This is part one of a story that I am writing for your enjoyment, and mine. I draw inspiration from many of the stories on this website, and hopefully mine will be of a similar caliber as those.

I own nothing here except original characters and settings; everything else belongs to Lauren Faust and Hasbro.

This story contains Adult language, themes, and very graphic violence.

Enjoy the story.


My name is Haste. I have always carried that name, ever since my father entitled it to me seventeen years ago, when I was born. My father gave me that name hoping that I would be superior to those around me, and I have not disappointed him yet.

I am a wolf. I live in a very dense forest with the rest of my pack, which is led by an impossibly large wolf named Tarnished Claw. My father, a very prestigious member of my pack, brought me up himself, but when I turned fifteen, Tarnished Claw himself took responsibility of my upbringing, and for that I am grateful. He has made me the wolf that I am today; faster, nimbler, and swifter than all other wolves in my pack. I am respected for my ferocity in battle, and my relentlessness. I have a bright red coat, with ruddish brown patches on my flank.

I am the envy of all the other young wolves. Tarnished Claw and many of the other wolves respected me, and treated me as their equal. Many would try to pick on me, but I would always send them packing. Whenever we went hunting, I was always chosen as the second most important, under Tarnished Claw. I never disappointed him, and his respect for me only increased.

I lived in a large hut, built from logs and branches. It was one of many that made up our village. As I said earlier, we lived deep in a very dense forest, which had very thick undergrowth below a near-opaque canopy. We hunted, copulated, and thrived.

However, we wolves had only one flaw. With heightened consciousness, comes weakness. Many wolves succumbed to compassion, and became unable to hunt and kill other living things. These wolves became druids, and lived far away. They were scorned, and their names were seldom spoken. For some of the more intelligent species, we had a ritual that we followed to make sure their last days were pleasant. However, many of the crueler wolves were often chosen for these tasks, and they abused the animals for their own pleasure. It was sad, really.

I was thinking about this as I sat in my house, a bowl filled with various fruits lying beside me. I took one in my claw, and wolfed it down, recoiling at the taste. I, unlike many other wolves here, tried to avoid eating meat when possible. The other wolves spread rumors that I was becoming on the 'weaklings' that lived in the forest, but I simply did it so that the pack had to kill less animals to sustain itself. I hated the taste, but as time progressed, my diet changed almost completely to plants. I of course could not completely forgo eating meat, because then I would lack necessary proteins in my diet. But the change of food did help me, surprisingly. I became leaner, and my endurance increased greatly. I loved being superior to the other wolves.

To me, the respect of others was a very powerful driving force. I valued the respect of Tarnished Claw so much, that even though I disliked it, I still helped hunt. I did not enjoy ending the lives of innocent creatures, but such was the cycle of life. If we did not feed, we would die.

My thoughts were dashed by Tarnished Claw entering my home. He was large, almost impossibly large, and had a dull gray coat. His fangs were large, and two protruded nearly a foot from the top of his jaw. A long line of black ran the length of his spine, and marked the top of his tail.

There are three different species of wolves that I should describe. There are earth wolves, who have fangs and claws, and are the most plentiful. Unfortunately for them, however, the way that our society works puts them at the bottom of the social pyramid. They are looked down upon by the two forms of 'superior' wolves; fenrir and wulfir. wulfir are similar to earth wolves, but have blades protruding from their foreheads, much like unicorns have horns. wulfir with greater blades are usually considered similar to royalty. fenrir are also similar to earth wolves, but have long, retractable claws in their forearms. Tarnished Claw, my father and I are all fenrir. My claws are short, a fact that shames me, but is not looked down by our society as much as a wulfir having a poor blade.

Tarnished Claw spoke, his deep voice echoing in my hut. "Haste! How are you?" I stood up straight, and responded.

"I'm good, Tarnished Claw. What brings you to my abode?"

"I am glad that you are feeling well. The reason for my presence here is because I wanted to inform you about tonight's hunt, and to ask you to if you would like to accompany your father in leading the hunt,"

A smile broke out across my muzzle. Not only was my father leading a hunt, which happened rarely, and was a real honor, but I was accompanying him. This was a great opportunity to impress my father, and earn his respect.

"Yes, Tarnished Claw, I would very much like to accompany my father for the hunt. Thank you so much for offering me this opportunity!"

Tarnished Claw just nodded, turned around, and left my hut.

A couple hours later, I was outside my hut preparing for the hunt. My eight-inch long claws were fully extended, and I was scraping them across a thin, dark stone that jutted out of the ground to sharpen them. Satisfied, I retracted my claws and turned around, only to see a pinkish-white she-wolf standing in front of me. She was short, almost a head shorter than me. Long, white hair ran down her neck.

