Painted Mirror

by Lord of Turtles

Need to Do

Timberwolves don't eat.

This would be rather surprising news to anyone who has seen one tear apart a rabbit or squirrel and gulp down the shredded remains. But they don't eat, not really, they store.

A Timberwolf does have organs, leafy lungs, splintery liver, and a sticky brain of sap to name a few. But what a Timberwolf lacks is a stomach, instead having a shelled void where they store the pulped meat from their prey to bring back to their dens. Once there, they disgorge it as fertilizer and mix it with soil, using the mixture to grow the heartwood pieces for new Timberwolf pups. The newborn pups will make bodies for themselves out of twigs and castoff parts of their den-mates, eventually venturing out and making stronger forms from fallen flora.

It's an amazing zoological miracle that Raj would assuredly love to study in depth when his life was not actively in danger.

They came at him is a press, all claws and teeth and predatory bloodlust. He charged up to meet them, slashing his staff back and forth in hard arcs. The ones he struck disintegrated, blasted into component pieces. The ones that he didn't hit overshot, skidding past him and into the mucky river. The rest backed off when faced with concerted opposition, heads low and leering.

His eyes flicked all around, getting a headcount. There were nine that he could see, thirteen counting the ones he'd already smashed. Way too many.

He hopped to the side and broke into a loping sprint, heading back to the crossing he'd made. The Timberwolves ran alongside, gliding through the undergrowth like it wasn't even there even as it grabbed and pulled at Raj's stride, slowing him significantly.

A smaller wolf with a face of woven twigs made a run at him. The creature ran alongside him and drove a shoulder into his hip, trying to knock him to the ground. Raj shuffled with the hit and managed to keep his feet, but was knocked into position for another one of the creatures to check into him hard enough to put him down.

Raj sprawled down into a roll, came up in a crouch, and sprang away as soon as he was oriented right. He pressed his back against a tree, the sticky wetness in his lung growing more insistent with each second. He couldn't outpace these things and there were too many to fight. That realization settled on him with panicked dread and he looked all around for some sort of escape.

The Alpha appeared again and barked a challenge, foamy sap drooling off of his barbed fangs. With a savage snarl he charged, eating up the ground between them. A full two lengths away the beast coiled like a spring and dove at him, going for the killing pounce.

Raj jumped up and out of the way, kicking off the tree with his back foot to get more height. He grabbed at an overhead branch and pulled, hauling his frame up into the boughs of the tree. The Alpha hit the trunk of the tree headfirst and let out a pained yelp.

Hugging the branch, Raj let out a breath. Beneath him he saw the Alpha shake his head and stand up having managed to survive the impact. He and the rest of the pack looked up at him and yipped, possibly begging him to come down and obligingly die.

Raj coughed hard, bringing up a plug of crimson phlegm he spat into the face of the leering Alpha beneath him. The beast recoiled at that and started barking madly at him, leaping up and snapping at his feet. Raj laughed at the creature's attempts and swatted him on the muzzle.

Raj flipped over the branch and started moving along the tree's boughs, leaping to the adjoining tree once he ran out of space. The Timberwolves moved along beneath him, leaping up to bite at him or sometimes trying to scrabble up a trunk to head him off.

“Okay, gotta remember to tell Applejack the tree thing was a good idea.” He muttered to himself as he vaulted across a gap.

In short order he ran out of viable trees and was forced back to the ground. He landed heavily and righted himself into a sprint. His target was in sight; the crossing he'd made earlier. He was almost there.

The Timberwolves were right behind, loping along with fluid grace. In short order the pack caught up to him and enclosed a running circle around him. A beast with a ruff of maple leaves dashed in and slashed at his legs. Raj leaped over it, swatting at the beast but coming up short. He hadn't even landed before another one was moving in, this one managing a hit on his calf that drew a thin line of blood.

Another pair rushed at him while he was still recovering from the hit, going for his legs again. He stabbed at one, breaking one of its hinds but leaving it mostly intact and the the other one went for his foot, clamped jaws on his boot and pulled, trying to trip him.

Snarling, Raj yanked back hard, putting enough force into the act to pull the Timberwolf's jaws off with a pained yowl from the creature. Off balance, he pitched to the ground when another of the beasts simply barreled into him.

Running on panic and instinct, Raj rolled to the side, getting tangled in loose plants and soaked in standing water. A Timberwolf landed where he was lying a second ago, its claws digging deep gouges where his sternum was. He swept his staff out in a upward strike that cleaved through the creature's torso, leaving the front half to crumple to the ground and whine pathetically.

