My Clockwork Stallion

by Aegis Shield


Timberwolf Teeth

My Clockwork Stallion
Part 8: Timberwolf Teeth

Fluttershy was wearing her PETA hat, her Equestrian Ranger’s vest, binoculars, a bandoleer of stink pellets, and a saddlebag full of maps and other odds and ends. She was Ponyville’s wildlife expert after all, she needed plenty of tools to do her job. Watching local populations, migration patterns, and shifts in the ecosystem was her job. She wasn’t just the cute and fluffy animal keeper most thought her to be. With the Applejack, Twilight, Time Turner, and Rainbow Dash in tow, she'd taken them to the space between Everfree and the edge of Sweet Apple Acres.

Now and then, Everfree would shift in an unexpected way and it was up to her to either compensate or push things back the way they came. This time, it just happened to be Timberwolves. Serrated, Flint-Tooth Timberwolves. Leaning, Fluttershy took out her AniDex. “Timberwolf!” the robotic voice said cheerily. “Lupus-Silice-Ligna! Native to the Everfree, this animal is made of petrified wood and has very hard, bark-like skin. Its teeth are made of flint-rock, and it is known to carry the smell of decay around it like all other timberwolf breeds.” Fluttershy flicked it closed, stuffing it away like an expert.

“Faaaaascinating,” said Rainbow Dash with a roll of her eyes. Fluttershy wilted a little. The AniDex was her favorite little gadget (straight from the Equestrian Ranger’s Board, for excellent service!). “So what’s the deal then? They’re moving where they’re not supposed to, or…?”

“They been skulkin’ around the borders of our apple orchard,” said Applejack indignantly. “I don’t wanna turn around and find out they made off with Applebloom ‘r somethin’.”

Time Turner cocked his head, looking around as Fluttershy spoke. “Animals usually only move to a new region if their food source has run out, or if something shifts the local ecosystem,” she said, taking out her binoculars and peering about the tree-line.

“So what do we do then?”

“Actually, all of you just standing here is helping,” Fluttershy smiled a bit, her wings opening into a happy stance. “Your scents are enough to warn some predators away, but a big group of scents like this will make it look like a well-populated area. It will help keep the Timberwolves away… ah, there’s one now!” The butter-yellow Pegasus gave a start, and everypony quickly turned. Deep in the foliage were little flits of movements, flashes of emerald green eyes. The herd shifted a little.

“Eh, Fluttershy, are you sure it’s okay to be standing out here in the open?” Applejack asked nervously, scanning the treeline.

“Oh yes,” the Ponyville Wildlife Ranger replied with a gentle smile. “I have hormone bombs to warn them away if they come near for some reason. They can’t stand the smell!”

Rainbow Dash smiled a little. Fluttershy in her element—it was actually kind’a cool. In a zookeeper kind’a way. Twilight and Time Turner shifted, leaning into each other a little and squinting like they were bird-watching. “So what’s wrong, can you tell?” Time Turner asked.
“Something’s making the poor things come out of the heart of the forest, and I don’t think it’s another predator—!” Snap-crash! Something deeper in the treeline went off like a crack of thunder. “Ah, got one!” she said, blue eyes lighting up in the most adorable way imaginable.

“You ‘got one’?!” Twilight gaped at her friend.

“I had to capture a specimen to examine,” Fluttershy said. “If its malnourished, I’ll know it’s a food source problem. If its hurt at all, I’ll know there’s a turf-war going on between packs,” she trailed off with a happy little giggle. “So much to do to put everything right, oh my!” her cheeks pinkened in mousey delight. Applejack snicker-snorted as they followed Fluttershy into the edge of Everfree. The little herd emerged into a small clearing. Laying prone was a large Timberwolf, covered in a net and held with six pins. In its mouth was a gutted fish, half-chewed. Fluttershy’s bait, no doubt. “There-there, you poor thing…” She knelt and worked quickly, “It’s just a little sedative…”

“Eh Fluttershy…” Applejack said nervously, looking around. More and more eyes were appearing in the bushes. Time Turner gulped, ears turning back and lowering his head nervously.

“There’s no woodrot…” Fluttershy mumbled over the beast, lifting its leg and running a hoof over the undercarriage. “He’s not clawed up anywhere…” Reaching into her saddlebags she got a little carpenter’s knife. Taking a little sliver from the Timberwolf’s shoulder, she held it up to the light and then put it in a petri dish. “I’ll have to take a closer look… what’s this…” she lifted one of its front legs higher, revealing a small deposit of what looked like white crystals under its arm. “Salt burn!” Fluttershy said, standing up and looking at everyone. “Something’s poisoning their water supply. Everfree’s rivers are freshwater, not salt water. They’re being poisoned, the poor things!”

“Uh, Fluttershy…” Applejack said a little louder. All the glowing green eyes were closing in and taking shape out of the shadows.

“It’s okay, I’m prepared.” Fluttershy reached into her pouch, pulling out a little sphere with a purple button on it. Throwing it into the bushes, she listened until PSSHHHHHHHH…. A cloud of hormones dispelled into the air. Shadows parted, scampering away and out of sight. “Always keep your cool when working with predators,” she recited from the Equestrian Rangers handbook.

Rainbow Dash chuckled, not catching the very attracted grin that was sliding over her face. “Wow Fluttershy, I had no idea you could be so confident in yourself!”