"Hi Haste!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Hello, Passion," I acknowledged her. Passion was one of my few friends here, everywolf else avoided me instead of trying to get to know me. Passion and a few choice others were the only wolves that I could actually spend time with, and I was grateful for that.

"Hey, I heard that your dad was leading the hunt, and I wanted to say congratulations!" Passion beamed, a large smile plastered across her face.

I smirked, my teeth revealing themselves. "You should be saying congratulations to him, not me. I almost always am chosen for these hunts," I bragged, and tilted my head a little. Passion giggled, and batted me on the nose with her paw.

"Hee hee, you braggart. But you know that's why I love you," She grinned, and leaned forward, rubbing her muzzle against mine.

Passion always spoke like that, her bubbly personality almost always surrounding her, like an aura. I enjoyed having her around, because while the respect of my peers is great, having a friend like Passion is better. I could always confide in her, and she always had the ability to comfort me when I was feeling down. While some wolves would consider her gesture to be romantic, I knew that it was just part of her personality. It was difficult to imagine Passion in a relationship, the bubbly wolf just wanted to be friends with everywolf.

"Well, come on then, the hunt is going to begin soon!" Passion said.

"Alright, I'll be there. Just give me a moment," I said to her as she bounced off, leaving me alone in my yard. I closed my home's door and locked it, hiding the simple wooden key in a tuft of grass next to the flat, black stone that I was just using to sharpen my claws.

After a quick run through the village, I arrived at the outskirts of town, where a congregation of wolves had formed. Burning torches illuminated the area, casting dark shadows from the mass of wolves. I pushed my way to the front of the crowd, and saw Tarnished Claw standing high, with my father standing next to him.

"Wolves of Proudcrag!" Tarnished Claw bellowed. "Tonight, we have an esteemed member of our pack leading the hunt. Follow my friend Raclaw here, and I promise you that we will feast well tonight!" There were enthusiastic howls, and some less-than-heartfelt ones.

My father, Raclaw, singled me out of the crowd, and beamed at me. I saw him, and new just how proud he was of me, and that I wouldn't let him down. 'Don't you worry, dad. I won't disappoint you.'

Tarnished Claw stepped to the side, and my father took his place.

"I will lead, and the rest of you will follow. If I spot prey, I will howl, and we will begin the chase. Does everywolf understand?"

Howls of agreement echoed off of the forest canopy. With that, my father turned tail, and ran into the forest, carving underbrush away with his extended claws. The rest of the pack tore after him, enthusiastically baying. I felt wolves' shoulders brushing against mine as we bounded through the forest. Branches were snapped off of trees as the mass of wolves wove through the forest, an unrelenting force intent on killing tonight.

I ran alongside a creek, two other wolves following behind me. One I could tell was a wulfir because he had a long, thin rapier-like blade protruding from his forehead. I lead the two as we turned, and ran along the edge of a small canyon, which dropped down several metres. I could see the rest of the pack to my left, and I noted that I was to the far right of the group. I ran left, down a hill. My paws gripped the dirt below me, and I pushed myself harder forward. The slope began getting steeper, so I jumped onto a thick tree branch, and ran along the length of it.

It was almost pitch dark, because the canopy did not allow moonlight through. We wolves were very used to the dark, however, so we could see everything well, like it was illuminated by a blue light.

As I ran along the length of the branch, I heard wingbeats above me, and looking up I saw a white shape weaving through the forest. Prey.

I heard howling, which signified that the rest of the pack had also caught notice of the flying beast.

I leaped up, and landed on another, thinner, branch above me. It bent under my weight, but I paid it no heed as I jumped off of it and onto another. Around me, other wolves were also climbing, though much more haphazardly than me. I could see the ground below me becoming more distant as I leaped from branch to branch, getting closer to the flying beast.

I could see now that it was a pegasus. It had a white coat, with a matching mane and tail. It flapped its wings furiously, trying to get away from the mass of wolves climbing the trees to get at it.

I was now at the same height as it. I knew that it could not just fly up and away, because of the thick canopy composed of tall, ancient trees. I raced after it, running along paths made from branches lying over one another. Below me, the baying of wolves reached me, driving me forward. I had no idea if my father was watching, but I hoped that he was, so that he could see me catch this pegasus.

I saw the path of branches ending, so I pushed myself harder, and when the branch ended, I kicked down hard with my hind legs, propelling me forward.

Time seemed to slow down. The air below me suddenly cleared up, and I saw just how high I was. My heart seized up, and I reached out my front two legs as far as I could. I began to drop. My eyes remained pried open as my paws touched tree bark, and I wrapped my legs around the thick tree. I began to slide down, so I fully extended my claws and stabbed them deep into the wood. My body smacked against the rough bark, but I held fast.

I took a deep breath, and without looking down kicked against the tree with my hind legs, yanking my claws out of the wood. I pushed myself off, and onto a branch.

