door and the dragon tumbled in looking like he had jumped into a giant shredder. Long gashes lined his scales and rivers of red flooded across the dragon’s back. With a startled cry the mayor attempted to get him to a chair. His heavy body slumped to the floor with a dull thud, issuing a moan from Spike.

“What in Celestia’s name happened?”

“Mmmpf.” was all he said as he struggled to his feet. After stumbling over to the counter where the books rested, he sat down with a heavy thunk. “Get... get me some water.” he mumbled with a wheeze.

The mayor dashed into the kitchen and retrieved an oversized glass from the cupboards. She brought the near-gallon of water to the injured dragon and he downed it in a single gulp.

“I..I’ve never even heard of-”

The library exploded with light and sound, throwing the mare onto the floor in shock. However the dragon remained unfazed as if this was a normal occurrence. The mayor picked herself off the floor and took a bow when she saw Twilight, or at least, what used to be Twilight. The purple mare stood much taller than most ponies and violet wings arced over her body. Her mane flowed in an otherworldly wind, framing the bronze crown that rested before her horn. Her horn was enveloped in a soft magenta aura and the cuts and gashes over Spikes body closed and knitted themselves together with nary a scar.

“Rise Mayor Mare, you don’t have to bow to me.” she said to the kneeling mare before her. She complied as Princess Twilight walked forward and brought Spike into an affectionate hug. “You silly dragon, you didn’t try to defeat the wolf yourself did you?” She shook her head and broke the hug before continuing without waiting for an answer.

“I feared this day, I just hoped it would never come. By Celestia’s mane, is Big Mac all right Mayor? You only said he was hurt and I didn’t know how bad it was.”

“It wasn’t too bad, although Blue Skies had his wing shattered. It is unlikely he will ever fly again.”

“Did you see it?”

“The wolf?”

“Yes.”

“No, I didn’t.”

She nodded her head thoughtfully but didn’t say anything else. After a few awkward minutes of silence, Spike asked innocently, “Hi Twilight. How’s things going in Canterlot?”

A ghost of a smile graced the princess’ lips and she chuckled halfheartedly. “Well enough. Celestia and Luna left too suddenly, the government is in chaos right now.”

“What exactly happened? We haven’t had much news.”

She shook her head again, “Never mind that for now, we have to deal with Fenrir.”

“Who?” piped the mayor.

“The wolf.” the princess stated simply. “I will go into the forest and put this matter to rest. You go home Mayor and Spike, get some rest. You need sleep even though I healed you.”

“But your majesty-”

“Just call me Twilight. I’m still not used to that yet.”

“I-I don’t want to be rude or anything, but that wolf is really dangerous. You know Big Mac, and though he put up a fight, he was still beat up pretty badly.”

The princess smiled again and gave the mayor a kind look. “Thank you for your concern Mayor, but I believe a different tactic is in order to put down this particular menace. The situation is more dire than you might know.” Her horn lit up and before the mayor could say anything, she vanished with a loud pop and a bright flash of light.

Spike hopped to his feet and began ascending the stairs. “Better get on home mayor. We just gotta trust Twilight, it’s almost always the best thing to do. Night, er rather, good morning.” The dragon’s bedroom door shut with an innate sense of finality for the mare below. With a sigh, she shuffled across the room and slowly left the library, resigned to her fate.

The small pup was gently set down in the grass and Skoll quietly crouched down beside him. Fenrir made for the entrance of the cave where they lived but Skoll held him by his tail with a paw. The pup let out a startled yelp, to which his older brother yanked him closer and covered him. “Be silent.” he hissed under his breath. The pup nodded obediently and shrunk down lower to the ground, his ears alert.

Skoll watched the den entrance silently for several minutes, occasionally testing the air with a sniff, or flicking his ears about. He left out a soft “Uuf” and lowered his head beneath the weeds. On cue, a tall and lanky wolf with a coat that gleamed like silver strode from the darkness and scanned the area, ears erect.

“Hati, over here.” Skoll whispered. The silver wolf’s head whipped about and faced the hiding duo. His ears twitched and he gave the slightest nod before returning his gaze to the clearing. He tasted the wind with his nose and very carefully crept to where the duo was hiding.

“Mother is dead.” he stated matter of factly.

Skoll’s hackles shot up and he sprang to his feet. “What?! How!?” He growled.

Hati shook his head sadly, “I do not know brother, I returned with a ram and she would not awaken. She smells cold, lifeless like the rocks. There is no blood or wound. I do not know.”

“Was that your howl?”

“Nay, It came from very nearby. That is why I was so careful to come out, I fear another pack has come to take our den.”

“I smell nothing.”

“Exactly, I find this too strange for my taste.”

The little pup lay with his chin rested upon his paws. His young mind had no idea what his older brothers were talking about and he lay in a perpetual state of confusion. What was Dead? His little nose could smell blood and something stinky, but he couldn’t smell Mother. Smells cold? What did that mean? So many questions, and his brothers made no motion to explain them to him. He decided to go find Mother and wake her up, then they could eat dinner together like always.

He shuffled to his paws as quietly as he could and made sure his brothers hadn’t noticed him. When they continued to talk about packs and other things he didn’t understand, he slowly crept away to their den and trotted in. Near the back of the cave Mother lay next to a smelly goat carcass. He didn’t understand why she didn’t get up to eat it, she had the best nose of all of them, surely she could smell the kill?

The pup trotted up to his mother’s motionless muzzle and pushed on it with his small paws. “Wake up Mommy, Hati brought dinner.” She remained motionless and little Fenrir set his nose to work. He could smell her, kind of. He could smell her fur, smell the grass she liked to roll in after her baths. But he didn’t smell her breath and she smelled... wrong. She smelled slightly dull, like a bone left in the sun too long. He nuzzled her again and pushed on her neck with a growing sense of urgency.

“Come on Mommy, wake up. I’m hungry.” Still she refused to move and the pup sat down with a pout. He looked over at the ram Hati had brought in and then looked at his mother. With a growing sense of curiosity, he sniffed at the fur of the goat, then his mother’s fur. They smelled very different, goats aren’t clean like wolves, but they both had that same dull tang to the scent. Gears wound and clicked in the little pups mind. He looked again from the goat to his mother and his eye began to sting as a small knot welled up in his throat.

“Oh no. Oh no no. Mommy!” He jumped to his feet and pushed hard into his mother’s body. He lowered his head and tried to snuggle into her fur. His nose buried itself under the fur and touched her skin. With a yelp, he jumped away, now he understood. Hati had said she smelled cold, and her skin was... cold, not warm like it always was.

Dead, was cold. Dead was not-life, like the goat. A tear pushed its way from his eye and soaked into the fur on his face. Suddenly overcome with a wave of an awful new emotion, he snuggled close to his dead mother and cried into her cold fur.

Growling, Fenrir slammed the floodgate of memories shut. Neck deep in a cool river, he thrust his snout into the water to try and wash away the daydream, but they stuck to his mind like parasites. He quickly left the flowing waters and shook himself more forcefully than he meant to, but his anger and hatred drained from him as the morning sunlight soaked warmth into his soggy fur. Giving himself another shake, the wolf found a clump of nice-smelling grass and plopped himself down. Rolling back and forth upon his back, he “perfumed” the stink of dragon blood from himself until he gave an almighty sneeze.

Shuffling back to his paws, he took several deep breaths of the air to get a picture of his surroundings. He could smell a few of the tree-wolves nearby, but they had learned their lesson and let him be. Several prey animals dashed to and fro through the woods and he could smell something else, something he hadn’t smelled in very long time. Erect ears captured the distant sound of a distinct popping noise along with the scent on the wind.

Without a second of hesitation he bolted off in the direction of the scent, the smell of Divine magic, the smell of the One. Now, he would have his vengeance.

An explosion of sound and light announced the arrival of the princess. Looking upon the Everfree forest for the first time in years, she felt a chill run up her spine. Shuffling her new wings, Twilight trotted forward under the canopy. The air felt dark and oppressive and she felt unwelcome under the shadowy boughs.

“This place still feels the same,” she muttered under her breath. “But where are the... animals?” Looking around she could neither see nor hear any nearby creatures. No squirrels scampered about for acorns, no birds sang their songs. She wasn’t deep enough to have entered the magical part of the forest, and the gates to Tartarus were on the other side of the vast wood.

Her wings fluttered nervously at her shoulders and she silently cursed the dramatic appendages. Never once had she seen Celestia’s wings give away any hint of emotion like they did to Twilight.

“Oh Celestia, you left too soon.” the alicorn lamented aloud. “I don’t know if I can handle this.” She had been on the throne for almost a year now and still she missed the wise presence of her erstwhile teacher. Very often she had sat at delegation tables and wished for her old life back whilst ambassadors and emissaries argued back and forth about pointless subjects. Especially here and now she worried over her chances at success.

A breaking twig brought Twilight back into the real world. Charging up her horn, she immediately cast a revealing spell that Princess Celestia had taught her. A magenta orb of light slowly expanded around her and enveloped the area. A nearby bush disintegrated and left a massive wolf exposed. He stood nearly as tall as Twilight at the shoulders, lip curled upward in a bone-shaking growl revealing teeth the size of kitchen knives.

“Your time has come Odin, no form you take will hide you from me.” came a deep guttural voice making Twilight leap back in shock. Her wings flapped hard at her distress and sent her off balance, making her keel over her hind legs and fall firmly on her rump.

The wolf took advantage of the opportunity and pounced at his prey, razor sharp claws at the ready. With a burst of adrenaline and magic, Twilight threw the beast away from her with an explosion spell. His black body sailed clean through an oak tree and slammed against the next, but somehow, the beast managed to land on his feet. He quickly leaped onto the falling tree and pushed it in Twilight’s direction. The alicorn teleported out of the way before the wolf slammed into her and landed atop of her. He placed a paw on her horn and held her firm, cutting off her magic as he leaned close to her ear.

“You thought you could just bury me?” he growled. “You tricked me and bound me, but I have broken the ribbons and now I will kill you.” Twilight struggled under his paw, but she might as well tried to pick up a mountain. He pushed down harder on her horn, forcing a scream from the pinned alicorn.

“Please,” At her voice the pressure vanished and the wolf jumped off of her. Fighting back tears of pain that threatened to spill forth like a flood, she slowly crawled to her hooves. Her horn had almost shattered and rivers of almost unbearable pain poured down the sensitive bone.

