The Pack

by Shion Sonozaki

Rating: teen
Tags: Main 6, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Original Character, Tragedy, Adventure
Length: 4363

A story of a long war, told by a prophesized noble and brave warrior who was in it: Twilight Sparkle.

During a war in the future, King Shiro dreams of a prophecy; one that will save them from his corrupted friend, Goldenfang, now turned Metalfang. He sends his Captain of Warriors in his diminishing group of soldiers to train the girl who was told by a deceased clan elder that she would save the Clan of Fire, and all of Equestria. And that same girl, is Twilight. Now she is trained by the Captain to fight, and with her new skills, and the help of friends both new and old, she may just be the one to save them all.

Published 2013-03-27 02:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-03-31 11:09:53 UTC

Prologue: Fire and Ice

Decisions.

We make them all the time, while we’re asleep in a dream, while we’re awake in the world of the mortals. It is one of those things that make us mammals.

There is the decision of whether you should get up early, or sleep in late. Whether to have butter on your toast, or even have toast at all. But there are some things that do not rely on decisions. I had learned that earlier, during the time of the Cold War.

I know that from experience, and being one of those who came from the Capital City, at least from our place, that my long stories tend to be lackluster. But let me tell you, if you stick around, and I strongly insist that you do, this WON’T be one of those mare's tales you hear before bed, little foals, little foals.

For this is my story, my life and my day, about how I was chosen to be a soldier in the MetalFang War without my knowledge or consent, trained by a filly from the future, and fought in the great battle, alongside my comrades.

There are many things in battle, and not just blood. It’s not all just sorrow and regret, pain and hurt, things we wish we never did, things we wish we had done before we died. No, I experienced something different. With my friends, at least for some time, there was more to the war than the regular hardships of battle. Partnership, Lust, Trial, Bravery, Dependence.

The Alpha and Omega. Beginning and End. And here, my friends, we enter the story of courage, hope, gallantry, sorrow, loss, love, life... and what it means to be a true hero.

THE PACK

The grass crunched beneath his massive white hooves; or, at least they ONCE WERE white. Now they were caked with dried blood, the cursed blood of the rival clan, Shadow Clan, lead by his old friend-turned-enemy, GoldenFang.
It was not always like this, King Shiro had seen a better place before. Earlier, the towns had been bustling with life, but now each resident was evacuated because of the start of the MetalFang War, as it was executed to be called.

It had began just last year. With a few light attacks on buildings, the weak assault from an unknown enemy.

Glowing flames of hate blazed up into the air, billowing black clouds of smoke rose more than often, and the workers at the fire department were working overtime, on alert 24/7. Many lives were lost in the fire war.

Soon, all too soon, the damage had escalated by great quantities. Large, important landmarks, like the Grand WatchTower in one of their country's largest cities, were destroyed. The Grand WatchTower was there so tourists could see the city from the sky, if they didn’t have help.

They were all blown away at the horrible news, and Shiro’s own three foals worried (At least Soren and Bellatrix were concerned, Suki-Sama, the queen, was quite shocked as well) when The Tops heard that the Grand WatchTower had been bombed by outsider terrorists.

After that, there were many riots, most of them The Tops and their underlings could barely control. Towns were being eaten alive by the number of deaths, buildings engulfed in fire.

Shiro-Sama, being the king, was put in charge of this. He didn’t know what to do. His family, wife Suki, and children Bellatrix, Soren and Kenshin were each trapped in the nightmare revolving around their lives, barbaric as it was. He kept guards around them at all times, praying to past leader SoulCelestia that the monster wouldn’t strike his family.

Months later, word had finally reached Shiro. The word about who the Leader of the Force was.

At first, Shiro was horrified to find out that the enemy, the killer and the terrorist against his country was his old friend and loyal subject, GoldenFang.

GoldenFang had created his own rebellion team and were fighting against Shiro in the blood-hatred of tyranny that had consumed his once good mind. Golden wanted war.

Shiro turned him away, not declaring the all-out battle that GoldenFang desired. He didn’t know why he demanded another civil war, and wouldn’t start without explanation. Golden refused to speak.