My heart was pounding away in my chest. While I have often practiced climbing the trees near my home, I have never had to focus on chasing something while climbing them, and I was beginning to wear out. My fur was damp with sweat. Ahead, I saw that the pegasus had managed to get farther away from me, because it did not have to focus on finding branches to run on. I gritted my teeth, and ran after it.

The pegasus and I have now long since left the rest of the pack behind us, the other wolves not nearly agile enough to chase us in this environment. The white pegasus and I were both tired, and our speed had decreased greatly.

Suddenly, the white horse dove down, past branches brimming with pine needles, towards the forest floor. I hesitated, stopping at the end of a long, thick branch. `Shit!' I thought. 'It's going to get away, and I will have disappointed both my father and Tarnished Claw.' I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.

'Come on, Haste! You can do this!' I thought to myself, and leaped down, pushing myself off of the branch with my hind legs.

Wind whipped past me, and I held my front two legs in front of me so that I would slice through the air faster. The white pegasus stood out in the dark green forest like a wolf wearing a wedding dress at a funeral. That pegasus was my target, and I was determined not to miss.

A branch struck me in the face, its needles stinging me. I bounced off of it, and entered a steep spin, away from the pegasus. However, it also sped me up, and I was now at the same height as the pegasus.

Once again, time seemed to slow down as I got my first good look at the pegasus. It was a mare, with stunning grey eyes wide open in fear. Its face was bloodied from collisions with branches and trees, the red a stark contrast with the white of her coat. Her white mane and tail were dirtied and uncombed, which I took as sings of her fatigue.

I saw one of her eyes dart towards me, and widened in shock when she saw me falling next to her. I swiped at her, my claws fully extended, but she leaned away, and my claws cut only through air. I barked at her, and she leaned farther away.

'Shit! I'm losing her!' I looked behind me, and saw a thick, moss-covered trunk. I leaned back, pressed my back legs against it, and kicked off as hard as I could. I flew forward, and saw the Pegasus coming closer and closer.

'Yes! This is it!' I brought my front paws back, and then swiped forward as hard as my fatigued muscles would let me. My claws raked through her flank, sending arcs of blood through the air. She shrieked, her face contorted in a visage of pain. Her wings seized up, and I gripped her tightly as we plummeted down.

The ground met us, and it was not very welcoming at all. Fortunately for me, I was on top of the white pegasus when we hit the forest floor. A wet, cracking sound rang out in my ears right before I smacked into her back. Pain shot through my chest, engulfing me, and then making way for a terrifying numbness. Air rushed out of my lungs, and filled the space around me like a musky cloud. I pushed myself off of the broken pegasus below me, and sat down on my rump. Behind me, I heard the baying of wolves, which meant that help was on the way. The last thing that I remembered before passing out was the image of the blood-stained pegasus, belly up, lying on her mutilated wings.

All was dark. Then, a fog settled over my ears, and I began to hear voices, whispering. The whispering got louder, and turned into talking. I could hear my father, and our village doctor talking, but I had difficulty understanding what they were saying.

I cracked my eyes open, and my vision was flooded with bright sunlight. I stirred, moving the blanket that covered my body off of me. My chest burned, like I had just ran for many hours non-stop and was now granted rest, but was unable to rest because my body was too wound up. My legs felt sore, and I could move them slightly, but stiffly.

"Haste, you're awake! Oh thank goodness!" I looked up to see my father, a tall, orange-furred wolf standing over me. I was lying on a bed in our village doctor's home, with sunlight pouring into the room through the open windows. The doctor, a grayish-white earth wolf, stood opposite my father, on the other side of my bed. He held a clipboard in one paw.

"Ah, I see you are awake." The doctor asked, inquisitively. "How do you feel?"

I rubbed my forehead, grimacing. "There's a burning in my chest, and my legs feel stiff." I rasped. Something else came to mind, as I realized that the sun was high in the sky, its rays stabbing through the canopy.

"Doctor Rags, how long have I been unconscious?" I asked the young doctor. Doctor Rags was one of the few Earth wolves here who had respect and influence equal to that of fenrir, and even some wulfir.

"You've been out for just the length of the night, and this morning. Fifteen hours, give or take." The doctor said, looking up from his clipboard. He wrote something down, and set the clipboard onto a bedstand.

"Now, it seems like you have some very serious bruising on your chest, and it looks like your legs may have been fractured, if only partially. I would stay off of them if I were you, and just stay here until everything is fully healed. You will have to wait much less if you do less physical activity." Doctor Rags spoke in a serious voice. "I think it will take only a week or so to heal. We can move you to your home, if you want,"

I shook my head. "No thanks, Doctor Rags, but I think I will be fine, more or less. Thank you for your help." Doctor Rags shrugged, and was about to walk off, when something else came to mind.