“Who are you? Is this some trickery of yours, old vulture?”

“What... what are y-you talking about?” she stammered through the pain. She felt like some pony had poured molten metal over her horn. He growled, but said nothing in response. After the pain faded to a bearable level she fought to open her eyes that seemed glued shut. The huge wolf was sitting down, facing away from her as he gazed listlessly through the dark trees. “Who... who is Odin?”

He barked a gravelly laugh and muttered something under his breath. “You stink of the Divine Ones, the gods, but you do not know any? You are not a god yet you look as they do.”

“What, an alicorn?”

He nodded, “Horns and wings, though Odin had eight legs, not four.”

What in Equestria was he talking about? A pony with eight legs? “I know Celestia and Luna, they made me like this and then left.”

“I do not know either of whom you speak.”

Didn’t they have different names when they were younger? “Umm, Selene and Helia, I think?”

He gave a different sound, something like humming and his head turned just so she could see one of his eyes peeking out of peripheral. “The Valkyries, I remember them.”

“Yeah, they left.”

“Do you know where?”

“They only told me it was their time. Then they just flew straight up into the sky and vanished.”

“They have gone to Valhalla.”

“Where?”

He mumbled something else under his breath, but Twilight couldn’t quite make out what he said. He rose again and turned to her with a frightening gleam in his eye. “You will just have to do, perhaps Odin will come down from his throne after I have slain you.”

“W-what!?” she spluttered. He gave some wolf-like imitation of a grin and slowly crept nearer.

“Fear not, I will make it quick for you.”

“W-wait!” she stammered as he lowered himself to pounce. He hesitated and perked his ears. “Why-why do you howl?” His predatory gaze dropped like a rock and only a hurt demeanor remained. His shoulders slumped and he sank to the ground, producing a thump that jarred the ground. Clearly, she had hit a soft spot in his violent swagger.

What the buck am I doing? “I mean, I know why you howl.” He looked at her with curious eyes, seemingly pleading for her to keep on, so she did. “You’re lonely aren’t you?” The look of surprise in his eyes confirmed her wild shot in the dark. Of course, wolves are pack animals, one alone would be very lonely, and deep down she understood.

“I used to be like you, I didn’t have any friends. All I had was my books and somehow I convinced myself that that was all I needed. But I found out how lonely I really was when I found my friends. I used to gaze up at the moon and ask myself why no pony liked me. That’s why you howl.”

If a wolf could cry, he certainly was, Twilight could swear she saw a trickle of fluid along his eyelid. “Why do they fear me?”

“Who?”

“The ponies, why are they afraid of me? I tried to be kind, even one youngling liked me, but they ran me off.”

Caught off guard by the question, she had to think for a moment. She suddenly envied how Celestia always had an answer to her questions at a moments notice. “You attacked them didn’t you?”

“Only after they attacked me.”

“Well, most ponies don’t understand wolves. One of my friends, Fluttershy, does and she actually takes care of a few. But most ponies are frightened of wolves in general, they don’t need a reason really.”

“But I wasn’t stalking or crouched, I was being kind to the youngling. He even placed his hoof on my forehead.”

“They just don’t understand you. The youngling might have been familiar with wolves.”

“Can you fix their fear? I am alone, Skoll and Hati won’t come until they finish hunting.”

Twilight had no idea who Skoll or Hati was, but an idea began to blossom in her mind. Already she was sorting through spells and magical words inside her head. “I can’t “fix” their fear per se, but I can make it so they will have no reason to fear you.”

His ears perked and he sat at attention, much like a Winona when AJ would play with her. Finding the right incantation in her memory, she began to recite it in her mind and poured her magical reserves into her horn. At first, it shot back arcs of pain that made her wince, but she fought through and eventually became numb to the protests. She closed her eyes in concentration and when she had finished the rites, she pushed her magic out and it crept forward like mist. It quickly enveloped the wolf, and as she opened her eyes, the fruits of her spell proved near perfect.

Before her sat a rather large earth pony with a bit more fur than normal. He had retained his original size, but sat ignorant of the changes his body had taken. The princess made a mental note to do some experimentation on this when her duties would allow it.

Pushing a simple sizing spell at the former wolf, she reduced him to the size of a normal stallion, just slightly shorter than Big Mac. Only then did he notice the change as the alicorn before him seemed to grow in size. He looked down at his new hooves and gave a cry of surprise at his new body. He quickly stood and tried to scratch at the black fur on his belly, only to tip over like a bowling pin.

Suppressing a laugh as his awkwardness, She explained to him the differences in his spine. He seemed rather displeased to find that he was much less agile and had difficulty walking in the new gait. After he had practiced for a few minutes, Twilight gave a word of warning, “This is only a disguise, similar to changelings. I don’t know if it will stay after you talking or anything so try to avoid conversation.” He gave her an incredulous look and rose to all fours.

“What’s a changeling?” he asked. As if on cue, the apparition flickered and he changed somewhat, his fur lengthened and his hooves half transformed back into paws before shifting back to normal.

“Just as I thought. Don’t talk, I can see through the disguise and so will other ponies whenever you speak. Return at nightfall, it should last till then. Changelings change their appearance to impersonate other ponies and feed off their emotions. We have had some serious problems with them in the past.” He nodded and looked off in the direction of Ponyville. His nostrils flared a bit and Twilight could tell that his senses still worked perfectly.

“Thank you.” he said earnestly, with a bit of fluctuation in the disguise. He couldn’t help the smile that spread over his lips as he began walking towards the pony town in the distance. Behind him the smell of divine magic spread through the air and a loud pop sounded, shifting his shaggy mane into his face. Brushing back the gray locks, he began trotting toward the village.

Chapter 3 : A Party for the Apocalypse

A bright pink mare stood upright on her hind legs in the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner, rolling a slab of dough into the base of a three-tier cake on order for a local wedding. Next to her Mrs. Cake sat in a rocking chair, stirring a bowl of blue frosting into a creamy glob of sugary goodness. The whisk in her hoof slowly churned the icing in contrast to the rapid strokes of the roller in the pink mare’s grasp.

Suddenly, the baker rolling the dough stopped mid-roll, ear twitching erratically. Her tail flicked to the side with a mind of its own, swishing left and right without any direction from its owner. A spasm in her flank involuntarily kicked her leg outward and marked the end of her body’s apparent rebellion.

She thoughtfully mumbled something unintelligible under her breath before suddenly vanishing in a blurry streak of pink. Unfazed by the sudden disappearance of her assistant, the soft blue mare remained in her chair slowly rocking back and forth as she whipped at the frosting. She was used to the spontaneous ball of energy and her eccentric personality; that was just Pinkie Pie.

The familiar sensations of her Pinkie Sense set her into a frenzied rush. It had been quite some time since any pony new had arrived in Ponyville. Almost two whole days had passed since Merry Weather’s “Welcome to Ponyville!” party and Pinkie was ecstatic that she could make another friend so soon!

“Ooh! Ooh! I bet it’ll be another mare again!” she squeaked giddily as she skipped in the direction her senses told her the newcomer would arrive from. Her hyperactive excitement only escalated as she spotted the unfamiliar face in the distance, slowly trotting from the direction of the Everfree. For the slightest moment, her demeanor sagged under the weight of where he was coming from, but she pushed aside the apprehension and continued forward with the biggest smile she could manage.

As she drew nearer to him, the first thing she noticed was that he had a funny gait, occasionally tripping over his hooves like a newborn foal would. The next thing she noticed was his lack of a cutie mark despite his apparent age, mid-forties or so. Without a thought, she ignored his features and focused on making him feel as welcome as possible; she hadn’t failed yet at everypony being her friend and she had no intention of breaking that streak.

“Hi!” she shouted as soon as he was in earshot. His swiveled head in her direction signaled his comprehension and he slightly altered his course in her direction. When he was no more than a few feet away, Pinkie shouted, “Welcome to Ponyville! I’m Pinkie Pie and this is my pet alligator, Gummy!” she pulled the bewildered reptile from out of... well, nowhere, he seemed to have just materialized in her grasp as she pulled him out.

The stallion said nothing, but just smiled wide at her in an awful approximation of a grin. She blinked at the awkward expression, but ignored it and stowed her pet back into whatever she pulled him from. “What’s your name?” she asked, nearly yelling. The stranger remained smiling for a few seconds before pointing at his mouth and shaking his head. “Ooh! Ooh! I love guessing games! Umm... Albert? Norbert? Bill? How about James, or Ryan, or Sam?”

His bewildered expression showed her error and she thought for a few moments before vomiting a long stream of names too quickly to decipher. He only shook his head no as she stood panting.

Suddenly regaining her breath, Pinkie grabbed the stranger by the hoof and yanked him towards Ponyville. “Okay,” she began. “I will call you Bob okay? Welcome to Ponyville Bob!!” His ears flinched at her voice, and she lowered her voice a tad. “Okay, there are lots of things to do in Ponyville, but before we do anything, we HAVE to have a “Welcome to Ponyville” party so you can meet everypony and so they can meet you and you can meet them.” She continued babbling incessantly as she led him through the streets of the town, but the stallion only had eyes for the strange buildings and the many colors that marked the crowds. Ponies made way for the pair and gave the stallion friendly smiles, knowing full well the ritual of Pinkie’s welcome.

Eventually, Pinkie led him to Sugarcube Corner and showed him inside. She brought him to a room off to the side of the main foyer and led him to a couch. He looked at the furniture dumbly, then glanced at Pinkie with a look of total confusion on his face. It was only then that the mare noticed that his nostrils were flaring and he was taking several breaths in rapid succession. She set her own nose to work and could smell a baking cake in the oven. Shrugging it off, she pointed at the floor, “Stay here alright? I’ll be back in a jiffy.” she said quickly before bolting out of the room. Once she was in the main room, she pulled Gummy out and set him on the floor. His blank gaze stared into nothingness as she pulled out a larger-than-a-pony party canon from the same place Gummy had been in.

With a giggle she yanked the string at it’s rear and the room exploded into party streamers and decorations that would take any other pony hours to put up. Satisfied that the decoration was done, she wheeled the canon into a nearby broom closet and shut the door behind it. This party would be awesome!