After that, GoldenFang increased his numbers and called his gargantuan army “Shadow Clan”. He even renamed himself MetalFang.

Soon, Shiro had no choice but to round up his men and fight against Shadow Clan.

All in all, Shiro brought 58 warriors with him.

But the SoulSpirits had betrayed him, so it seemed. He had underestimated MetalFang’s numbers, and nearly every Equestrian soldier was killed in the short-lived rage.

And so, sensing that battle had begun, Shiro gathered up fighters from all around the country, and called his own clan, “Fire Clan.” The Pack to over take MetalFang and give light to the darkness and shadows that MetalFang had created, the Black Light upon the land. Fire's warmth vs cold desire.

But the Fire Clan wasn’t enough, and they were losing the war quickly. The symmetry in the Land that was once harmonious was dying.

Sleep was found rarely, but when he did reach rest and take it in his armored hooves, he dreamed of this mare, a nice young lady in the Fire Clan battle armor, fighting against Shadow Clan, and with her help, Fire Clan won.

And in the latest dream, the cause to secretly meet with his Captain Of Warriors, the SoulSpirit leader Celestia had come and told him that he should go back into the past and find this young mare, and he would, and train it to be a fighter. Fire Clan would surely win this hardship.

That was the reason why he was plodding though the thick, heavy fog, the scent of old blood wafting like a sinister aura.

He ventured on his way into the wood, without an expression, ignoring the blood. The stallion's gigantic tail was flat and dangling behind him, dripping sparkling drops water from the mist that caved around him, that made it hard for him to see.

As he plodded down the track, he heard a coyote howl and he shivered. Beads of water fell off of his coat, and a deep rumble issued from his armor plated chest as he stopped, searching for the threat.

When the coyote stench he smelled left, he continued on to where he was going to meet another pony, like him. The Captain Of Warriors.

Soon, the stallion saw a familiar flash of dark blue and black color as he drew closer to a small outcrop in the dense brush.

He let out a low call, and he heard grass rustling ahead of him.

As soon as he came into the clearing, he spotted a pair of martyred cat's eyes, staring back at him expectantly. He howled a low, mournful sputter, and the other chortled back.

It walked out of the blanket of mist, as did he. After bowing respectfully to each other, the mare began to speak.

"Shadow Clan." The female said. "We have suffered yet again another raid from them and lost ten more of our warriors in battle, food has been taken, along with brave Koda’s lifepower."

The female spoke to the great leader. with heavy duty and importance of word in her voice. This was one of the many reasons why she was chosen for the Captain’s seat.

The alicorn scowled and flushed a shade of inflamed scarlet in anger at this news from his Captain Of Warriors.

"And the current ratio of our clan?" He asked simply, not trying to put any more stress on the Captain. The war with Shadow Clan had already done enough to her and everypony else.

"We are still outnumbered. If we can find a way to get a sneak attack without setting off the guards, or may be set a tra-"

"Wait!" Came the voice of Shiro-Sama. The mare shut up instantly, obeying her leader’s orders.

"Have you ever thought of the Terminator idea?" He said, beaming and hopeful.

"Sir? I haven't the idea you are talking about." The mare said apologetically. The stallion sighed and leaned in further.

"Going back in time to prevent things from happening in the future," he said.

The mare was speechless. "And what you are getting at is?" The mare asked formally.

Shiro was getting irritated at this. How dense had she gotten?

“I mean is that the entities, the SoulSpirits have been coming into my dreams and giving me a certain pony’s image. It has been the same mare every time, and I think that they might have something."

The Captain backed up a pace or two. “Does this girl have any relation to our war, sir?" She asked.

"It is so. The SoulSpirit leader himself came to me personally and said the she was the one that will save our clan. He said that somepony needs to go back and train her to become a warrior, and when the time comes, she will be the greatest warrior of them all, and our Shadow Clan problems will be over our shoulders."

The mare was taken aback at his comment. For a moment her mouth just moved, jaw working, but nothing came out, but croaking and rasps of air. She finally puffed, "Do you think that she is the one, sir?"

The stallion stared back at her, positive, yet orderly. "If the Leader says so, than it must be. We will send a warrior at once to train this mare, and when the time comes, she will save us all."

