After traveling for so long and nearly freezing to death in the process the three pony tribes; The Pegasi, Unicorns, and the Earth Ponies, were all still adjusting to one another while the chilling effects of the Windigoes lingered still. Houses had been built and on both the land and the mountain itself forming a small village in both areas. As well as things seemed to be going now there was still tension, this tension was being caused by an unknown force that would arrive every night. Any pony found outside when the sun had fallen and the moon had risen was rarely ever seen again, this applied to any pony of the three tribes. Upon discovery of the missing pony there were always tracks leading to a neighboring forest. No pony had ever seen tracks like these in their previous homeland so no pony knew of the danger living within the forest.
As time the days passed by the ponies began to notice an odd beast running about, stealing some of their harvested food and other items before disappearing into the forest. The thieving creature visited more and more often so the ponies called a meeting between their leaders, Commander Hurricane, leader of the Pegasi; Princess Platinum, daughter of the King of Unicorns; and Chancellor Puddinghead, leader of the Earth Ponies. The three gathered and sat down, each removing their headwear and lowering their hoofs to rest on the wooden table in front of them.
"So we're all here to discuss this thieving beast, aren't we?" Commander Hurricane asked, chest puffed out to imply their authority as a commander.
"We are, what I want to know is just what, is this beast? Not only has he been stealing from the Earth Ponies he's been stealing from us Unicorns as well!" Princess Platinum declared in disgust.
"I talked with my fellow Earth Ponies and from what I've heard; I can't even begin to guess what this creature is! They've said it has the body of a dragon, arms of a lion and a claw of an eagle, legs of a lizard and a goat, and wings like a bats and a Pegasi!" Chancellor Puddinghead explained.
"What? That sounds like a Draconequus! My mentor, Star Swirl the Bearded told me about them!" Clover the Clever interjected.
"A Draco-what?" Princess Platinum asked, looking back to her fellow Unicorn.
"A Draconequus, it's a creature with the head of a pony and the head of all sorts of different animals. Star Swirl said they were very dangerous creatures to be around because they were mischievous, manipulative creatures." Clover answered, walking over to the group of leaders.
"He must be the beast causing the disappearances of our fellow ponies!" Commander Hurricane shouted accusingly with a powerful slam of the hoof against the wooden table.
"I don't think so, Commander. If what Chancellor Puddinghead described is correct none of the Draconequus body parts would create the paw-prints we've seen. I've done a bit of research about various animals paw prints and I think I know what the cause of all these disappearances are. Of course, I truly hope I'm wrong." Clover explained.
"Well, what is it then?" Chancellor Puddinghead asked, brows furrowing in annoyance.
"Indeed, don't leave us in suspense my loyal subject." Princess Platinum agreed.
Clover sighed in defeat and pulled a large book out from a small bag they had brought to the meeting. Clover dropped the book on the table and quickly opened the book, flipping through the pages with the use of magic. Clover stopped suddenly placing a hoof on the page where, directly above the hoof, a picture of a paw print was. It was exactly like the prints the Ponies had seen trailing into the forest whenever a disappearance occurred.
The drawing had a large center blob at the bottom with four smaller blobs above it. The smaller blobs had small v-shapes above them, resembling the tips of claws. These paw prints were similar to a dogs but they were far too large for any regular dog to make. The three leaders arched brows and looked to one another confused.
"Didn't we cross out dogs as the perpetrators since these prints were too big?" Commander Hurricane asked.
"Yes, we did, but we forgot who the ancestors of dogs were, the wolves." Clover answered, sighing softly.
"Well, how are we supposed to stop these flea-bitten mutts from attacking us? They're carnivores! They won't care about what we say." Princess Platinum said, frowning as her stomach twisted with worry.
"Easy! We fight them for the land! When we win they'll have to leave!" Commander Hurricane announced, grinning wide with the idea of a war.
"As much as I hate to fight I think I'm going to have to agree with Commander Hurricane. If we don't push them out somehow all their going to do is keep attacking us." Chancellor Puddinghead said, frowning at the same idea.
"We don't have to fight them necessarily; wolves live in packs with leaders called Alpha's, if we can meet the Alpha of this pack then maybe we can make some sort of treaty and the attacks will stop." Clover suggested.
"A treaty? Are you insane? We can't just walk into that forest and go up to some mutt leader, 'oh please leader, can you stop attacking us?' They'll just eat us!" Commander Hurricane argued.
"We can't just fight them either! We'll just lose more lives. We need to try and make some sort of agreement with them otherwise we might have to move." Clover retaliated.
"But we just settled down here not too long ago, the ponies can't handle moving so soon." Chancellor Puddinghead said.