Thoroughly disoriented, Fenrir sat firmly on the floor and gazed around the room. Nowhere near as elaborate or as colorful as the previous room, the walls and sparse decoration seemed drab in comparison. He eyed the strange object the pony had pointed at and sniffed it tentatively. It smelled of ponies and of other things he couldn’t quite place in his mind, but he had no idea what to do with it. He wandered about the room examining and smelling things, occasionally tripping over his annoying hooves.

“I want my paws back.” he mumbled under his breath, eying the shiny keratin attached to his leg. The hoof flickered and became disfigured at the words and he reprimanded himself, he really needed to be more careful.

When he was sniffing at a fluffy square thing, someone cleared their throat behind him. He dropped the object and whirled to see who had snuck up on him. An older blue mare was watching him from where she was sitting in some kind of strange cage. “Sit down if you like, Pinkie will be back in a moment.” she said in a motherly voice.

Fenrir obliged and sat down on the softer part of the floor in the center of the room. He wondered how he hadn’t noticed the mare as he produced a great big smile. She returned it before saying, “You don’t have to sit on the carpet, sit on the couch. I guarantee it is much more comfortable.” Before Fenrir could figure out what a carpet was, the door opened revealing Pinkie Pie.

“Hi Mrs. Cake! This is Bob. I don’t know his real name because he can’t speak or his disguise will be revealed so I gave him the name Bob!” the aforementioned masquerader’s head snapped to attention at the mention of his disguise and he sprang to his hooves, or rather clumsily scrambled to them. Pinkie winked at him and grabbed his hoof, yanking him into the room from before.

Before he could see anything Pinkie slammed the door shut, leaving him in absolute darkness. Half a heartbeat later, lights suddenly turned on, blinding him as a loud chorus of “Surprise!” attacked his ears. Barely able to comprehend what was going on, the stallion was presented to a line of ponies shuffling past as they introduced themselves to the stranger.

“Hi, I’m Featherduster.” and then, “His name is Bob!” was the manner several dozen ponies met him, whilst he struggled to take in the crowd as they began to group together and do bizarre things. Making a game out of eating apples out of a bucket of water, sticking strange hairy things to a poor mural of a pony as they stumbled about like drunks blindfolded, swinging sticks at a weird,stiff pony hanging by a rope and several other incredulous things.

After several minutes of friendly smile after friendly smile filing past, the disguised wolf eventually relaxed and began to enjoy himself. He caught Pinkie staring at his flank and raised his eyebrow inquisitively. “Why are you swinging your tail so much?”

“I’m enjoying myself.” He wanted so badly to say it, to say anything, but he just shrugged and resumed watching a gray bird-pony with a golden mane stick the furry things on the rear end of the painted pony. The crowd gained great amusement when she put it where the tail should have been. Suddenly, the world vanished and something was tied over his eyes while another thing was placed in his mouth. Before he could move to defend himself or spit whatever it was out, someone began spinning him like a top while he fought for balance.

After the world finished spinning, he head his host yell something about pinning a tail on a pony. He stood motionless as the wheels in his brain sluggishly chinked together, he must be playing one of the games. With an intake of breath, the sour stench of the dried paint led him to the spot he wanted. His nose traced the edges of the invisible paint until he pressed the thing onto the wall. A loud chorus confirmed his success and applauded him.

“Holy moly, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone miss so... bad.” Fenrir tore off the blindfold and looked at the “tail.” A blush made its home on his cheeks as he spotted it in a rather sensual position, right in the crotch area of the pony.

Pinkie put a leg around him and dragged him away from the hysteric crowd, “The only awkward part was you smelling it before placing it.” she said with a chuckle. “I wanna introduce you to more of my friends. These are, like, my best friends in all of Equestria.” She brought him over to a group of five mares who were engaged in various conversations. His eyes found the alicorn who had transformed him, who gave him a gentle nod before returning to her conversation with a pearly mare at her left.

“Alright, this is Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Princess Twilight.” She said with a wave of her foreleg. The orange mare, Applejack, held out her hoof and Fenrir instinctually gave it a sniff, much to the puzzlement of the group, with exception of Twilight and Pinkie. Applejack looked at her hoof, confused as Twilight broke into an amused grin.

“Don’t worry AJ, wolves do that.” Pinkie stated plainly. Again the disguised wolf spun to look at her, but she seemed unaffected by the secret she somehow knew. She remained impassive as she wandered off to play some games, leaving him with the group.

“So... Where are you from dear?”

The stallion looked to Twilight for reprieve, to which she only smiled knowingly. “Actually, I am already acquainted with this stallion. How has Ponyville been so far?”

Nodding enthusiastically, he tried to convey his joy through his expression. “What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?” the bird-pony, Rainbow Dash, teased. He only shook his head and pointed to him mouth, shaking his head again. “Can’t talk? Another shake.

“Well that sucks. Ah couldn’t get through ‘ta day if’n Ah couldn’t say nothin’. Sounds mighty borin’.” The disguised wolf shrugged his shoulders, he didn’t mind, even though it was difficult to remain silent at direct questions.

Twilight abruptly stood and stretched her wings. “Come Bob, I must speak with you in private.” Fenrir obediently followed her out the door into the abandoned street. It seemed the entire town was inside the party. When they had walked a comfortable distance away, Twilight sat down on a bench and patted the seat next to her with a hoof. Recognizing the gesture, Fenrir promptly sat in the dirt to which Twilight laughed somewhat.

“I did some research. The spell will only last a few more minutes, we had perfect timing. If Pinkie hadn’t brought you over we would have had a disaster.”

“End the spell now, I will leave on my own paws. Much easier that way.” HIs apparition flickered and vanished at his words. With a mighty yawn and a stretch he shook his real self back into commission. Twilight released the size spell on him and he soon stood much taller than she, it seemed he had grown somehow. Without a word, the wolf trotted off in the direction of the forest. But before his figure disappeared around the corner, he stopped and looked over his shoulder.

“Thank you for this, It has been so long since I had anybody. Skoll and Hati will return soon, you had best prepare yourself. Perhaps we will meet again someday.” And with that he dashed away from town without anypony seeing him.

Twilight sat in contemplation over his words. Skoll and Hati, who were they? She had never heard of either of the names, nor did she understand why he sounded so morbid in his prophecy.

“Compendium of Nhordic Mythologies.”

“What the-” Pinkie sat next to her slowly eating a cupcake. How she had come to sit there, Twilight had no idea but she brushed off the question. That was just Pinkie Pie.

“Nhorse Mythology?”

“Yeah. You don’t have it in the Ponyville library. It’s in the Canterlot Archives, in the secret library behind bookshelf 3J.

“Pinkie, you never cease to amaze me. How do you know these things?”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know that answers to.”

“What are you talking about?”

Pinkie suddenly burst out into hysterics. After regaining her composure, “Oh silly-billy, you gotta have some fun sometimes.” her expression suddenly darkened and her face turned serious. “Seriously, look for Prophecies of Ragnarok. You played right into their hooves.”

“Whose hooves?”

Pinkie didn’t answer, only pulled another cupcake from behind her back and proceeded in stuffing her mouth. “These are delicious. Imma go get some more.” Jumping from the bench, she skipped away, just being Pinkie Pie.

A loud pop and a bright flash of light exploded behind the mare as she walked through the door.

Rushing through the Archives on her outstretched wings, Twilight hunted down the section Pinkie had told her about. Princess Celestia had never said anything about a secret section and she could hardly believe that Pinkie had known of it. Then again Celestia had many secrets, she may not have thought it important or something.

She found 3J, but after inspecting the shelves, Twilight found nothing to indicate that there was anything behind it. She cast a revealing spell, the one she had used to find the wolf, but nothing happened as it passed over the shelves. She lit up her horn again and tried to move the bookcase, but it refused to budge. Thoroughly stymied, she filed through the book one at a time, looking for anything, any catch or secret lever that might reveal the passage Pinkie had told her about.

Her idle mind began wandering to and fro throughout the wolf’s words. What had he meant? what was so bad about Skoll and Hati coming back? He had hinted that he had once known them well, but what was so bad about them? If the book held the answers to her questions then she absolutely had to figure out the conundrum before her.

“Oh Celestia help me, I’m looking for something that doesn’t even exist.”

“Use your horn.”

The familiar voice startled Twilight who whirled on the pony. “Pinkie?! What the buck are you doing here? How did you arrive so-”

“Just use your horn.”

“Use it on what? I don’t see-”

“Twilight c’mon.” Pinkie groaned flatly. Only then did Twilight see her. The normally hyperactive mare’s mane hung flat over a leather cuirass that covered her shoulders. Across her back rested a long katana in a silver scabbard. The impatient look on her face forced the disturbed princess to look at the shelf and touch her horn to one of the oak shelves. A small click reached her ears and the bookcase shifted slightly, before swinging open like a door on rusty hinges. With a resounding boom, the door stopped against the wall of the passage hidden behind it. Without a word Pinkie trotted into the tunnel, leaving Twilight with her mouth hanging agape.

Pinkie led her down the passageway more several long minutes before the tunnel opened into a large circular room whose walls were lined with thousands of books. In the center of the room stood a huge circular table of stone almost a hundred feet across, encircled by high-backed chairs. On the table face before each chair, different shaped grooves were carved into strange lines. Pinkie drew her katana and walked around the table until she placed the blade into one of the slots.

The metal began shining like a miniature sun and slid further into the table until it seemed the sword was a part of the stone. The pink mare turned to the bookshelves and produced a book with a size that impressed even Twilight. With a heavy thud, Pinkie set the book on the table and opened it to a page lined with runes and glyphs. She waved Twilight over and the princess cautiously complied until the page was easily visible. She didn’t even recognize the line, dots, and dashes that lined the page in what she assumed was script.

“Cast a translation spell.” Pinkie ordered.

“Wait, what is-”

“Cast it.” she commanded harshly. Twilight flinched slightly at her tone, she had never seen Pinkie so... not Pinkie. Obeying, she cast the appropriate spell and the lines shifter together into the modern language. “Read it aloud.”

“Not without some answers.”

“Then the earth will die because of you. I have no intention to explain myself. Now, read.”

Insulted, but fearful of her threat, she read the words on the page, feeling like a slave rather than a princess.

