//------------------------------// // Answers // Story: Canine Complications // by Wages of Sin //------------------------------// "No," Luna replied cautiously, "While I possessed much power under the Nightmare's influence, producing sentient life is something that only the Creators could do." The first, and most preliminary factor of Twilight's revelation was realized! "Princess! That is great news! That means that they are not what Celestia thinks they are! If they were not created by the nightmare then there is no reason to fear them! They can coexist with ponies!" Luna frowned, "It is not that easy Twilight Sparkle, there are many predators in the Everfree not summoned by the Nightmare, and none of them are able to live alongside their food. It is impossible for predators and prey to live in peace." Twilight's confidence did not falter, "At face value, I'd agree. I myself have found constantly resisting the draw of ...meat... to be very difficult. I can see well now how to baser creatures it would be nigh impossible to resist. Life together would be impossible on a mass scale." she said with a pause, "...but with the Timberwolves I think we can live together!" Twilight said with a sharp-toothed smile that put the already tense remaining guards even more on edge, "Really, now that I see it, it should have been obvious from the start, but I was too preoccupied to see the signs along the way." "What do you mean Twilight Sparkle?" Luna asked, confusion clear, and yet hope also daring to tinge her voice. "I mean, I know how ponies and Timberwolves can live in peace! It's been, quite literally, right in front of our noses the whole time!" The growing excitement in the purple wolf was spreading to Luna as well, the guards not finding it as amusing. "Speak! Speak! Out with it!" Luna pleaded, beginning to feel the hype Twilight was exuding. Twilight back-tracked a little in her mind, "Well the first clue was when Bark Back showed me their 'food reserves' which consisted of a compost heap. At the time I thought nothing of it, assuming that it was merely spoiled food, but later when I thought about it I realized that they had no reason to have any plant matter as food, let alone decomposing plant-matter. " The princess of the night appeared not to understand, staring blankly at the still-yipping wolf. "That's not all! They explained how they had their illnesses treated by Zecora, but what illnesses could they possibly have? Only living things can get sick. They are not animals, obviously, but still get sick, so they must be made out of living wood!" "This is all well and good, but how does this help us again? Them being made of living wood does not appear to mean much to the situation at hoof." "-But it does! It means everything!" Twilight said, re-adjusting her stance so she was squared off with the Night Princess, "This is the part that I'm surprised nopony saw, or rather smelled, sooner! Think about it, most ponies have no reason to know beyond 'terrible' but what does Timberwolf breath smell like?" Twilight asked hopefully. "I am not wholly familiar with the scent. What is it?" "It's important, I want to be absolutely sure about this. Please, just try to place the smell for me." Twilight urged. "Fine then. Captain! bring one of the Timberwolves here, post-haste." Twilight followed with her eyes as the stallion carried on his way out after a salute. Twilight turned her attention back to Luna expecting to be bombarded with a volley of questions before the stallion could return, but was surprised to find Luna looking at the nearest window apparently deep in thought. "Princess?" Twilight prodded, but when no response was heard, she decided to follow suit, and took the opportunity to analyze what she wanted to say next. Before long the guard returned, a large Timberwolf closely behind. "Bark Back-" Twilight began, but was cut off by Luna. "Wolf! Come forth!" A subtle nod from Twilight drew him before the lunar ruler. They did not get uncomfortably close, merely a reasonable talking distance apart, or rather that much and then that length translated upward the height of the stepped dais. Luna closed her eyes, cringing perceptibly, "I don't..." "Please princess, just think about it!" Luna looked confused but closed her eyes in thought. After a minute her expression grew dim, and she solemnly replied, "It smells like a battlefield after a great cataclysm." "Or more specifically?" Twilight led. "The rotting corpses..." Luna shuddered at the images she must have seen in memories of times long passed. Twilight felt bad for bringing them to her, but it was needed. "Yes, that's what I surmised: rotting flesh! That is the key! Under the extreme conditions of the war, I believe that what Celestia saw so long ago was them feasting on the remains after an unrelated battle. Then she, used to fighting similar magically formed constructs, likely just assumed them to be made by the nightmare, and immediately saw their actions out of context and decided them malevolent without knowing better. Sadly, that oversight may be what brought them into the war if they did later fight for the Nightmare... but more importantly, that smell is what made me realize what drew this all together, they aren't normal predators! Unlike hydra, or manticores, or even myself at the moment, they don't eat live meat and digest it like a normal predator. Just look at their bodies! Why would their bodies need the complex carbohydrates and fats of meat? And then I realized it! They don't!" "Are you saying they kill and eat for sport? That only serves to make their actions unfounded! How-" "No princess, they do need to eat. And that's