"Doctor, how is the pegasus I caught? Is she… alive?" I asked, somewhat hopeful that she had survived the fall.

"See for yourself, Haste!" Doctor Rags beamed, and stepped aside to reveal a bandaged white pegasus lying on a bed in the far side of the room. Her mane and coat were matted, with dark red blood still stuck to her. Her wings were awfully bent, one jutting out backwards. She was alive, and conscious.

She stared straight up at the ceiling, and did not acknowledge that Doctor Rags had just pointed her out. She had a morose and sorrowful expression on her face, her eyes damp with tears. I realized that she must already know that she was now just livestock, waiting to be killed and eaten. While the doctor had done everything he could to make her last days here more comfortable, she was still visible shaken by the fact that she, inevitably, was going to die soon. It made me sick just to think about it.

I hated the fact that we wolves had to eat meat. Just look at the ponies, unicorns, and pegasi! They don't eat meat; they only eat plants, and live perfectly happy lives. Well, most of them at least. But alas, such is the plight of us wolves.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have more work to do." Doctor Rags said, and walked off, out the door. When he closed it behind him, my father, who had been standing close by this whole time, spoke up.

"I am so proud of you boy! You caught that pegasus, all by yourself!" My father beamed, a huge smile across his face. All thoughts that I had about the pegasus vanished, and I was filled with the comforting glow of a father's adoration.

'Yes! I successfully made my father proud, and single-handedly caught my toughest pray yet! I am certain to get so much more respect from the rest of the pack. This is the best day of my life so far!' I thought, happily.

"Thanks, dad. You have no idea how much that means to me," I said, smiling.

"Tomorrow's feast will be held in your honor. Every wolf will be chanting your name, you hear?" My father continued. He rubbed my head with a paw, then said goodbye and left me alone with the white pegasus.

'Right… tomorrow's feast…' I thought, my thoughts suddenly becoming somber. I glanced at the pegasus, who still lay unmoving, staring at the ceiling. I realized then that she must have already accepted her fate, and was just waiting now.

The pegasus was tied down by thick belts, so as to prevent her from trying to escape. I somewhat wished that I could just untie her and let her fly away, but I knew that from the way her wings looked, she would probably not be able to fly at all.

I sat up, and moved my legs over to the edge of the bed, facing the mare. I jumped off, onto my four legs, and walked up to her bed. The pegasus lay unmoving. I stood over her, and looked over her face.

Her grey eyes were brimmed with red, and dark bags sat beneath them. I thought that they would look beautiful, under other circumstances. Dark stains trailed down from her eyes, along her cheeks. I wondered how long she had been conscious now.

I felt my chest tighten, and I realized just how bad I felt for this mare.

'Maybe, maybe if I had just let her go last night…' I was a horrible wolf. I was evil. If I was not so desperate for my father's respect, she would have lived to live a full life. But no, I was unsatisfied with what I had, and needed more. Of course, if we hadn't caught this pegasus, we probably would have hunted down some other creature, so in the end it probably would not matter that much. I mustered up the courage to speak with this broken pegasus, and opened my mouth.

"I'm sorry." The mare slowly, ever so slowly, tilted her head towards me. Her silver eyes locked onto mine, and I could see the emptiness behind them.

"You single-hoofedly ended my life." She stated simple, her lips barely moving. Her voice was angelic, but pained. She turned her head away from me, revealing her matted, bloodstained mane. I felt my heartstrings tear.

'Now I know why the druids leave,' I thought. 'They can't stand to feel this every time they have to eat.'

I observed the rest of her. It was clear that she suffered much more from that fall than I did. Bandages were wound around her stomach and chest, and they were stained deeply with blood. From the way she looked, I thought it a miracle she survived. 'Doctor Rags can really work wonders,' I thought.

I left her side, and walked out of Doctor Rags' home. The village was teeming with life, with wolves everywhere going about their duties. I located the path that would lead me back to my home, and followed it. I passed wolves and pups, all running and playing nonchalantly. Unfortunately, the joy that hung in the air was lost on me. I was deep in thought, thinking about the state of my current life.

Do I just keep on living like this? Having to overcome my own compassion for the life of others, while accumulating more and more respect from those around me? I led a good life, but was it really worth it? What about when it ends? What then?

I will have done nothing with my life but left a memory of a great wolf imprinted in the minds of others. As great as that was, it dawned on me that I did not want that. Why should I spend the rest of my life acting like a soulless monster, slaying living thing after living thing just to erect a monument of my greatness in the minds of others, who also slowly wasted away? It now seemed pointless.

But… what if I did something else? What if I ran away, and left this life behind me? I wouldn't have to endure the killings of innocent creatures, but at a cost. All respect that was held for me would vanish, and would be replaced with disappointment and hate. My father would be ashamed to have me as a son. Is that really worth it? Seventeen years of my life will have gone to waste. My life would become useless.