“Ragnarok, the end of the world according the Nhorse mythology and the end of the world as the truths we hold. A family of wolves... Pinkie I don’t-”

“Twilight, for the love of Celestia, your family, your subjects, and whatever else you hold dear, read the damn book!” Pinkie yelled, anger dripping from her voice as she slammed her hoof onto the table with a might bang.

“A family of wolves lived in the forest of what we now know as the Everfree forest. As with all creatures of the Everfree, magic flowed through their veins as much as blood and these were fierce creatures. Legend claims that these wolves could swallow whole cows in one mouthful, and were the size of mountains, but paleontologic evidence found by The novel character and actual treasure hunter, Daring Do, has found the remains of the bitch in the pack. Though not the size legend told of, the she-wolf was much, much larger than alicorns, its skeleton rivaling the scale of the Giraffes.

In the ancient world where the gods themselves roamed free over the earth, reigning over their respective elements, a god named Loki, slaughtered the mother of three pups. The skeleton found by Daring Do is believed to be this specific creature. In vengeance two of the wolves hunted him down. But, being the god of deceit, he tricked them into believing that their mother had died of old age and blamed the passage of the sun and moon for her death. The wolves believed him and the legends tell us that they ascended into some form of deistic power and gave chase. Hati the scion of hatred, hunted the moon, whilst Skoll the scion of vengeance snapped his maw at the sun.

Astronomers confirm two constellations that shift at such a rate as to almost present a moving picture. A larger string of stars present the gaping maw of a monster at the tail of the sun. But because of the day, this can only be seen with the aid of seeing magic. At night, the commonly known Ursa Major is in fact, a wolf when viewed with similar magic. The legend of Ragnarok tells us that Skoll and Hati with devour the sun and moon, plunging the world into darkness and marking the beginning of the end of the world. Study has shown that the incident of Nightmare moon is an incarnation of Hel, the scion of death and destruction in Nhorse mythology. It is believed, although not yet proven, that Hel possessed Princess Luna and attempted to bring about Ragnarok by aiding the wolves in their task.”

Twilight looked at Pinkie with wide eyes found that they had been joined by several others, all adorned in similar attire to Pinkie. Among that crowd she spotted Lyra Heartstings, a mare from Ponyville she had met once or twice.
“Read the next section, it’s the prophecy regarding Ragnarok. It has a few details that Pinkamena believed will be familiar to you.” Twilight looked at the source of the voice, an earthy brown stallion with a mane the color of gold.

“A village there was between-”

“Please,” the stallion interrupted, “Read it to yourself. We all know it by heart.”

Twilight resumed reading, and by the time the last line was absorbed by her brain, she felt a sickening lurch in her stomach. She read it again, and again a third time. Hardly believing what her eyes were telling her the script said, She played over the events of the day in her head.

“I-”

“The wolf Pinkamena tells us you helped was Fenrir, the wolf of legend and the third pup. You helping him has marked prophecy.”

“He attacked me, calling me Odin and talking about Valhalla and Valkyries and stuff. I never did anything with mythology because those things can’t be true.”

“Can’t they? Why can’t they be true? All legends are born of truth, and though there is a difference between truth and fiction, there is little between history and mythology. Were Celestia and Luna not goddesses in their own right?”

“Cadence too.”

A knowing smile played across the blonde stallion’s face. “Cadence doesn’t even know she has divine blood. If I am not mistaken, she is Freyja’s daughter.”

“The time is drawing near. Fenrir said we only have a few days left and I am sad to say the stars agree.” piped a purple mare sporting a mottled bald head. “I am Starry Gaze, the most accomplished astronomer in Equestria. If time permits I will show you the star-wolves.”

Twilight couldn’t help gawking at the bald head, a sight almost unheard of. It was obviously a burn from long ago, but she couldn’t stop glancing at it. Either the mare never noticed or didn’t care.

“Twilight, I’m a member of the Jarls of Midgard, an elite fighting force and secret guild preparing for the end.” Twilight couldn’t bring herself to look at Pinkie as she uttered those words. Something about them made her mind reject the concept of “the end of the world.”

“Only Celestia and Luna knew about them and recruited us specially. Ponyville was a cover, Pinkie Pie, an act and this, war, is my life. I wouldn’t be who I am if it weren’t for-”

“Stop it!” Twilight rubbed her head with her hooves, slowly kneading her temples in an effort to shut out what they were saying. It couldn’t be true. There was no possible way that stupid stories could be true. But what about the prophecy? It was like somepony had been writing it while watching her. Mythology wasn’t real, that was why she never wasted her time on it. Mythology was just that: Mythology. It was redundant because the stuff that went on in it was absurd. But the wolf had asked about Odin, a pony with six legs.

Aha! That was something they couldn’t possibly know, what Fenrir had said about Odin. They would have to be lying to her.

“Describe Odin to me.”

The blonde stallion answered her, “He is what is called a sleipnir, a pony with six legs and a mane like-”

“Gah!!” Twilight spun on her hoof and walked straight out of the room, paying no heed to Pinkie’s protests. “Leave her be Pinkamena, if she will not listen to reason, them I fear-”

Twilight shut off that accursed stallion’s voice. It was preposterous, wasn’t it? She reentered the library and walked away from the secret passage, leaving the hidden door wide open. “Twilight wait!” She continued stomping past the bookshelves and right out the door of the library. Pinkie ran around the corner from the direction of the throne room and stood in front of Twilight. The stewardess tried to step around the armored mare, but Pinkie blocked her path.

“Pinkie, if you don’t move-”

“You’ll what? Have me arrested? Look Twilight, there is more than enough evidence. Celestia taught you better than that! She taught you-”

“Don’t you dare think to lecture me on Celestia!” Twilight bellowed, forcing Pinkie to take a step back. She thought she could push the levy? Then she would feel the flood. “I knew Celestia better than you ever could! She taught me to look at what is real and that is what I am doing. A wolf affected by the Everfree forest’s magic could somehow talk. I averted a panic by transforming him and putting his loneliness to rest so now he will leave Ponyville alone. It is as simple as that.”

“Then how do you explain his knowledge of Odin and Celestia? How do you explain him knowing Luna’s ancient name? He was there Twilight. He is Fenrir, the very same wolf that the old gods buried and bound, and now he has returned. I will bet you my rank of Jarl that he had thin strips of silk tied about his ankles. Did he not?”

Twilight could faintly recall the feeling of cloth on her skin when he forced her to the ground. But how could she possibly know that? Hiding in the bushes? The revealing spell would have shown anypony nearby. But Twilight refused to believe it. “I used to want to know the exact answer for everything, but when I tried and failed to figure out your Pinkie Sense, I realized there are some things that cannot be explained.”

“I can channel Discord’s power.”

“It was coincidence Pinkie, and... W-what?”

“I said I can channel Discord’s power. Celestia recruited me when she saw what my ‘Pinkie Pie-ness,’ as everypony calls it, could do. It’s always just felt natural to me, but Celestia thought that I could do more with it. She taught me to drain some of his power and I can use it to “break the fourth wall” so to speak. The human that is writing this conversation right now will agree with me: The prophecy is true, Fenrir is the wolf from that book, and Skoll and Hati are about to return.”

“What the buck is a human?”

“Dunno. You have to open your eyes Twilight, you need to prepare like Fenrir told you to.”

Twilight felt like the world had gathered up all of its physics and just thrown them to the wind. Her head spun, and a slight ache from her horn came out of nowhere, giving her the worst headache she could remember. If what Pinkie said was true, then the world was about to descend into war. “Pinkie... I-I need to... think.”

“Think? Think about what? War is coming and we need to do something: gather armies, pull in militia, and everything else.”

“P-please Pinkie... I just... can’t. Not without hard evidence that... war... is coming.”

“Dear Celestia help us...” Pinkie ran a hoof through her hair and fidgeted with her pauldrons. “If-

“Speak of the devil, and she shall appear.” rang a clear and regal voice. Without hesitation, Twilight spun frantically and nearly had to catch her chin as it fell like lead. Celestia strode down the hall wearing golden armor carved and crafted to the utmost perfection of beauty and grace. In the place of her normal mane, billowing swathes of fire licked the air and heated the hall, though her coat remained clear and pristine. Instead of her normally kind smile, a serious expression made her even more stunning to look upon and added to her imperious presence.

Twilight nearly keeled over in shock when she spotted the... thing behind her former mentor. It looked like an earth-pony. In fact it looked almost exactly like a pony except for the two extra legs that walked snugly behind his normal front legs. A golden helm rested upon his head, but only had one eye hole where smooth metal covered the right side of his face. His snow white mane drifted over dark fur so purple it almost looked black.

“Twilight Sparkle, stewardess to Helia’s throne. We finally meet.” He walked closer to the stunned alicorn, hooves producing two too many clops. She could only look at him dumbly as Pinkie descended into a low bow. As he came to stand in front of the dumbstruck Twilight, a raven flew through the window and alighted upon his head, cawing angrily. Leaning down, his beak whispered into the sleipnir’s ear, causing Twilight to step back involuntarily.

“Do not fret about Hugin, Stewardess. He only brings us news of Hati; the moon is gone and his hunt is complete.”

Chapter 4 : Alone No More

The gentle caress of the winds brought the smells of the party back to Fenrir’s nose as he neared the edge of the forest, on his own four paws. Looking up to the sky, he could faintly see his brothers, side by side as they chased the sun alongside the moon. A pang of loneliness struck a chord in his heart, but was quickly washed away by the friendships he had experienced. The wind picked up violently as Hati suddenly leapt at the moon and the orb vanished from the blue. Skoll snapped again, but missed but a hair’s breadth from the sun's edge.

“Soon my brothers, we will be together again.” The wolf did not need to bid them hurry, for two hunters are better than one. He could envision it in his mind, the beauty of the scene made his heart pump harder in her chest. While Skoll continued to chase the sun, Hati would race around it and trap it. That moment of fear would be everything Skoll needed to finally make the kill. Then, they would be together again.

Fenrir felt like howling to cheer them on, but decided against it. Howling was for loneliness, and he did not feel like that. Instead, he resumed his pace with renewed vigor and made it to the forest’s edge in little less than a few minutes. The brush welcomed him back like family and embraced him into its shadows. The wolf turned to the direction of his prison and set off at a brisk pace. That was where they would be reunited.