Fluttershy flushed red, “W-well, you know… it’s my job and… and such…” she trailed off, then quickly focused on gathering some of the crystals from the Timberwolf’s armpit with a Q-tip. “Mmm-yes, a salt deposit like this could poison them pretty badly in large doses. I’ll have to ask Zecora for some help putting something in the river. If a salt deposit popped up somewhere…” she trailed off, very carefully not looking at Rainbow Dash.

Time Turner suddenly screamed like a mare, pointing into the foliage opposite to where the hormone bomb had been thrown. A sudden, huge swath of Timberwolves poured out of the foliage and into the clearing! They’d gone around to the opposite side— rushing straight into the herd before anypony could react they threw themselves on everypony with all their wooden might.

Applejack gave a feral whinny, turning and bucking the first one that came close enough. Splinters flew. Soon four more overtook even her great earthpony strength. Her hat flapped wildly into the air and the next well-placed kick snapped an entire Timberwolf in half before one sank its teeth into her flank. She shouted, scrambling for her rope and tangling herself along with her attackers in the process. The wild mess of legs and teeth and flailing turned into a cartoonish cloud of flying claws and hoof-punching.

Twilight cried out in panic, her horn firing wildly into the fray. Bolts of arcane magic blew branches off of trees before lancing out into the mid-day sky. A tree imploded and tipped itself over, crashing with a thunderous sound of falling wood.

Rainbow Dash didn’t even have the air in her lungs to shout out as blood poured from two of her legs. She lifted off, but couldn’t fly with two or three of them pouncing on her. Swearing and screaming and flailing in all directions, she went right over an embankment and into the dry ditch of what used to be a creek. Gravel flew in all directions when she landed square on her back. Rolling wildly she only barely kept her neck from being torn out. Wild howls followed as she struggled to free all her legs and took to the sky.

Fluttershy fumbled, panicking and searching her pack wildly before she was tackled and all of her things went flying in every direction. Her hormone bombs, oh no! Timberwolves dog-piled onto her pack, eating all her bait and tearing the bag apart while they fought over the food. SPSSSSSHHHHH! A hormone bomb went off in the middle of them and they scattered, yelping and running for cover.

Time Turner reared up, flailing his hooves like a war-horse but was quickly knocked down in the fray. Yelping when he hit the ground he turned to offer his fake shoulder when the pack descended on him. He was the biggest pony there, being a stallion, so he had the most meat on his bones! Going for the nearest leg, they sank their fangs into him. Flesh tore, fur flew, and a black liquid blobbed out onto their muzzles. The Timberwolves recoiled, their muzzles working back and forth. “Sorry, didn’t feel that one,” Time Turner panted, raising himself up and bringing both hooves down on the nearest wolf’s head. It shattered into a million pieces and the body limpened. The other three circled him, then quickly went for his injured limb. The pack mentality bade them to aggravate the wound they’d made until the prey gave up and died. Teeth met metal under the cold flaps of skin. Magic surrounding Time Turner’s leg began to unravel.

Twilight gored a Timberwolf on her horn, igniting a simple fire spell on its insides. It ran away yelping, glowing on the inside with heat. Turning, she bucked one wolf away as another leapt and pounced on her back. “Time Turner!” she shouted. She saw a spray of something dark fly out of her coltfriend’s leg. It splattered across the ground and nearby rocks, shiny like oil. What was—?!

Grunting and giving a firm buck the stallion sent one wolf flying into another. They crashed together, turning tail and running. The last wolf ran at him, leaping for his face. Time Turner cocked his arm on instinct, raising it high and pointing it like a spear to ward the beast off. His hoof went down the Timberwolf’s throat. The serrated-flint teeth scrapped along the flaps of fur and skin. They hit metal, spraying sparks. A single spark fell into Time Turner’s gushing ‘wound’. Fire ignited, rushing over the limb in an instant! The stallion whinnied as the Timberwolf impaled itself on his fake leg. Fire rushed out of his clockwork from all the nooks and crannies. The flailing beast gagged, flailed, then exploded from the inside with all the force of a grenade. Time Turner tumbled across the ground, flaps of skin and fur peeling off of him and going up in smoke.

The entire clearing went silent as ash, dust, and slivers of wood fell from the sky. The Timberwolves spotted fire, their mortal enemy, and fled. Thinking quickly Fluttershy pelted the last one with a hormone bomb. They would chase themselves away, smelling like that.

Time Turner flopped down, flailing on the dirt until his leg went out. It felt slow and sluggish, but the oil had clotted nicely and not all the wires had been… had been… The stallion looked up. Everypony was staring at him. Him and his clockwork leg. The spell that had hidden it completely unraveled.

His fake ribs slowly shone into view, bright and golden as they held onto his chest like so many skeletal fingers. His shoulder was one great, thick gear. Whirring, turning little gears and bits startled and stopped before turning some more. The casing had come off, exposing all the moving bits and wires. The coils and springs slowly relaxed as he tried to stand all the way erect. “I… I uhm…” his eyes fell on Twilight, who was looking at him with shock. “I-I-I can explain!” the stallion blurted, turning to one side and trying to use his saddlebag to hide it a little. The sun shone brightly on the bronze-colored prosthetic, though, almost enveloping him in a golden glow. They were all staring, he couldn’t take that staring. Staring like all the others before them had. “T-Twilight, I can explain!”



End of Part 8