The other pulled that gap of silence before saying, "But who shall go back?" The stallion stared back with a small smile hinting at his forever frowning lips.

"You will. I shall see you in a while, when you are done with your mentoring. Now, we have to find that spell to teleport you."

Shiro-Sama’s Captain Of Warriors let out an obedient “Hai!”, saluted, got a stern expression to her face and followed her Leader back to the Fire Clan Camp.

Author's Note

Yup, Shion Sonozaki's first story on here! What a feat! Tell me what you think, readers! Any sour hate, you know what happens. :ShionSmile:

Twilight, Go Forth! A Hidden Star, Or Enemy?

Twilight, Go Forth! A Hidden Star, Or Enemy?

The Pack: Twilight, go Forth! A Hidden Star, Or Enemy?

There were a few grumbles that broke the epic silence that seemed to hang around in the large indoor balcony that served as her bedroom.

Drowsy thoughts swept through her mind as she slowly opened her eyes and took a deep breath, the morning air refreshing to the girl.

Ch2
Looking up, she checked her clock on the table and pulled her arms out above her. She yawned, and caused her friend (and housemate) to awaken from the end of her bed. In a basket on the floor, of course.

She jerkily got up out of her own bed, but failed at the simple task; those darn sheets, and fell flat on the floor, where the warm morning sunlight poured over her like a shining, silky blanket.

Her friend, whose name was Spike, got up and walked over to her. His name was tough, and maybe a bit foreboding. Too bad he didn’t have the strength to back it up.

He was but a young child, more known as a baby at that. It may seem like an insult, though it doesn’t seem to bother him as much as you would think. Amazing, ne?

Spike got up out of his bed, yawned and glanced over at his friend, before breaking out in a wide grin.

He strolled over to her, smiling that big toothy grin of his that she had come to know over the years.

And so she wearily smiled back.

"Mornin' Twilight." He said is a singsongy voice to her, rocking on the balls of his feet. "I guess that when people ask about your morning, you could say that you tumbled out of bed. Literally."

He laughed shortly, and she gave a few light chuckles. His humor was so terrible it was almost embarrassing. Twilight’s forced laughter seemed to get by to him as real, and for that she was lucky. He normally caught things like that. Most of the time.

She got up and propped herself up on her front legs. Did I mention that both Twilight and Spike were animals?

"So, do we have anything to do today, Spike?" She asked, to break the ice from the earlier rough joke. "Nothing." He said to her cheerfully. "Now we can spend a day looking at internet videos on YouTube all day!"

His happy voice filled the room, only to be followed up by an awkward, light silence.

Twilight stared, her expression anything but amused. "I am not going to spend my whole day on a computer, looking at videos that half the time don't even make sense." She replied.

‘They’re loud and annoying, too. Who finds entertainment with a lot of nonsense yelling?’ Twilight thought.

Spike looked at the floor gloomily, but then stared longingly back at the laptop computer in the corner.

Twilight got up and set the covers back onto her bed, using her levitation spell.

It always did come in handy. Good thing she had learned that one a long time ago. She could not imagine a place where there was no spell usage.

But first things first, she had to get the breakfast on the table and the morning newspaper inside. She walked over to her stairs and carefully stepped down before walking over to a kitchen.

"Do you want waffles?" She asked. "Sure!" Her roommate replied.

The two were getting set up for the morning, when Twilight remembered something that happened to cross her mind.

"Oh, I remember now.” She began, a soft glow in her eyes beginning to emerge. “We were going to Fluttershy's to see that walking path in the woods she was talking about.”

Her thoughts shifted to another matter quite rapidly, as they always did. She never stayed on one topic for very long.

“And we need to get the paper." She added before looking back to her work area.

"Oh, forgot about that. Both things." Spike said, deflated. Twilight rolled her eyes from at the counter. "Can you get it for me?" She asked him politely. "Yeah, sure." He grumbled, yet getting up and walking over to the door.

‘Kids.’ Twilight thought as she levitated a couple of waffles out onto a pan and took out the butter, and a book. You could always find her either working, (she was a serious workaholic) catching up with her friends around the town, or reading.