"Exactly, making an agreement is our best chance at survival, who knows, the wolves could help us more than we think." Clover announced.
"Tch, fine, we'll go and try and make a treaty, but if it doesn't work I'm sending my troops in and we'll push those fleabags out by force!" Commander Hurricane growled.
"What can we do to protect our fellow ponies until then though?" Princess Platinum asked.
"I'll have a group of my Pegasi troops patrol the Unicorn and Earth Pony villages until we can find a way to set up a meeting with the wolf leader." Commander Hurricane suggested.
The three leaders all agreed before departing separately to rejoin their tribes and announce the news of the meeting. While following Princess Platinum Clover sighed and looked up to the clouds forming in the distance of the sky. Clover prayed that there would be a way to work out an agreement between the wolves before more ponies had gone missing.
That very night the Pegasi troops had been stationed just as Commander Hurricane had promised. The Commander was readily flying around both areas, doing their own patrol and watching for any wolves. The wind blew through the air sending a chill through the commander. Commander Hurricane shivered and stopped to land on a small cloud to look around. Luckily just as the commander peered downwards at the ground a small figure emerged from the forest, quickly and hurriedly making its way to the Earth Ponies village.
The wolf was mostly grey and white with spots patches of black and brown following along its back. It was thin but it wasn't as if he hadn't eaten in a long time, he was just naturally that way. Two black dots marked where his brows were while his yellow eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight. The wolf quickly looked around, searching for any ponies that had dared to stray away from the village. Sadly there were no such ponies; unknown to him the Pegasi had already rounded up all of the ponies into the houses within the village for the night.
As the wolf was noticed Commander Hurricane gasped faintly before rushing into action, the commander shouted for two nearby stationed Pegasi to come forth with a net. The two Pegasi readily obeyed and flew over to the commander with the requested net.
"Hurry! Nab that mutt as quickly as you can, we cannot allow it to get to the village or to escape!" Commander Hurricane ordered.
The two Pegasi nodded and flew towards the approaching wolf, the ends of the net in the hoofs of the Pegasi, forming a sort of hammock-like shape as the air flowed through it. The net was low, offering little to no escape for the wolf as the Pegasi easily nabbed him in the net. They flew upwards then and over to one another to close the net. Commander Hurricane cheered victoriously and flew over to them, praising them on a job well done before trash talking to the forest about the captured wolf.
"What should we do with the wolf now, Commander?" One of the Pegasi asked.
"We hold him prisoner of course! Tomorrow I'll call the others over and we'll interrogate the mutt about the whereabouts of the pack." Commander Hurricane answered in a matter-of-factly manner.
The wolf within the net growled and struggled, constantly kicking and thrusting its body about within the net. The as the Pegasi neared the ground the wolf began to gnaw at the net, trying to break free.
"Hm, we can't keep him in the net, come on let's take him home, he'll stop when he sees how high up we are." Commander Hurricane ordered.
"Understood, sir." The two Pegasi said before flying upwards once more.
The wolf growled in defeat, his gnawing coming to a stop the higher he was flown up. He looked up at Commander Hurricane and growled louder before turning his gaze to the forest and lifting his head. His lips pursed some and a loud howl emitted from his lips, echoing through the night time air. The loud high-pitch howl traveled on and on, waking some villagers from their slumber while also alerting the other wolves in the pack.
Off in the distance, hiding at the forests edge stood another wolf with brown fur and small patches of white. He stood there and stared, watching as the Pegasi carried away his brethren in the net. The howl filled his heart with panic and worry as the wolf quickly turned and lifted his head, his own howl emitting into the cold, crisp air. The added howl caused Commander Hurricane to stop and stare at the forest, scanning the edge but seeing no wolf within it. The two Pegasi panicked slightly and frowned, awaiting orders on what to do. Commander Hurricane turned to look at them before lowering his head to stare at the wolf.
"Shut him up!" Commander Hurricane ordered, glaring at the wolf that had yet to notice.
The Pegasi nodded and quickly flew around in a circle, frightening the wolf and causing him to stop his howl and try to cling to the net. The wolf frowned and whimpered in fear which made Commander Hurricane grin in his own self victory.
"Good, now let's continue on home." Commander Hurricane commented before flying ahead of the troops who in turn followed his lead. The wolf within the net peered down at the forest, praying that no other wolf would be foolish enough to hunt tonight like he had. He also prayed that the wolf who had returned his howl had seen what had happened and would warn the others to come and save him.
The wolf within the forest waited until a few others had followed the sound of his howl and met him. The wolf explained to the others what had happened and suggested that they return to the pack's home and warn the Alpha's to see what should be done. The others agreed and soon the group headed off, returning to their homes deep within the dark forest.