Surely there was something else I could do? My thoughts drifted further, and I remembered the white Pegasus. What if…

…what if I saved her? Smuggled her out of my village, and ran away? She could show me where to bring her, and I could bring her home. But then what? I will then have helped one life, so I suppose that was better than nothing. It would still make my life forfeit, and everything that I have worked for will be gone to waste.

However, there was always a chance of my life becoming better. Maybe the pegasus could help me find another home? I could try to repent, to atone for my crimes against innocent lives. There was no chance of me living with my fellow wolves again, I would become a pariah. I suppose I could always live with the other druids, but that was a shallow life that I did not want to live.

I was still deep in thought when a group of wolves approached me. I looked up, and saw my friends standing in front of me, blocking the path.

"Hey Haste! Are you feeling better, mate?" A light blue wulfir spoke up. He had darker blue combed over the side of his head, covering one stunning sea blue eye. A long, elegant blade protruded through his well-combed hair. The wolves' bottom lip was curled up in a sneer. His name was Advocacy, and he was the son of one of our village's few royalty figures. He had a very bratty personality, but we had learned to appreciate each other. Advocacy was a much better wolf, socially, than most royalty. His father did not approve of his mingling with common wolves like us, but Advocacy could care less.

Next to Advocacy stood a tan wulfir with a rough, frazzled coat. Scars coated the wulfir, showcasing the many, many fights that he has been in. He had dark brown eyes that betrayed an inner kindness. The wolf was a brute, scar-covered muscles bulging. He was bland, and far less colorful than many other wolves that lived in our town. His most defining feature was probably his blade. It was a large double-bladed axe head, spanning nearly a foot. It was dented and scarred like the rest of him. This wulfir was named Beque, but we just called him Bec. He was one of my closest friends, because we were almost opposites of each other. He was strong and tough, while I was quick and nimble. I also knew that he harbored resentment for the wolf kind for the same reason I did.

To the right of Advocacy was a short, orange earth wolf. He had unkempt brown hair, and a tail that was cut off short in a tuft of hair. The wolf was small, almost three times smaller than Beque. He was scrawny, but looked well-fed and energetic. His name was Deer, and he was Advocacy's squire. Advocacy's parents disliked Deer, because he was just a street urchin, but Advocacy had taken him in to be his squire, and refused to get a better-mannered, proper squire like all other royalty. This was just another example of Advocacy's hidden kindness.

Next to Deer was another one of my friends, Irae. Irae was a purple fenrir she-wolf with short purple hair. A stripe of black ran down her back. She was just slightly smaller than me. Her claws were long, much longer than mine, when fully extended. Irae never bragged about her claws, unlike me, because she was a quiet and reserved fenrir. She rarely spoke unless necessary and her words were often interlaced with wisdom that came from hours of reading. Irae spent most of her time reading books, locked away in her home. She was very studious, and knew a lot about not only our village's history, but also about the history of the land outside of the forest in which we lived.

And finally, there was Passion. Passion was a pink earth wolf, and was the second smallest of our group, the smallest being Deer. Passion was the friendliest and most social of our group, and knew most wolves in our village. She was always the most willing to help out a friend in need.

"I am fine, Advocacy." I nodded my head in greeting. "Hello, friends! How can I help you?"

"We just wanted to see if you were fit to join us this evening. We are going down to the waterfall, to have some fun. I even managed to convince Irae to join us!" Advocacy spoke, and tilted his head towards Irae, who blushed, and looked away.

Irae had confessed to me many months ago that she was attracted to the upper-class wulfir, but lacked the social skills to actually speak with Advocacy about it. So I told the group, without revealing the reason why, to try and involve Irae in any activities that we partake in as a group. So far, I think that it has really been helping.

I decided to put off my thoughts about my future, and spend this time having fun with my friends.

"Sure, I'll join you. You know how much I enjoy that waterfall," I said, and Passion yipped excitedly.

"Fantastic! Let's get going then," Advocacy said, and we took off into the forest. I ran alongside Passion, while Deer and Beque sprinted off ahead, determined to each be the first one there. Advocacy and Irae were slower, as they were less physically active as the rest of us.

We arrived at the waterfall before long. It was a smallish, ten-metre high waterfall that poured into a medium sized lake. Several logs lay criss-cross in the corners of the lake, making 'docks' of sorts. Tall, thick trees outlined the lake, leaving a large hole in the canopy, through which sunlight poured through, reflecting off of the lake water.

Bec, looking very pleased with himself, was standing neck-deep in water. Deer was paddling furiously towards him, his fur wet and dripping. I smiled, forgetting my worries, and ran up the hill to the top of the waterfall.