Right now, she was on her fifth book of the week, Second Thyme Around. So far, it was getting good. Very good. The things that happen between two opposites. Of course, divorced opposites, but romance none the less.

She had often looked up from the book and wondered how these two; the down-to-earth Perdita, the owner of a small, run down greenhouse and store, purely a plant lover (was seen talking to her car in one scene though); and the rich, buisnessman and gormet food chef Lucas, could actually stand each others company. Most of all, these two were divorced.

She was snapped from her dream world when she heard the door shut as Spike walked in. "For you", he said, tossing the paper carelessly onto the counter.

After making sure that the waffles were all right on their own, she turned around to grab the paper from the table and begin to knowledge herself with the goings-on of her country.

She looked at it and read its headlines. After that, she never took her eyes off of the paper as she set the table and ate, which was pretty good skill, for someone average.

"What's so interesting in the Daily today?" He asked. She looked up at him in joy.

"A new filly will be going to get a shot at the exam. Today." She said with pride filling her voice.

Spike stared up at her questioningly, a bit annoyed by this comment and somehow insulted. "Why are you so beaming? It happens every once and a while. And besides, it's not your kid, now is it?" He growled back before returning to picking at his food.

She just shrugged and looked back at the paper.

Of course, Spike would not understand something like this happening. He was just a kid, after all.

Then, and of course, a thought came to her. One always did. It was in nearly all living beings nature to think about things.

And so the idea came out just like that.

"Spike, we have to be there." She said.

"What?" He asked, dropping his fork. He was amazed at the many things that his housemate came up with, but watching another kid do some exam was not going to fly by him.

“What about that walk?" He protested, doing what he thought would slow down his friend. Somehow, he had a bad feeling in his gut.

"I can move it to the following Tuesday." Ah, yes. The solution. Great.

She lifted up the paper to him and shoved it in his face.

“You see that little print? That's the time. We'll go there about five minutes after. You know that it takes about that time to get it set up for them, don't you?"

He did not answer that question, knowing that most of her questions did not need an answer, she went on without them anyway.

Their morning went as usual and Spike read another article about misc. stuff and whatnot. Maybe this day may not be as bad as he thought it would be. There was a pony selling an item that he thought needed buying.

Author's Note

The second Chapter! This one may be a little boring, but it'll get better soon! The next we are getting to a bit more of a suspenseful part, and then ACTION ALL THE WAY!

The Child's Curse

*A mutt dog of no real breed.

The morning; so full of movement. So full of awakening life, those who were restarting their next day with being out in the town square, the bright sun warming the sleepy townsfolk, the heated bright rays hitting their soft pelts, making their fur glisten in the daylight.

The inhabitants of this sleepy town were out, either to a coffee shop; buying their breakfast and chatting with friends before heading off to work, going to the latter occupation itself, lounging and enjoying the beginning of the day peacefully on a park bench.

Others were talking to friends that they just so happened to meet up with on this day, maybe others were at their sellers carts, trading money for whatever good they happened to be selling.

The town was alive and well, as so this could be seen through the eyes of a young filly, she who was beaming like the light rays, her violet eyes filled with wonder, youth and excitement.

She felt every step she took she was getting more and more mature, each pace with importance and hope. A fuzzy, age-old warmth filled her heart and soul as she headed to the place she was expected to be at.

This day, as so she had called it, was the most important day of her life. She was going to be taking the final exam for sorcery, looking to be the Leader’s Apprentice, or at least a well-known being in this small town. To get out and see the world and to have everybody know her face.

Her name was Virginia, her mother had said that she had always loved that name, how it made her tongue feel like silk whenever she had spoken it. How it made her feel happy and complete. Just as her daughter had done.

And now, young Virginia was going to make her mother even more proud of her by passing this exam. Or, at least she hoped so.

‘Mother would be so disappointed. I have to ace this! It... it-’ her thoughts were cut off by the sight of the building in front of her and she began to get nervous.