As he trotted amongst the trees, a raucous “CRRRAAAGH!!” stung his ears, forcing him to stop and look up. A familiar black raven was perched in the boughs of a birch, leering down at Fenrir with distaste. A throaty growl spooked the accursed bird higher into the tree, and he cawed at the wolf again.

“Go away Hugin, I want none of your games.”

The bird ruffled his feathers and hacked up a pellet of fur and bones. His beak spat the wastes at Fenrir, but he dodged the solid vomit easily, though his pride was less fortunate.

“Damn bird! Get away from me, Hugin!”

The bird gave some semblance of a croaky laugh, and flew up to a higher branch in the tree. “A twin I am but not that twin. How is the doggy-doggy hmm? Glad to be free from momma’s grave, hmm?”

“Fine, be that way. I’ll have no business with you either, Munin. Your riddles are unwelcome.” He trotted away with a huff. The flapping of wings reached his ears and he was sure the old crone was following him.

“Ah, but that is the point doggy-doggy; unwelcome is there whether you like or not. I like to be unwelcome, it lets you see the things that cannot be seen.” He hacked again, and the slime splattered across the wolf’s face. With a growl, he spun and barked at the thorn. “Ooh! Doggy-doggy is angry! Come bite that which sees.” Munin taunted. Without a thought, Fenrir leaped up and snapped at the crow, barely missing by a fraction of an inch. The bird flew away and perched in a tree, cackling and taunting him.

“Doggy-doggy lost his kill, to hate the voice, in his ear to shrill!” he sang. Fenrir rammed the tree he was in and the wood groaned and creaked under the force. Again he slammed his shoulder into the trunk and a resounding crack split the air, and interrupted the raven’s rough tune. With another growl, the wolf reared on his hind legs and slammed against the trunk with his front paws. Creaking and groaning, the tree began to topple. Munin took flight, but a fell branch slammed into his chest and threw him to the ground with a small thump.

Taking the opportunity, Fenrir leaped from the falling tree and pounced on Munin. The raven scrambled away in a panic, barely avoiding the wolf’s massive paw. The second paw hit home and slammed down on the black bird’s wing. A shriek of pain battered at Fenrir’s ears as his prey screamed in agony and fear. The wolf lowered his snout to Munin’s squirming head. “I know you can hear me Odin, I have not forgotten you.” he whispered quietly.

Munin stopped struggling, and cawed in his face. “You will lose. Odin-” His words were cut short by the paw pressed over his chest pressed down on the fragile bones. A sickening crunch wetted Fenrir’s pads with a spray of sticky gore as the lifeblood ebbed from the accursed bird.

Gleaning some small satisfaction from the kill, Fenrir rose from his crouch and tossed the carcass away.

“Still just as brutal I see.”

“Oh, buck.”

“Was is it my king?” Celestia asked, breaking from her conversation with Twilight.

“Munin... Munin has been-” The raven on his head interrupted him with a loud screech. At his call everypony knew what Odin had been about to say.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

“Spare us.” he growled, “Fenrir somehow killed him and his last thought was of Hati’s voice. Munin was the only one who knew both wolves and now all We have is Hugin.”

“So Hati is back?”

“It would seem so, yes. This bodes ill, Skoll will not be far behind and We fear we stand little chance against the both of them, especially if Fenrir is there as well. It is imperative that we stop Skoll from coming back.”

For the first time, Twilight spoke to Odin. “How?”

“By keeping the sun from his maw. Helia did well for the time Fenrir was buried. But this time, I fear we may have more difficulty keeping the sun moving.”

“But I just don’t get it, how could the moon be eaten?”

Odin chuckled and gave her a knowing smile. Celestia shuffled her hooves nervously, something Twilight had never thought she would see. “He did not consume the body itself, but its essence, its soul. It will slowly decay until it is nothing but dust in the cosmos.”

Celestia had explained the book and the mythology to Twilight, and though she could hardly believe even Celestia, the moon’s “soul” being eaten was the straw that broke the horse’s back. “But that doesn’t even make sense. How can a massive hunk of rock have a soul?”

“Ye misunderstand Twilight Sparkle. Think back on thine studies on magic: all things have magic, and aura if thou will. From the tiniest seed, to the largest welknyd stone, to an alicorn like thyself. Stretch out thine senses and ye can tell the air from the stones of this castle. This is the essence of which We speak.”

Twilight could barely stomach what he was saying, but she remembered the test results very well. Her examinations had found magical potential in soil and in earth-ponies. Her discoveries had helped produce what was called a “tractor,” a device that could power itself with the magic in the soil and had nearly quadrupled food production.

“So, what is going to happen?”

Odin chuckled and whispered something to Hugin, who then flew off with a screech and a flap of his wings. He nodded to Celestia, who stood from the cushions she was sitting on. Her mane flared up to its fiery splendor, forcing Twilight to step back from the heat. The flames did not stop at Celestia’s neck however, instead they continues to spread over her body like a wildfire. Twilight panicked, fearing the worst for her teacher and frantically tried to cast a spell to stop the flames.

She could hear Odin burst out laughing like a hyena at her spell, but she ignored him and continued to pour magic into her spell. But whenever the magic touched the flames, it dissipated like vapor. Suddenly, Celestia vanished in a puff of smoke and scared Twilight off her hooves. The alicorn scrambled up and stared at the laughing sleipnir, lost in his mirth.

“What the buck is going on?!”

Between his fits of laughter he sputtered, “She-she has... gone to get the.. others! Ye thought- Oh, hahaha!”

After several minutes of laughing to the point of tears, he straightened up and resumed a royal posture. “That was extremely amusing, but the time for jokes and merriment must be put aside for later, for the doom of the world is upon us Twilight Sparkle, and it is likely that we will lose.”

At the familiar voice, Fenrir stood paralyzed by the horrible memories that came washing down like a tidal flood. A small chuckle broke him from his reverie and Hati’s silver fur came into view. Fenrir struggled to turn his head and look at his brother’s toothy grin. His fur was even more silver than before, and small points of light could faintly be seen shifting and dancing across his shoulders. Nearly twice his size, Fenrir felt like a pup again.

“Cat got your tongue? I remember a pup that never shut up, shooting questions about every little thing.”

His mind was reeling with questions, but his tongue refused to work along his sluggish mind. He took a step forward, and the footfall sounded like a clap of thunder in the awkward silence. “Hati...” The name sounded like clear bells as it rolled off his tongue and shattered the glaze over his mind like glass. “Hati... you’re... back.”

“Took long enough. Running in space is like running through tree sap.”

“You’re back.” The simple words were all his brain could produce through his shock and euphoria.

“You already said that. Skoll will be back by the week’s end. You had best hunt down Odin. There are many things that need to be done little brother, and we cannot afford any loose ends.”

“I-I don’t know... where he...is.”

“The mountain-city. Being in the stars has its advantages in omniscience. But, even from down here I can see the sun has renewed its vigor. It would be wise on your part to eliminate Odin, then and only then will Skoll return.”

“Hati, I... Did mother really die of old age? Like Loki told us?”

“It does not matter my little wolves, I bring you the revenge you seek.”

Hati calmly turned towards the voice. “Ah, Hel. It has been a while, you come to aid us again?”

From the bushes a scaly snout poked out, followed by the head and neck of a massive lizard. A single horn like a moose’s protruded from its forehead and two sharp tusks jutted out under scaly lips. Mottled brown scales somehow glinted in the sunlight as a breath of smoke poured from the dragon’s nostrils.

“That’s my Niddhogg, I’m over here.” the voice said from behind them, they turned simultaneously and saw a tall, skeleton-of-a-mare with bat-wings and a snow-white mane. Her figure looked no more than skin and bones and a curved beak replaced her mouth. Fires burned where eyeballs should have been, dripping liquid magma from the little infernos.

“Haha, don’t looked so disgusted, I can be very beautiful if I wish. I merely think this is a look befitting the upcoming battle. And I assure you, there will be a battle.”

“A battle?”

She turned to Fenrir with a merry gleam in her eye. “Yes little pup, and you are instrumental in our little plan. Jotun’s are prepared in the north and this Niddhogg I brought with me is one of the many that will fight with us. Odin Allfather must be eliminated if we are to have any hope of victory and it is your task to... take care of him.”

His mind shifted to the last image of Odin he had in his memory and his hatred and anger returned to him in a flash. “If Odin is killed, will Skoll come back?”

Hel laughed, a sound somewhat akin to a vulture dying. “One variable of the equation little wolf.”

“Then he will die.” he growled. He turned towards the mountain and bolted off through the trees. His legs pounded against the ground, throwing himself forward almost too fast to keep balance. Like a streak of lightning out of a blue sky, he exploded from the foliage and raced across the open ground beyond, completely humbling any creature that walked the earth with hi speed. His hatred fueled his racing limbs, pouring energy into the muscles like dry grass to a wildfire.

Within the hour, he stood just a few miles from the mountain. In the distance, tall ivory spires stood erect behind the massive walls around the pony-city. Nestled behind the walls, the citadel and castle were visible, beckoning him forward with the hunger for vengeance.

A loud rumble reached his ears and he looked to see a huge machine billowing smoke that traveled toward the city. HIs eyes found ponies in the metal carriage and guessed that it was some kind of transport. With one last look at the walls, he raced after the train. It took him little more than a minute to reach the rumbling train. Running alongside it, he sprang upward in a mighty leap and landed atop one of the cars. The train shifted under his weight, but quickly settled back down on its rails.

Laying down, he was content to rest until the train reached its destination, it would save him the trouble of getting past the outer walls. That is, if it was even going to the city. The billowing smoke bothered his nose and blocked out all other smells and scents, but he was sure it would hide his black pelt inside the ashen fumes. He buried his nose under his paws to try and block some of the acrid burning in his lungs.

Time seemed to drag on along with the slow vehicle. Distance he could run in a few minutes took nearly an hour with the rocking train. After laying down for a while, the gentle rocking pushed a creeping tiredness over his body as the muscles relaxed. Suddenly feeling the exhaustion of over a thousand years of insomnia, his eyelids drifted closed and the world of dream embraced him for the first time in a millennium.