The rest of the wolves growled and circled, eyeing him and barking and snarling intermittently. He rose up to his full height and roared as loud as he could, shaking his staff and stamping his feet, trying to ward the monsters away.

The insisting burn in his lung was forming again, tempting him to cough. He fought that down, forcing breath into himself. He needed to get away, needed to get clear. He felt hot wetness running down his leg and tried to gauge the damage while staying wary. He could still feel his foot and the wound hurt, which meant he wasn't going into shock. That would be last thing he needed.

The Alpha and the one with woven twigs for a face moved in on his front, fast and low. Raj stepped forward and swung but the creatures backed off at the last moment and spread out wide. He was surprised by this for an instant before he felt one of the things zip from behind at hip level and a hot bloom of agony erupted on his side. He let out a startled cry and made a spastic lash with a foot that caught it in the chest and broke it apart.

The two that feinted on him reversed direction and pounced, coming at his flanks in tandem. He ducked the twig faced one and stabbed toward the Alpha. The nimble creature swayed back and locked its jaws over the length of wood. It twisted its head and pulled it out of his hands, flinging it away to land precariously close to the muddy river. Before he could react both wolves faded back and out of reach.

Raj swore and made to go after his weapon but was warded back by a screen of snarling wolves that snapped at as he drew to close. He skidded to a halt and stepped back. He scanned for the Alpha, hoping to see it lurking in the brush but saw nothing aside from the rest of the pack circling him.

He let loose a scream of frustration at the monsters that tapered off into a few bloody coughs that set his shoulders wracking. Sensing a chance, three more charged at his front and pounced.

Raj's hands snapped up and he caught the first two of the beasts by the neck. They struggled for a second before he clapped them together on the third one in midair, shattering its head and breaking apart most of his impromptu weapons. A sharp pain lit up from his damaged arm but Raj didn't relent, too frustrated and angry to care. He shook his struggling hostages with abandon, knocking loose a scattering of parts.

The wolf with a ruff of maple leaves came at his back, going for his legs now that his hands were full.

Raj whipped around and swung wildly with one of the fragmenting carcasses, warning the creature back. He kept spinning and struck the creature broadside, scattering them both. He whipped the other one as hard as he could in the vague direction of its kin, peppering them with small sticks and bits of bark.

The few remaining wolves glanced about warily, suddenly unsure. They took a few tentative steps back, clearly intent on retreat when the Alpha broke from cover at a dead-heat, snarling pure fury.

Raj brought his hands up defensively. He caught the massive beast but its momentum sent them both rolling along the ground in a knot of grasping limbs and maddened snarls. They tumbled along the ground for a solid distance before they tumbled off the edge of the riverbank and splashed into the churning mud.

They disentangled from the fall and the Timberwolf immediately started trying to swim/slog its way back to the bank. It made it halfway before a mud covered Raj lunged up and bore it under.

The two of them were trapped under the brackish filth for a few seconds before they burst from the sludge, Raj holding the struggling beast over his head. Screaming, he slammed the creature into the muddy wall of the embankment head-first. It yowled and squirmed, trying to free itself from his grip.

After the fourth slam the creature detached the plates Raj was holding and rolled out of his grip. It started to scrabble up the shore, trying to get away from the howling mud-thing that had defeated almost all of its pack.

It had almost hauled itself to safety when Raj snatched at its tail and one of its hinds. The Alpha pulled at the limbs and kicked with its other leg. The thing's claws found purchase and succeeded in carving a gash down the back of his hand, but Raj seemed not to notice.

Raj hauled a leg up from the muck and planted a foot directly on the Alpha's behind. He then began to pull, snapping sinewy vines and breaking connecting lines of wood. The Alpha howled and bucked in agony, powerless to help itself.

After a second of struggle the Alpha's tail and leg ripped from him with a wet crack and Raj went flopping back into the mud. The creature yelped in pitiless agony and scrabbled its way onto shore, limping heavily.

Raj rose up again, striding purposefully through the mud. He clawed furrows in the dirt and kicked footholds sturdy enough to hold him as he climbed up after the Alpha.

The creature saw him rising after and its yellow lantern eyes spread wide. It started to trot away but tripped, its lack of a tail destroying its balance. It looked back at Raj, growled and set itself, still ready to fight.

He kicked the thing hard enough to roll it over and crack an armored plate. Dazed, it could do nothing as Raj settled his whole weight onto its back, locking its movement with a leg coiled around its torso. It struggled a bit before he readied a hand and plunged it into the twisting mass of vines that made up its musculature. The creature tensed and went still, letting out pathetic little noises before Raj gripped and pulled, peeling free the length of wood the Alpha used as its spine.