I jumped down; my legs splayed out in all directions, and closed my eyes when I met the cold water. I sunk to the very bottom of the lake, where my legs found purchase, and I pushed up. I surfaced laughing, my wet fur clinging to my body. Like all wolves, I enjoyed playing in the water very much.

'At least that's one thing that I can never lose,' I thought to myself, then pushed the thought out of my mind. I came here to have fun and relax, not tire myself by thinking.

I looked at Bec, who was paddling after Deer. Deer was furiously working his little legs, trying to get away from the lumbering behemoth, but to no avail. Bec caught up with him, and grabbed his hind legs. Deer squeaked as he was pulled out of the water and thrown head over heels to the other end of the lake, into which he unceremoniously plunged. Bec, Advocacy, Passion and I all laughed heartily, while Irae just became flustered at the poor pup's treatment. Steaming with anger, Deer swam back.

I began to swim towards the pile of logs on the far end of the lake when I felt wet paws on my shoulders. I craned my neck back, and saw Passion on my back.

"Boo!" She squealed, and shoved me underwater. I rose up quickly, and when I saw her paddling away, gave chase.

"Damn you Passion!" I raged, jokingly.

"Me? What did I do?" Passion asked innocently. I didn't answer, and instead dove at her, grabbing her flank and pushing her underwater, just like she did to me. Passion came up laughing.

I heard a high-pitched squeal, and saw Advocacy using his paws to send large waves at Irae, who was sopping wet, like the rest of us. Advocacy just laughed, and sent more at her. Irae just floated there with a dumbfounded expression on her face.

Advocacy paddled up to her, and grabbed her chest, pushing them both down below the lake's surface. I saw Irae waving her legs frantically, splashing the water above her. Honestly, it looked more like a shark mauling prey than two wolves playing, from how Irae was struggling to get away. She did finally break free, and swam away from Advocacy, her face flushed, with a silly grin plastered on her face.

It was this kind of behavior that Advocacy's parents hated. Instead of being a proper, mannered gentlewolf like they wanted him to be, Advocacy acted like a common wolf. He ran through the forest with the rest of us, he played games with the rest of us, and he wasn't afraid to get his paws dirty. His greatest wish was to participate in a hunt, but his parents wouldn't stand for it.

Before we knew it, evening had already reared its head. The sun had long since gone down, and the moon hung high in the sky, shining down on the lake. It reflected like a giant silver disc over the lake. Crickets chirped loudly, filling the air around us with melody.

"Well, it's been lovely, and I thank you all for inviting me, but I must be going. See y'all!" I said, jumping out of the water, and onto the shore. I shook my fur dry, and began the trek back to the village.

"Hold on, Haste! We'll be right with you." I paused, and waited for my friends to all get out of the water and shake themselves off, before continuing walking. They caught up with me, and we walked side-by-side back to the village.

When we arrived there, I saw lots of lit torches, and a mass of wolves in the town centre.

'Of course,' I thought. 'Tomorrow's the feast, and they are finding a wolf to "pleasure" the Pegasus on her last night here.'

We walked up to the side of the crowd, and saw Tarnished Claw standing upright, his front legs resting on a podium. He opened his mouth again, and spoke, his voice echoing through the forest.

"Tomorrow is the feast, and we have fresh meat, thanks to my friend Haste," he scanned the crowd, trying to find me, but I was too far to the side for him to notice me.

"However, this here pegasus," Tarnished Claw gestured to the bound pegasus behind him, "was caught alive, and you know what that means. Somewolf needs to make her last night here pleasant,"

The crowd burst into chatter, talking amongst themselves. I saw some of the crueler wolves snickering amongst themselves, and winced when I heard them.

"Check out that sexy piece of flank!"

"I gotta get me some of that,"

"Fuck you guys, she's mine!"

The hairs on my neck stood up imagining what horrible things they would do to that mare. Fortunately, Tarnished Claw is wise, so he won't choose those no-good wolves. Right?

"So, anywolf who wishes to volunteer for this task should raise their paw now, so I can choose somewolf," Tarnished Claw spoke, and a few paws shot up into the air. I was dismayed greatly when I saw only the cruel wolves and a few select others, who were not much better, raise their paws.

My heart began to pound harder in my chest. I couldn't just let these horrible wolves have their way with that mare. I felt responsible for her, and needed to protect her, if only for tonight. I gulped, realizing what I needed to do.

"Alright…" Tarnished Claw muttered to himself, looking over the wolves raising their paws. He knew that those wolves were up to no good, but he had to choose somewolf! "Is that all? Anywolf else?"

"Tarnished Claw! I volunteer!" I shouted, and raised my paw high in the air. The crowd of wolves all turned their heads and stared at me. I turned beet red, realizing the nature of the task that I had volunteered for. Tarnished Claw, however, was overjoyed to see a wolf he could trust volunteer.