Dry mist permeated the air, clogging his nostrils and choking away his most precious sense. Dark rainclouds unleashed their fury on the earth, drenching his coat and chilling him to the bone. He couldn’t really see anything, and his useless nose left him feeling empty and alone. Trotting forward, he delved into the heavy fog that made the air feel like he was breathing water. He padded forward for centuries, years upon years dragged by as the world remained in a dreary stasis.

Time vanished in the fog, the unchanging landscape made his weary mind forget how long he had been moving and soon, everything melded together into a misty hell. He started to run, terrified by the standstill of time. He ran blindly, but nothing seemed to get in his way so he pushed his legs even faster through the dense fog.

A bolt of lightning struck the ground mere inches from his nose and a powerful gust of wind threw him off his paws. The mist vanished with the wind and the wolf found himself in some kind of graveyard. Tombstones went on for forever, eventually vanishing over the horizon like a massive army of stone. His nose still refused to work, but the darkness did little to hinder his vision. Small inscriptions were carved into the face of each headstone and upon reading them, he realized they were names.

Every grave had a name, and though he didn’t know any of them, he pitied each and every one of them. He was immortal, the passage of a thousand years buried in his own tomb had made that obvious, but what did these names do to deserve to die?

As he continued down the rows, he noticed other inscriptions under each name. He didn’t know what they were, but they all said the same thing : April 23, year 1007 after Harmony.

Whatever an April was, he didn’t know, nor did he understand the ‘after Harmony’ part of the saying. He continued down the rows, reading each and every name until a few of them struck a familiar tone in his mind. “Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, I know these names.” But his mind refused to cooperate, try as he could, he couldn’t remember where he knew those names from. The memories teased him from afar and refused to come to him.

With a shrug he continued on down the row, still reading names off. Suddenly, the tombstones halted, leaving a huge open area before a tall mausoleum made entirely of marble. The wolf could just pick out inscriptions and names on the walls of the structure and padded up to read them without a thought.

“Twilight Spark-” The name rang like a gong in his head, shutting off all his senses and forcing him to his belly. Struggling to look up, more names became visible on the marble wall : Odin, Freyja, Helia, Thor, Forsetti, Selene, Loki, Baldr, Bragi, Njord, Tyr... “Tyr.” An image of a decapitated hoof, resting before his nose and filling his heart with hatred and malice. In rage, he leaped up to his paws and slammed against the mausoleum. His claws butchered and cut up the marble like hot knives through butter. Slamming his shoulder against the wall and unleashing all his rage and fury on the accursed memorial. The pillars creaked and groaned under the weight of the hurricane of hate.

With a crack that split the earth, the structure toppled and revealed a dark room behind the wall. Roaring into the darkness, the wolf lunged in to destroy whatever else remained, but something shot out of the darkness and jerked his paw to the side, toppling him like the mausoleum. Cold fingers squeezed around his ankle and he clawed at the bones that clung to him. With a mighty jerk, he wrenched the skeletal hand from him and stood.

All around the wolf, tall skeletons of ponies stood watching him. In his mind he knew who they were. A growl left his lips and the ground shook under its ferocity, but the skeletons remained impassive. Hel stepped out from the darkness with a cruel smile played across her fleshless beak.

“Is it not beautiful my little wolf?” She slowly walked over to one of the standing skeletons, claws clicking against the stone, and traced the skull of one like she would a lover. “Death is beautiful, hatred like sweet nectar. My brothers and sisters hated me because I was different. They hated me because of my duties, but someone had to do their dirty work, so I took up that mantle and they despised me for it. That is why I waged this little war.”

She continued stroking the dry skull, cooing over it softly like a baby. “And you,” she whispered, looking at Fenrir darkly, “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

With a roar, Fenrir burst out of sleep. Panting and sweating rivers under his fur, he struggled to gain a bearing on his surroundings. He seemed to be in some kind of warehouse. Train cars lined the interior of the building along with the one he was currently laying on. Shaking away the dream, he leaped down from the car onto the cold concrete below. His nose found the smells of the air outside and he followed the scent to an open window.

Fenrir easily jumped through the opening and quietly landed in a close alleyway. The black sky told it was either night time or he had slept longer than he intended and Skoll was already back. He peeked around the corner and was relieved to find the streets mostly abandoned. In the distance, he could see the citadel walls towering over the surrounding buildings, a looming protector of the city. The wolf retreated back into the shadows of the alley and lightly jumped onto the roof with ease. His claws slipped on the shingles and he nearly fell off, but he planted his pads to stop his fall.

Regaining his balance, he crept across the roof silently until another alley stood between his and another building. With a strong jump, he sailed through the air and landed on the other roof. With a burst of speed and agility he made short work of the rooftop and was soon traversing the city like a frog on lily pads. Within a few minutes, he reached the towering walls and returned to the street.

In a low crouch, Fenrir crept up to the wall and searched for a weakness, a way around the ivory stones. The stones met the street seamlessly, providing nothing that he might use to sneak in. The walls stood near to a hundred feet high, too high for even such a mighty beast as he to jump over. He could smell guards in the towers, with more down farther down the street. He headed in the direction of the gathering soldiers and soon found the gatehouse, the entrance to the castle blocked by a massive steel portcullis.

Hiding in the dense shadows, his black figure wasn’t seen by the soldiers at their posts under the gate. I have to get them to open the gate somehow. If one of the guards were attacked, they would send out more to try to kill him, possibly opening the entrance and providing a way for him to get in. With a low growl, he caught the attention of one of the guards, who lowered his spear in Fenrir’s direction and slowly crept forward.

“Did you hear that Razor? Sounded like something in the bushes.”

“Probably nothing. I’m telling you, these new guard posts and drafts are drills. Who in the hay would go to war on Canterlot? And it’s not like some wild animal could get all the way up here, it wouldn’t be able to get past the outer gate.”

The first guard raised his spear and began to shuffle back to his post, accepting the argument of his comrade. Now’s my chance. Fenrir dashed out of the darkness and pounced on the guard, throwing him to the ground and knocking him out. The other soldier stood stunned before being thrown to the ground as well by a powerful paw to the temple.

Above him, Fenrir could hear the alarm being sounded and a loud clunk. The portcullis trembled and slowly began to rise. Hardly able to repress his grin of victory, the wolf vanished under the gate before he had to attack any more guards. Hiding in the nearby bushes, he looked on at the rushing guards as they retrieved their fallen comrades from the ground and dragged them away. Content to wait for them to settle down, he lay against the ground and silently spied on the panicked soldiers.

He lay immobile for little more than a few minutes until the guards were replaced things settled down. Standing in the darkness, he began to walk in the direction of the castle.

“My my, what a naughty boy. Sneaking into the castle are we?”

Fenrir whirled on the speaker and lowered himself into an attack stance, growling fiercely. He remembered this valkyrie, Reinlief, the captain of their kind. She was leaning casually against her spear, but Fenrir remembered well just how fast she could move that pointy stick. She shook her auburn mane and laughed at him. “You thought you could get in that easily? Unseen? I have hunted many wolves and magical or not, you all do the same things when avoiding somepony. Hide in the shadows. It was all too easy to lie in wait for you.”

“Out of my way valkyrie, I have no business with you.’

She chuckled again. “But I have business with you. We protect Odin and I’m afraid we cannot let you harm him. We are all here, ready to fight to the death if need be.”

“Then there is a need.” Without warning his sprang at her throat, teeth bared to end her pathetic life. Spots flashed before his eyes as the spear was spun around and slammed across his cheek, throwing him clear across the courtyard. He nimbly landed on his feet and began to circle the now ready bird-pony. The knight held her spear aloft, keeping it with a few feet of the encircling wolf’s face as he searched for an opening.

With a growl, he lunged and swatted the spear-point away with a paw, but the other end whistled through the air and swatted him down across his shoulder faster than the blink of an eye. He rolled out of the way of the steel point as she drove it almost entirely into the dirt. The tip stuck in the ground for a fraction of a second too long and the wolf snapped it in two with a fierce bite. Not skipping a beat, he tackled Reinlief to the ground and held her firm with his paws, trapping her right wing under his back paw.

Her fragile wing under pressure completely immobilized the captain against the ground with a feral wolf atop her. A fierce head-butt knocked her unconscious and the wolf crawled off of her prone form.

My grief is with Odin, I will not kill anyone until he is slain.

Odin sat at ease in the quarters given him, reclining on the massive bed with a large book on Nhorse Mythology in his telekinetic grip. His foremost hooves were shuffling restlessly whilst his middle hooves idly played with a ball of molten metal held aloft in a sphere of magic. He found good amusement at the myths surrounding him and his reign, though some were pretty close to the way things actually happened. He came across the passage dealing with Fenrir’s imprisonment and was pleased that the story had not wandered too far.

He felt a pang of regret in reading that particular instance, had he not buried the wolf he may not be feeling so nervous about his return. Being nervous was an emotion almost alien for him, he had always been sure of himself but now, Fenrir was not one to be toyed with. Munin’s foolishness and love for games had reminded Odin of his ferocity and just how dangerous the wolf was.

“And that is exactly why We bound him.” he grumbled to himself. He confessed only to himself that he had been afraid of that wolf, he had something his other brothers didn’t and that made him doubly as dangerous: he blamed the gods for his mother’s death, not the sun and moon. And he wasn’t far off, Loki and his games had brought the end to the mother dog.

His musings were interrupted by a knock on the door. “Come in.” Selene cautiously poked her head through the door before fully entering in her battle armor. The old sleipnir had to admit she looked stunning in the cold iron about her body, her cuirass was perfectly toned and her greaves complimented her flank rather... well.

“Your Highness, the guards found Reinlief’s body unconscious in the courtyard below. This is the work of Fenrir sire and he could be anywhere.”

Odin extinguished the ball of fire and set the book down. Holding the hunk of steel in his telekinetic grasp, he rose from the bed and walked to where the valkyrie stood. He forced down the sudden bout of fear that struck him to the core of his being, determined to not look weak in front of one of his personal guard. “Fear not young Selene, We have defeated him before and this time he will not live to hunt us again.”

“Sire, last time we tricked him. He didn’t know we wished to defeat him.”

“That makes little difference.” he said dryly as he brought over his golden helmet and firmly placed it on his head, covering his empty, scarred eye socket. “Lets us be off.” He commanded as he led Selene from his room.

