//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Welcome to the jungle // by Hiver //------------------------------// The forest was dark all around, the moon out above but the thick vegetation blocked out almost all the light even to thestral eyes. My right ear flicked at a slight sound cutting through the general sounds of the forest around me. A slight rustling of leaves that couldn’t be explained by the wind. Because there wasn’t a breeze. I froze for half a second before I bolted. The jungle erupted in a rustle of branches behind me and I jumped over a fallen branch, running hard through the jungle. The grouńd too soft and covered in vegetation for there to be any thundering of hooves, nor was the area clear enough for it. I had to dodge every couple of steps, changing direction, jumping over something, ducking beneath something. A normal pony would have been screwed in the almost pitch black. A thestral would have been caught too, they couldn’t keep this pace up without flying. But I was a thestral alicorn and I had the strength and stamina of an Earth pony. Jumping over a moss and vine covered rock, I landed on it’s side and threw myself to the side as something massive pounded over where I had been a split second later, it’s claws scratching on the stone as it went rolling off. That bought me a couple of seconds and I changed direction. There was the sound of crashing branches behind me and something hit me from the back, sending me rolling. Ow. I breathed heavily, sucking in air as I struggled to get my breath back as a large shape moved above me, a pair of luminous eyes looking down at me as I felt hot breath down at me, smelling faintly of wet wood. “Got me… good boy,” I said and reached up to rub the Timber Wolves chest. “Wruff!” The wood spirit said and a big leaf like tongue licked across my face. Laughing, I pushed him away and struggled up to sit, rubbing his side firmly with a hoof, “None of that now!” “Wruff!” Fern pushed me over by bumping his head against my side. I laughed and rolled with the motion, getting back onto my hooves, standing up and shouldering against Fern, my hoof going up to rub firmly at his side, patting firmly with a hoof against tree sound. Fern had really taken to his new environment, at least when allowed to roam freely beneath the town. He didn’t like the platforms or living up there at all. Keeping him up there would have been cruel. So I had no choice but to let him run freely in the jungle. He was getting real big too, at least a head larger than even Celestia would be if she were here and twice as massive. The last six months or so he had stopped growing so he seemed to be an adult now. “Sorry I can’t play more with you,” I said and sighed, standing up on my rear hooves, one hoof against the woof spirits chest for support as I reached up to rub firmly at the side of his neck. My weight did absolutely nothing to cause him to move and Fern wruffed and gave the top of my head another lick. “So, meet any female Timber Wolves around here yet?” I asked. If there was such a thing in the first place. Huff. “Yeah, haven’t heard any howls,” I admitted, “other than yours I mean,” before I frowned and dropped back down onto all four, “I may have to try to import some. But… invasive species. Maybe it would be fairer to try to return you to the Everfree Forest.” “Wruff,” Fern said and laid down, panting softly, leafy tongue hanging out. Even laying down, he was taller than I was right now. Timber Wolves were pack spirits. I tried to spend as much time with him as I could, but everything was so busy. He seemed to do okay, but he had to be a bit lonely. “I’ll try to come see you again tomorrow, okay?” I asked and rubbed his shoulder with my hoof, “We can play some more then, okay?” He sniffed at me and then sneezed. I smiled and hugged the large spirit briefly before I stood back and turned, taking to the air and the lower branches, landing before Solar Shadow, one of my guards. He saluted briefly as I did before he looked down at Fern as the large wood spirit looked up at us in turn. “Don’t worry,” I told him, “You know Fern wouldn’t hurt a pony.” Solar Shadow shook his head, he was a dark, dark grey thestral with a sun cutiemark, “Doesn't make any of us feel any better about that sort of thing, your highness,” he said quietly, “Nopony has ever tamed a Timber Wolf before. They are pony eaters.” “Maybe the wild ones are,” I admitted, “But Fern was raised in captivity and has never showed any hint of wanting to hurt a pony in his life.” “As you say, your highness,” he said with a slight frown. I smiled at him and then glanced upwards, “We should get back to town, it’s starting to get a bit late. The meeting with the hunting guild should be in just a little while.” Today's twenty minutes of scheduled fun was over. Back to work.