"Ah, Haste! Perfect, seeing as you did catch this pegasus. Come here, boy!" I gulped again, and stalked up to Tarnished Claw, avoiding the hate-filled looks of the wolves that had been denied their fun. Tarnished Claw lowered his voice, and spoke quietly so that only I would hear.

"Thank goodness you volunteered. All the other wolves who wanted her were up to no good-I can tell,"

"I know, Tarnished Claw. That's why I volunteered."

"Well, the pegasus will thank you for that. Now go on, take her home. I will pick her up in the morning." I nodded, and turned to the pegasus, who was standing the background, her back two legs tied to a post. She glared at me.

I walked up to her, unsheathed my claws, and sliced effortlessly through her bonds.

"If you think you can make up for what you did, you're wrong," the pegasus said, her voice dripping with hate. I avoided looking her in the eye, and led her away from the town centre, my paw on her shoulder. Once we were out of sight from the rest of the town, she shrugged my paw off her shoulder, and walked alongside me, head down.

I'll be honest, I felt like shit right now. This mare hated me with every essence of her being, and I knew that I deserved it. As much as I wanted to help her, that would be suicide. We would never get away if she was in such a state. It would take an army to fend off the rest of the village once they found out about our escape.

My thoughts were rudely interrupted by a group of wolves stepping in our way. This time, however, it was not my friends. It was the group of wolves who had wanted to use her for their own pleasure, and they were undoubtedly here to get what had been taken from them.

"Hey there, fucker. What'cha got there?" the lead one spoke up, his voice cold and raspy.

"Oh, it's that sexy mare! You know what you should do?" A wolf next to him spoke up.

"You should give her to us, and we won't trouble you," the lead wolf finished. The wolves were moving closer and closer to us.

"Fuck. Off." I spat on the ground, and unsheathed my claws. They were nothing impressive, but I only took them out because of the fight that was inevitable.

"The only thing I want to fuck is her," The lead wolf sneered, and leaped forward. I, however, had anticipated his action, and threw my paws forward, driving my claws into his head. The combined momentum of his leap and my thrust sunk my claws deep into his skull.

The wolf went limp, his legs flopping forward and then dropping to the ground. I slid my claws out of his head, and raised them in front of me as a warning to the other wolves. However, they believed that they could take me as a group, and howled before charging at me.

I stepped back, and then dashed forward to meet them, the blood that had been spilled onto the floor clinging to my paws. A wulfir with a short, blunt-looking blade swung at me, but I deflected his attack off of one set of claws, and swiped through his neck with the other. He dropped, and I sidestepped to avoid an earth wolves' bite. I spun around, kicked the wolf in the jaw, and then swiped to the side to wound another. The pack of wolves backed off, momentarily deterred by my impenetrable defense. Two wolves lay on the ground dead, and two more were stumbling off to the side, wounded.

Four more wolves were still standing, and seemed unsure as to how to proceed. One, a fenrir, unsheathed his claws and ran at me. I raised my paws to block him, but slipped on blood and fell to the side. We both fumbled, and he fell over as well. I quickly leaped to my feet, and raked my claws through the face of an earth wolf who had tried to take this advantage to attack me. He howled in pain, and held his paws to his gouged-out eyes, trying to stop the flow of blood. The fenrir who had just slipped trying to attack me stood back up, one side of his muzzle coated with blood that stained the ground, and saw his friend screaming in agony, clutching his face. He, and the other four wolves, decided that it was not worth the effort, and slunk off, defeated.

I looked around me. Two wolves lay dead on the ground, one with his head barely attached to his neck. Another, the one I had just wounded, lay convulsing, blood flowing out of his eye sockets like waterfalls. I felt sick, because I have never seen this kind of violence before, let along caused it.

I glanced at the pegasus, who stood slack-jawed, her eyes brimmed with tears at having witnessed this fight. I retracted my claws, and walked up to her.

"Sorry you had to see that. You have no idea what they would have done to you."

The pegasus just looked at the bodies, then at me. She saw me as a heartless murderer, and, once again, I deserved it. At least she saw me as only what I really was, and not some as something I wasn't or pretended to be.

"Come on, let's get out of here. Somewolf will just clean this up later." I said somberly, and put my paw on her shoulder, blood dripping onto her pure white coat. The pegasus nodded hesitantly, and began walking.

We arrived at my house without any further interruptions. I opened the door, and let her in.

My house had only three rooms; a main, central room, a bathroom with a large, wooden tub, and my bedroom. Each of these rooms had a shuttered window to let light into it. In the main room, which we were in right now, stood a large couch on which my bowl of fruits lay untouched since yesterday.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to wash all this…blood off of me." I said, closing the door behind us. The Pegasus said nothing.

"Also, please, don't try running away. It will do you no good to try and escape in our current state; you will just get yourself killed," I told her, because I feared that she would just run off the moment I go in my bathroom.