As he started off down the hallway to the war room, Selene stopped him with a protest. “Let me lead Sire, should Fenrir be hiding about the corner he would strike at the first one he sees.”

“You insult me Selene. I may have only one eye, but I can still fight!”

Her ears shrank at his tone and she backed away with a bow. Odin considered that he may have been too harsh, but he brushed the thought away. An apology would look weak, and that was what his subjects did not need. The walk was thankfully uneventful, only one or two passing servants ever caught sight of him, and they quickly hid their faces and scampered away.

Helia was already there alongside Freyja at the large round table, poring over what looked to be maps and plans. Against the wall, poor Twilight Sparkle was passed out from exhaustion on several cushions. Freyja noticed Odin enter from between her blonde locks and quickly stood at attention. Helia followed suit until the king waved them away.

“So what is this about Fenrir?”

“He tricked the guards into opening the gate and snuck in. Reinlief caught him, but it would seem his skills have advanced somewhat.” Helia began. “I have an old detection spell over the entirety of the castle, so we can see exactly where he is on this map.” She slid over a map of the citadel which show paw prints racing down hallways.

“As long as you are in here Mi’lord you should be safe. He is obviously tracking your scent, so we set up a barrier over the entrance and closed the door. Even if he is led here, he still won’t be able to find you.”

“So he is in the East Wing?”

“Yes, but it is only a matter of time until he comes here. I have a few plans-”

“We do not fret over his power, should We meet the wolf We will fight him and destroy him. Bother us not with these details, but instead show us what our plans for war are. Hugin has confirmed that Hel has betrayed us and sides with the wolves in the form of Nightmare Moon. Hugin is wiser and listened to their plans from afar; they have an army of Jotuns in the north ready for preliminary strikes. Hel said something about Niddhogs before Hugin was discovered, so it is safe to assume we will be fighting many dragons in this war.”

Celestia looked over the maps and Freyja remained silent, as she so often did. Finally after several minutes of silence, she quietly asked Odin if she could see Cadence. “Now is not the time for that, this takes precedence.”

“Go Freyja, I will take over here.” came a deep, silky voice. Baldr stepped from the shadows and waved the goddess away. She smiled gratefully and left the room.

“Ah, Baldr. It is about time you got here.”

The stallion shuffled his wings and brushed aside his auburn mane. “War between the Changelings and the Southlings. I am the war god after all, ‘tis mine duty.”

Odin couldn’t hold back a smile at the alicorn’s sense of honor. He wouldn’t hurt a fly unless it was honorable to his name.

“The Jotuns have sounded their wars drums and assemble together, this is true. The Niddhog clan are also marshaling a unit, some seventeen dragons, but this is not the only offense against us.” His hoof pointed to a lone mountain to the north. “The mountain giants are also assembling, a storm esper at their head. The esper is controlled directly by Hel, who is most certainly not in the form of Nightmare. She is in her divine form.” he said with a shudder.

Odin dropped his royal speech in distaste, “Our armies will be swept aside in fear if she fights like that. I can barely stand the sight of her, I only do so out of courtesy.”

“I do not believe she intends to join the battle Your Highness, she plans to bring Skoll back.”

“But I’m holding the sun out of his grasp as we speak.” Celestia interjected. “Unless you doubt my ability to control it. I held it out of his reach for a millennium and I shall not falter now.”

“Not at all, dear Tia. If war consumes us, then your attention will not be on the sun, but the battle at hand. That is not much, but it is enough for the wolf, and should the three brothers be arrayed against us... I fear there will be no hope, and the world will be destroyed.”

They all looked down at the map, searching for anything they could do to win, if they survived. The lives of million rested on their shoulders, and that responsibility weighed heavily on their hearts. The desire to live plagued them all, but they each knew from the bottom of their hearts that this could easily cost them their lives.

“A friend of mine once showed me something.” Twilight’s voice shattered the silence and tension, ripping them from their thoughts. “Back when we converted Discord to do good, Fluttershy once showed me that friendship really is magical. I showed Fenrir what friendship was, is it too much to believe that the same sort of thing could-”

“It is not that we doubt the validity of your proposal Princess, but Loki is a fickle being. He never had camaraderie at any time in his life, but Fenrir however, has that sense of family again in the form of Hati’s return.”

The young princess felt maimed at his rebuttal. How could he doubt so easily? True, she had doubted in the beginning, but the power of friendship had been demonstrated several times since she had met her friends. She failed to voice her objections, instead she only nodded her head sadly and left the gods to their endless planning.

She could feel their eyes on the back of her head as her hooves carried her out the door with a mind of their own. “She is so very young,” she head Odin’s voice say. “It is a pity this had been thrown on her shoulders, should this fail-” the dull thud of the bookcase resealing itself cut off his distant words, but Twilight didn’t want to hear what else he had to say. When she looked back, the familiar titles of magic theory books stared back at her. In some sense, she missed the feeling of the old paper and parchment in her hooves as she pored over the words within. She wished she could just go back to her studies under Celestia’s tutelage, ignorant of the doomed world.

Envy beset her, jealousy of the innocent lives of millions made her wish she could be one, not the princess that failed to keep the world in order after her predecessor vanished. Obscurity seemed such a sweet thing then.

“Stop it.” she commanded herself. A pouty mood wouldn’t fix things. Sulking wouldn’t save the world.

“We meet again little princess.”

The gravelly voice shocked her awake and she found the shadow of a wolf, hidden deep in the darkness. His warm emerald eyes were really the only discernible part of him in the dense shadows beside a vague outline. But judging from his figure, he was ready for a fight.

He hummed in his throat, a sound of amusement, and silently padded into the light of the torches lining the walls. He looked awful in comparison to their last encounter. His eye was black and swollen, a bar of dripping blood trickling from the burst hematoma. His snout was curled into a wolfy grin despite the obvious beating he had received.

“You don’t look so good.”

“You should see my opponent, she was a bit worse off.”

“Did you kill her?”

The massive wolf looked out the window and watched the stars in the sky. “No. My fight is with Odin for now, unless death benefits my hunt I have no intention of taking a life. He won’t come out because I killed some valkyrie, so I let her live.”

A very different perspective since their first encounter. Twilight’s horn was still sore from the fight, perhaps... perhaps this was the beginning of the transformation Discord went through. If he was less volatile and dangerous then before, perhaps he was softening somewhat.

“What do you plan to do now?”

He sighed then took a deep breath of air, smelling unknown scents before looking straight at the wall. “Your gods underestimate a wolf’s nose, I can still smell his divine magics on the bookcase. It will be a simple matter to reach him.”

“Could I convince you to allow him to live?”

“No!” he suddenly bellowed, knocking Twilight on her rump with the sheer power of his voice. Barely a second later he stood over her once again, mighty paw on her young wings. A gasp of surprise and pain broke from her lips, drawing a fierce glare from the massive wolf.

“Skoll and Hati believed that Loki creature, but I did not. For me, the situation was too coincidental. I hunted Loki for centuries after my brothers left and found Odin with him after almost a thousand years later. Terrified, he tricked me and bound me and buried me in the heart of the earth.” He growled and pressed his other paw against the alicorn’s throat, cutting off her breath.

“I have sworn vengeance, and I will have it little princess. I should kill you now, you seem to only wish to hold me back, but you did me a favor and I will let you live. Pray we do not meet again.” With another growl, he leaped off her body and vanished around the corner like a bolt of lightning.

“Buck.” She slowly shuffled back to her hooves and looked down the hall where the wolf had vanished. He was headed straight for the library, and with a heavy heart, she vanished with a bright flash of light.

Chapter 5 : Revenge's Bitter Taste

Chapter 5 : Revenge’s Bitter Taste

“Oh Scoots, you look so beautiful!”

The orange pagasus looked at herself in the mirror again. She couldn’t honestly deny the dress was pretty, but it wasn’t really her style. Miss Rarity’s dress fit her perfectly, and Sweetie Belle’s incessant babbling about the wedding had made the experience of getting sized and fitted less than entertaining. But all that planning and straining and having her lungs crushed by tight bodices was finally going to pay off.

Sweetie looked in the mirror at her friend and giggled, “He’s one lucky stallion.”

“Ah still don’t git why ya’ll gonna get hitched so quick.” Applebloom was lounging on the couch, magazine in her hooves. “Ya’ll only been together for like, a couple ‘o months and ya’ll are already uppin’ to get married?”

“It’s been a year Applebloom, and beside he’s like perfect for me. We like the same things and hardly ever get into fights.”

The earth-pony shrugged and continued staring at the same page she had been on for the past hour. “Ah been in like a hundred relationships and never got nuthin’, an’ yer tellin’ me you made it on the first try? Somethin’s not right here.”

Scootaloo just ignored her, she was prone to complaining about her many failed relationships and she and Sweetie were used to brushing off her whining. She looked back at herself in the mirror and could see the door opening in the reflection. The pony that came in was obviously drunk as Scootaloo would expect.

“Hiya girlssh, mind if I-” the mare tripped over her own hooves and fell flat on the floor. With a grunt she righted herself before staggering over to the nearby couch. Applebloom barely had time to get away before the mare flopped heavily on the couch with a drunken sigh.

“Go ahead and go girls, I’ll take care of her.” her two best friends nervously looked at each other and nodded. After they were gone Scootsaloo looked back into the mirror. “What do you want Mom?” she spat coldly. She had little patience for the bright orange mare, especially when she was drunk which was practically one-hundred percent of the time.

“Weeeeelll...” she drawled. “I jus’ wanted to see my girl before her big daaaaayyyyy...”

“You’re not welcome Mom, just go back home and drink yourself under the table. That’s all you’re good for anyway.” She didn’t have to see her mother’s face to know her words hurt her, she just didn’t care about her mother’s feelings anymore. Scootaloo had to raise herself ever since her dad left, no thanks to her mom.

“Look, I’m shhorry about teh drink. it jus’... helps... with your dad ya’know.”

“And so you just think you can come an ruin my wedding? Is that the only reason you’re here? To ruin my life?” She couldn’t hold back her temper or her anger anymore, she hated her mom and the stupid booze and no silly apology would fix more than a decade of neglect. Nothing can fix those wounds. A single tear leaked from Scootaloo’s eye, but she brushed it away, her mother didn’t deserve any of that.