where the secret lies. They aren't predators! They're plants! I believe their magical essence can only inhabit living wood, that would explain how they're able to grow from pups and increase in size. What they eat isn't inherently 'food', that's why their breath smells like rot! They are consuming things, and "digesting" them by letting the nutrients break down into usable forms inside them! That's why they eat meat, it likely breaks down to usable materials much more quickly and efficiently than plant life. It requires further testing, but I hypothesize that within their gut regions is a symbiotic decomposer type bacteria that-" "Twilight! Please, consequence only. While I'm sure the processes would fascinate a scientist, it is meaningless to me." When Twilight quieted, and had the decency to look abashed, Luna continued, "Good, now tell me, in lay-pony, what this all means." Luna commanded. "It means they are very much like the Zionaea Muscipula. Also known as the Zebracan fly trap. To compensate for the fact it normally grows in soil too infertile to support such a plant, it gains needed nutrients by catching and breaking down insects that wander into its trapping jaws. It is my belief, that Timber Wolves function in much the same way only more so, living without any soil and taking all of their nutrients from what they consume." "So..." Luna led on. "So, we could support them in the same way Zebracan fly traps are supported in botanical gardens." Enlightenment sparkled in the night princess's eyes "Yes, go on! What does this process entail? We must know! Is it another modern construct we have yet to see since our return? An enchanted machine perhaps?" Blown back by Luna's sudden enthusiastic change of heart, Twilight was actually rather unprepared to answer, "In the gardens, it is common practice, rather than to feed the Zionaea Muscipula flies, to give them their needed nutrients through... they... Um... Well... They... Uh... Provide nitrogen enriched pre-digested biomass..." "Once again I must ask you to speak in lay-pony terms." "Well, um..." "Yes! Yes, out with it!" "They fertilize them." Twilight risked a glance to the night princess, and immediately wished she hadn't. She remained frozen in place, not even the stars in her mane or eager smile on her face moved. "The best way to grow a carnivorous plant without meat is to fertilize it with... natural fertilizer." Twilight quickly blurted, "I think it would work in mass, because I think-" Luna's smile began to fade, "theonlyreasontheydidn'teatlikethisintheforestwasamatterofquantity,theyappeartoneedmuchmorethan- eep!" Twilight jumped away as Luna dove off her throne, landing next to Twilight, right in front of Bark Back. "You, Wolf!" Luna commanded. The wooden wolf bowed, "Yes Moon Carrier?" "Is what my sister's student says true?" "If my mistress believes it, I would stake my life on its truthfulness." "Very well," in an instant, a gasp came from one of the guards as his sword was taken from him, flying straight for the night princess, viciously slashing her across the raised fetlock. The others readied to strike down the wielder of the magic, before they realized that it was her own dark-blue aura that had performed the act. Without any warning she all but shoved her bloody hoof into Bark Back's mouth. "Will you bite me? Will you consume my flesh? Or will you prove you possess the restraint to not consume flesh unnecessarily? Will you prove that peace is possible?" Bark back opened his jaw and placed his teeth around Luna's wound, but did not bite down. "Princess, I was getting to this," Twilight said, cutting the stillness, "Unlike myself and most other flesh beings, they have one specific advantage that further arises from their specific condition. While you and I have taste buds to detect rotten food and things that would carry disease, they don't have to fear animal diseases, and therefore do not need a sense of taste. I believe that they do not have preference to one food to another, as long as it provides the nutrients necessary to keep them alive, or... well... functioning as the case may be." Luna withdrew her hoof, unscratched. Twilight could actually see that even the sword wound had almost fully healed in the short time it had taken her to explain. "Very well." Luna said in her most down-to-business voice, "As co-regent of Equestria, I declare that your case has been made, and that you have been found righteous in your request." she trotted up to her throne before turning and addressing the hall, "I now declare that henceforth, Timberwolves are legal citizens of Equestria, and shall enjoy the benefits of such. They will be awarded the same tribal sovereignty and independence as awarded under the Buffalo Tribal Lands Accord, and will be granted free travel to and from Equestrian lands and their newly sovereign Tribal lands inside the Everfree Forest." This time it was Twilight that made the guards jump, as she sprinted up the dais to nuzzle the monarch. "Thank you princess! This means so much! You can't even imagine how- grrrrurrrruf" Luna laughed as she found the sweet spot between Twilight's ears, "Do not think anything of it my little- uh, wolf. It was my duty to see this out, and I am happy I could be part of righting this apparent wrong. If my sister were here, I'm sure that she would be more than amenable to the-" The joyous mood of the room died as, in an intense flash of heat and light, the solar monarch in question materialized before them. Forgetting herself in the joy of the most recent revelation, Twilight leapt towards her long-time mentor, intent to share the joyous news. Celestia was not so keen...