The pegasus just nodded, and walked over to the couch, onto which she lay down on. She took a fruit from the bowl, and began to eat it.

'I wonder if she's had anything to eat since yesterday,' I thought, and closed the bathroom door behind me. I walked over to the large wooden tub, which had a showerhead over it, and stepped in. I turned on the shower, and let the warm water wash the other wolves' blood out of my fur.

I continued washing myself until all of the murky red liquid was gone from my dark red hide, and then turned the shower off. I shook myself dry, and then used a towel to dry the spots that I missed. Stepping out of the tub, I wiped my feet on a cloth mat.

I opened the bathroom door. I saw the pegasus lying on the ground, holding a quill with one hoof. She was writing on a piece of parchment, which she must have gotten from my chest of belongings in my bedroom. Her ears perked up upon my entering, so she must have heard me, but she did not acknowledge me. I walked up to her, and sat down beside her.

"What are you doing?" I asked. She stopped writing, and looked up at me.

"I'm writing a letter to my family," She said simply. I was taken aback somewhat. I had not even thought about if she had a family. Was she married? Did she have foals?

"Who is in your family?" I asked, curious.

"Just my parents." She answered, and then squinted at me. "What business is it of yours, anyway?"

"Listen, miss pegasus; I'll have you know that I feel really bad for catching you. No wolf likes to end someone's life, even if they are another species," I told her.

"Then why did you catch me? You could have just let me go,"

I sighed, and looked down guiltily. "This was the first hunt that I went on with my father, and I wanted to make him proud of me,"

The pegasus furrowed her eyebrows at me. "…Really? You were willing to end my life, just so you could make your daddy proud? You are heartless and stupid!" She near shouted at me. I winced, knowing that I deserved everything she threw at me.

"Please…I'm sorry! You are right, I was stupid!" I cowered under her, hiding my face behind my paws. Gone was my normal egotism and pride. It was all replaced with shame, and the white pegasus saw that.

"Well, it's too late now. My fate is sealed, and I am going to die tomorrow," She sighed, all vigor leaving her.

"Please, tell me. How do you plan on having that letter reach your parents, anyway?" I asked her, grateful that she had stopped her oratory assault.

"I was hoping that some wolf would be kind enough to deliver it to them. Why? Do you want to?" She asked, with just a bit of hopefulness in her voice.

I had now already made up my mind. It was the hardest decision of my life, but it had also seemed so obvious and simple.

"Better. I am going to bring you to them." The pegasus' eyes widened.

"You are going to let me see them one last time?" She asked, unsure of what I meant.

"No, I'm going to get you out of here, no matter what it takes. What I did to you and others before you was soulless and cruel, and I want to repent. I hope that at least one good action like this will allow me to die happy," I said, looking straight at her.

She was flabbergasted. Shocked. She had, by now, already accepted her fate. But this wolf was changing that! As much as she hated him for doing this to her in the first place, she also now saw a spark of kindness, one that was impossible to see earlier through the layers of blood that had covered the wolf.

"But… you said earlier that you had done this to make your father proud. Are you really going to just throw that away?" She asked, still not fully accepting that there was still a chance of her surviving.

I closed my eyes, and lowered my head, so that it rested against the ground.

"I think that your life is worth more than the respect of another." I opened my eyes, and looked at her. We were both lying on the ground, facing each other. The white pegasus cracked a smile, a hint of happiness showing in her grey eyes.

"Thank you… I now know that I had misjudged you. Forgive what I said," she said softly, "you really do have a soul."

I couldn't help but feel overjoyed at seeing her happy. A lopsided grin spread across my face.

"Now rest up, you're going to need lots of energy tomorrow." I helped her to her feet, and led her to my bedroom. Helping her get comfortable, I told her goodnight and went to the main room, where I lay down on the couch. She did, after all, need a more comfortable rest tonight.

As I drifted slowly into sleep, I didn't think of how much Tarnished Claw and my father would be disappointed of me.

No, I thought about how happy the white pegasus would be at seeing her parents again.


A big thank you to everyone who bothered reading this far! I hope you enjoyed my story so far, and if you are waiting for more, even better; it means I have done a good job.

Please, please, please review, because seeing as I get no profit from writing this, the least I can get is recognition for a job well done, if you believe this is any good. Also, reviews help motivate me to write more.

I also want to say a word about how I want this story to go. I believe that the best feeling in the world is overcoming something difficult, and having everything turn out fine. Just releasing all that pent-up worry is a very euphoric feeling. I want to have you readers experience this as much as possible, but that is very difficult unless you are fully engaged in the story, and actually worry for the characters. Please review so that I can make this story as engaging as possible!

It took me about a week of staying up late every day to finish this, so please expect the second part to be done in the same amount of time.

Once again, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day and life to enjoy this story.