“I jussshh don’ want mah girl to do what I did, jus’ marryin’ some good-lookin’ stallion-”

“I don’t give a buck about what you want!” Years of pent up anger just spilled over, spouting hate-filled words that had festered since her foal-hood. “You sat there drowning in the beer and wine, never giving me a thought! You are a pathetic excuse for a mom; you were supposed to get off of that damn couch and raise me! Spend time with me! But no, you drank yourself into Tartarus and that where you can go for all I care!” She lowered her tone, finally looking her mother’s tear stained face dead in the eye, pouring all of her malice into a glare that rivaled Fluttershy’s own.

“So you can just leave.” she growled. “Now.”

The old mare remained still for several long minutes, tears flowing like rivers from her grieved eyes. She’s so pitiful. I don’t care. She sniffled and rose from the couch, suddenly sober. The mare left without a word, and Scootaloo preferred it that way. One word and her own eyes would burst forth like a levy. She looked back at the mirror, suddenly not feeling very beautiful, just hideous and ugly. Like a monster.

“And do you, Flash Racer, take Scootaloo to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

Across from Scootaloo, he grinned and winked at her. “I do.”

The priest turned to the mare who could barely contain her mixed joy and grief. “And do you, Scootaloo, take Flash Racer to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

She tried to plaster on a smile, hoping for Flash’s sake that it was convincing. “I do.” The words felt so final, so complete, and she felt an eerie calm take over her. Her smile suddenly became natural and real.

“Then I pronounce you mare and colt. You may kiss-”

BOOM

The timbers of the church doors shook in their frames and cracks ran up the length of the oak. Another tremendous boom shook the door, followed by another, fracturing the door more and more with each hollow crash. Silence enveloped the small chapel for several quiet seconds as they waited, for what, they did not know.

Suddenly the doors exploded inward, shards of the door flying every which way, impaling ponies all over the church. Several ponies screamed in alarm and in terror as giant humanoids with icy-blue skin rushed through the shattered entrance, swinging giant swords made of ice. Behind the giants, a slow wave of frost and cold crept over the ground, passing over the dead and freezing all who touched it in place.

Hel stepped through, looking around at the carnage as the last ponies were slaughtered like sheep. The jotuns produced their grisly trophies, severed heads, speared infants, and whole hearts ripped out of the chests of their still living owners under them, screaming fierce cries of victory. Beside her, her Niddhogg poked its head in and caught a fleeing mare in its jaws. Her screams were cut short with a sickening crunch and spurt of blood as his teeth bit down on her frail body.

Hel looked about the desecrated room with satisfaction and her eyes fell on a duo of ponies lying dead on the altar, one male and one female holding each other in their final moments, a bloody shaft of wood speared through their touching chests.

“There.” Baldr pointed a hoof at a small drawing of a fire that appeared on the map. “The town of Ponyville has been attacked and destroyed. They are moving swifter than we first believed.”

“Hel wants this to be a quick war, and it well may be. We will remain here, where the defenses are impenetrable. Those niddhoggs would butcher us in the open field.” Odin said casually. He propped his foremost hooves on the table and traced a circle about the mountain. “They can only attack the gates and we have several jarls prepared to fend off the niddhoggs until the jotuns are eliminated.”

Baldr calmly nodded and looked over the map again. Little drawings of fire were scattered over the enchanted parchment, beholding the goings on of the entire nation of Equestria. A flash of light and a loud pop behind the gods signaled the arrival of another pony.

“Odin! Fenrir is coming here!”

“Impossible. He does not know of this room.”

“I ran into him in the halls, he can smell you. He knows and he can easily break through the wall, I’ve seen what he can do.”

Odin turned and looked at her as one might a filly, “As have I, and I tricked him and buried him centuries ago. Magic is stronger than any brute strength.”

“But not smarter than any mind.” the wolf’s deep voice cut in. The entire room exploded into chaos, most scrambling to defend Odin while Baldr searched the shadows for him. All the while the sleipnir stood with an arrogant grin on his face, either fearless and foolish. He underestimated him because he had not incurred his wrath, but this time would be very different. The ebony wolf looked on from the darkness as the ponies very nearly had a panic attack from fear. They did not know where he was, nor would they until he was ready.

“Show yourself you coward of a dog!” Baldr bellowed from the entire other side of the room. The wolf scoffed at his stupidity, at all of their stupidity. They rushed to stand in front of Odin, covering everything except the table, the direction from which the wolf watched. A simple leap and two or three strides would close the distance in less than a second, and Fenrir bathed himself in his own hubris.

“So you come for me at last, little pup.” Odin taunted. How did Tyr’s hoof keep you company?” Fenrir rose to his feet and crouched, ready to race ahead and make his kill.

“Well enough, old fool.” He raced around the edge of the room as the ponies, gods and mortals alike, rushed to defend their rear in a loud clamor of armor and yelling. His footsteps were unheard through the din as he circled around his prey. Once Odin’s back was turned, he quickly changed direction and shot across the room like a bolt of lightning.

His paws struck home, vaulting the sleipnir over the heads of his guards. Without missing a beat, Fenrir dashed between a valkyrie’s legs and pounced on Odin, clamping his jaws around the back of his head and tugging his flailing body away from the stunned crowd. As the wolf expected, they all rushed forward to attack, but a fierce growl and increased pressure on the sleipnir’s head stopped them all.

“W-wait! Don’t kill me. Your mother died of-of old age! I-I didn’t kill her! Don’t-”

Fenrir released he head to speak, and pressed a paw firmly on the inside of his throat, cutting off his breath and silencing him. “I will kill you, not because of Mother. I always knew Loki was lying about the sun and moon. You tricked me and buried me like a corpse, and now I will bury you, but as a true corpse.”

He replaced his jaws and pressed harder onto his throat, forcing a choked gagging from the pathetic creature beneath him.

“Fenrir, wait!” The wolf glanced up, not releasing Odin who began to flail madly in a strangled panic. “Remember? A life for a life? I gave you your wish, to have friends again. Isn’t that enough? Why do you have to kill? What about your friends? If you kill him then your friends will die!”

“I have Hati, and when I kill YOU,” he growled, pressing his face into Odin’s terrified eyes. “Skoll will return,” he looked back at Twilight. So young, so kind. “And I will never be alone again. The world will die under our wrath, our vengeance will consume the earth. Hel promised us.”

“Do you really believe that Hel will follow through? Why would she help you? Once you win she will hunt you three down.”

He chuckled, filled with arrogant joy as the sleipnir’s face began to turn blue. “Then we will kill her, no one can hope to defeat us when we are together.” Before she could change his mind, he bit down violently on Odin’s neck and snapped it with an effortless jerk. His flopping instantly stilled as his life ebbed away into whatever afterlife awaited the gods.

He looked up, staring into the shocked eyes of all the ponies, valkyries he remembered so dearly, gods and alicorn’s he so begrudgingly recalled. He remembered every one of their faces when he was bound. He remembered the relieved smiles as they congratulated themselves as he failed to break those accursed ribbons.

He held aloft a paw and watched the filthy silks dangle from his foot, almost taunting him. He put the paws back on the ground and looked into each and every one of their eyes. Grief and fear flooded through them, and they remained paralyzed except for one earth-pony who pushed through the crowd and knelt before his father’s corpse. Fenrir looked at Vidar apprehensively as his broze eyes slowly drew themselves to glare at the wolf.

A fierce yell burst from the pony as he whipped out a white sword. Fenrir felt nothing as his lightning-fast reflexes pulled him out of the way before the ivory blade struck home. The blade whistled through the air, barely missing the tip of the wolf’s nose. The pony swung the sword like a madman, flailing the deadly edge like lightning, filled to the brim with adrenaline. Only a few seconds passed before the ump-tenth swing narrowly missed the black wolf by a hair’s breadth.

“Die!” he suddenly screamed, startling the wolf for the barest moment, but it was enough. The tip slid through his flesh with hardly any effort at all. Fenrir didn’t really feel any pain as the blade pierced his heart, it only felt like something was tugging on his innards. He sank to his knees as he watched his life-blood jet forth from the wound like a geyser as the blade was violently torn from his body. The world grew dark, light fading from the world as he collapsed, and he felt his spirit abandon his body and sink into the gaping abyss.

Author's Note

Shot chapter is short. Oh well. These are my first author's notes on this fic, I just had all of this written and put it all on at once. I really wanted to convey Fenrir's hatred and rage, but also his loneliness and grief. I really hope that I did that well enough, I got into a writing slump quite often during this one.

Prologue : Prophecy

Prologue: Prophecy

A village there was between the forest and the mountain. It was a peaceful village, yet with one abiding fear: a great wolf that had come to live in the forest. None knew when or whence this violent beast had come, yet his howls crept over cobblestone and rang in the rafters, setting the ponies to trembling. Yet the wolf howled not to threaten, but for loneliness. Indeed, he sought the friendship of the villagers, not their flesh.

An alicorn from the mountain came, and saw the wolf, and understood its cry. So she sought to help the beast. "Wolf, do you know why you are feared? It is because your aspect is frightful to us." The wolf asked what he might do to amend this, upon which the mare replied, "Wolf, I shall cast a magic upon you so that you might have the form of a pony." And by the time the winged unicorn finished speaking, the wolf had indeed been transformed. The wolf thanked her, but the mare gave him a warning, saying, "You are a pony only in appearance. Know this: you must never speak, for you are a wolf, and that is the way things should be."

The wolf that walked as a pony left the forest and went into the town. His new face glowed with joy, for now he would have friends. The ponies on the street viewed this stranger with suspicion at first, yet his smile won him their trust and welcome. The wolf was moved by the smiles they returned him, for he had never seen ponies showing anything but fear. Yet he did not speak, for that is the way things should be. So was this a joyous time for the wolf. But soon it grew dark. The wolf returned to the forest, a wolf, no longer a stallion. That night he did not howl, but drifted off to sleep thanking the mare who had given him such a wonderful day. And the alicorn saw the wolf, and was glad.

Listen! A village there was between the forest and the mountain. A peaceful village, for fear was dead, slain by the kind princess whose love and kindness crept over cobblestone and rang in the rafters, easing the villagers' fitful sleep. And the alicorn did not doubt, nor did she cease her song ...until the day the mighty wolves in the sky devoured the sun and moon, and fire rained from the heavens in Ragnarok. For that is the way things shall be.