For a moment, her whole life’s thoughts drifted back to her. Before she began studying magic, she had wanted to be a mechanic. She was really good at machinery and other things, but it was the fact that she was a magical creature, and, for the sake of her mother’s warm smile, her destiny just spoke it out loud. She was going to become great, just like her great-grandmother once was.

Once she pushed open the door, and her foreleg hooves fell to the floor, a woman spotted her, gave her a warm smile and called over and escort to guide her to where she shall be testing.

When they got to the room, it seemed to be empty. All other life that was there were her parents, (she smiled and waved, as did they), the guard and his reinforcements, and a few pony drones sitting on a large wooden bench that was merged with the floor.

They always like the old fashioned way, opposite of her, and this was why she had imagined that stand to me made of metal.

She formally was ushered to the front by the guard and she took her place calmly and collectedly. A man came over to her pushing a cart, and she glanced over at him for a moment.

In the cart, or, more properly, resting on top of it, was a cage. Inside of the cage, sat a young cur*. She was supposed to make it mature, or “Age-up” faster into an adult dog.

The instructions were read out to her and she listened carefully, trying to get her confidence into her power.

The one rule of her kind and magic: Power and life-force rested on the same line. Bravery was vital in the life of one of her own. Confidence was power, and power was her life. And Virginia held all of these things in great amounts.

パック

"Uh, hey Twilight? Do you know what time it is?" Spike asked his companion in a pressing voice, silently hoping that she’d respond with the hiking trail idea.

"As a matter of fact I didn't. (Whew!) What time is it Spike?" (Drat!) He kept his claws crossed, but his spirit got the best of him, and he replied sourly.

“Time for...uh,... IT.”

A deep sigh of annoyance at how the words tasted bad on his tongue and sounded bad in his mind.

But his companion was the sheer opposite. “Oh, yeah! Thanks for reminding me, Spike!” Twilight beamed with gratitude as she gazed up at the clock tower.

“We have about ten minutes, so we don’t need to rush.” She told him, and began taking her time walking to the town hall.
Spike leisurely followed her, now deeply regretting telling her that. Of course, he did feel bad about blowing off Fluttershy.... right? Eh....naw.

What he did feel bad about was how he was acting. After the whole owl thing, you’d think that he would be used to this. Seems that was just a facade. The barrier had broken, and now this day had just turned more gloomy for him.

But the light began to shine like the bulb above his head. “You know, I said I would meet up with someone at the coffee shop this morning. you think I can go about now?” He asked her, putting on his best poker face.

He was going to save this excuse for really bad times, and now was one of them. Here goes nothing.

“Oh. Sure you can! Can you get me a jelly doughnut while you’re at it? Here’s my money.” Twilight replied. He accepted the bag of coins and walked off toward the shop, once out of sight he was smiling brightly, glowing with pleasure that his plan had worked.

There really was no person he had to meet. It was just a fake. But the promise of food, was not.

パック

The judges sat at the stairwell that was in the room. Virginia stood at her place in the front. The cur sat in the cage, looking up at her before chewing on the bars.

She studied the animal before looking back expectantly to her instructor. He gave a nod and she returned it with a small smile and a polite nod. Then, she began her work.

‘Now, remember the rule. I need spells. That’s what my kind is about. Spells and power. Confidence is power and power is life-force. I need confidence to gain power.’

She took a deep breath and began to gather all of the spells she could from wherever she could. She never fully understood where they get the power from. Their Life-Force? It rested on the same line, so she would just put that into it.

For a moment, she dared to let a few spells loose. A spark of a light appeared, and it died out like water over embers in a fire pit.

She stared at it, confused, her confidence fading. She shook her head and refocused on her work.

‘No. I must not lose bravery. Bravery is my power!’

She let out a few more spells, this time getting more of a reaction, but then nothing again. ‘What happened?! I am never this bad! Is someone cursing me?’ She thought morbidly.

A glance at her beaming parents sent her to start again.

She tried over and over, and every time she did, the spark grew bigger and bigger. Soon enough, while gritting her teeth, she got a large light to focus on the cur, which barked and snapped at the light.

Author's Note

Third chapter, already there. It gets better, though. The next will have a bit more, but action and suspense, setting up the plot for the rest of the story. The Kanji in between segments means "The Pack."