The creature went limp immediately, entirely defeated. Such was the sturdiness of its construction it didn't break apart immediately. It even retained its shape when Raj threw the beast's carcass into the muddy river to be broken apart by the sluggish current and never again reform.

The last remaining wolves looked on warily, not quite sure what to make of this development. Raj turned to them and bellowed a cry of rage that startled creatures for a mile in all directions. Before it had even finished echoing through the trees the few remaining Timberwolves were sprinting away.

His scream died on his lips and he stood shaking and fuming for a second before collapsing to his knees and slumping onto his side, gasping and wheezing for air. His breath sounded like he was trying to breathe through water and he could feel a bubbling wetness clouding his lung. He rose up to his hands and knees and started hacking and wracking madly, black spots swimming in his vision from the exertion of it.

With his whole body shuddering in effort, Raj half coughed, half vomited a vile mix of bloody fluids onto the leafy floor. Vertigo claimed him and it was all he could do to not slump into his own sick.

For a long time Raj simply lay there in the Everfree, staring listlessly through a clear patch of canopy at the gray clouds. He caught rain on his tongue and swallowed it down, hoping it would alleviate the burning in his chest.

He felt drained, worn out. The rise and fall of his chest was slowing and he could feel the gaps in his heartbeats. His breath hitched in his throat and he couldn't even muster the energy to cough it away. His vision swam and blurred, his eyes failing to catch up to anything, so he closed them. He swiftly felt the rest of him shutting down, the exertion and injuries finally catching up to him. His head lolled to the side and consciousness fled him

And then suddenly: pain, mind shredding pain.

His eyes shot open and he bounded to his feet, clawing at his side and howling. He ripped his shirt clear off his torso and raked at his skin, desperate to kill whatever was hurting him so badly.

Ants, dozens of ants, each one bloody crimson and the size of nickel. In his delirium, he had passed out on a hidden anthill.

He scratched at the embedded insects with his nails and, when that didn't work, peeled them off with the sharp end of a stick. Hopping anxiously, he made his way over to the river and slapped mud on his flesh to sooth the burning agony that was still ripping through his flesh.

The worst of the pain faded, he settled against a tree and hissed. He clutched at his side and even through a layer of cool mud could feel hot boils starting to form on his skin. He leaned his head back and helplessly groaned.

He glanced across the river and tried to see through the miles of woods between him and safety. He could not, and he knew that he had a long, long way to go.

* * *

It was well into the evening, long after the Apples had eaten supper and the youngest of the family had been ushered off to bed, when Rajrishi crawled back onto the property

The lights were on in the Apple house, a faint yellow glow shining through drawn curtains. They were a beacon to Raj, the only thing he had to draw him home. He shambled towards them like a zombie, a thing not quite dead but not really alive.

On the porch, Banjo raised his head at his approach. Once something of his smell wafted over to him he started barking madly and hopping about, trying desperately to get closer to his master. After a moment Winona joined in as well.

The cacophony drew Applejack outside where she shouted at the animals “Hey, hey, hey, what's all the racket out here?” She followed the animal's gaze and saw a shadowed figure coming up the road. Brow knit in concern she grabbed the lantern from the porch and galloped out the meet it.

At first, she thought some sort of mud beast had wandered onto the farm. From head to toe Raj was caked in the stuff, long patches on his chest and legs and worn down on his joints. His hair had come undone in the struggle in the river and had dried as a long fan that hung limply off of his scalp. His eyes barely shone out of the quagmire of plants and caked dirt that clung to his face and he was leaning heavily onto his staff, both hands clutching it tightly.

He opened his mouth and rasped out the single word “Help.” before collapsing onto the road.

Comments

[Clay]

Well... that didn't work out like I thought it would.

It's an amazing zoological miracle that Raj would assuredly love to study in depth when his life was not actively in danger.

Do the ponies know about it, because if they did, well, he could just ask for a book...

[DauntedSuperior]

Well, you just know a lecture is on it's way.

[Truthseeker]

That was the single most unique take on Timberwolves' biology I have ever read. Oh and Raj is a moron.

[Silentwoodfire]

DO they need to strap him down to a bed to make him heal? At this rate hes going to wreck something and hes going to wish he listened in the first place.

[Gizmo Gear]

7800516
I think after this he's gonna realize that he needs time to heal. Soldier or no, he's still human.

[Lancerlot]

Poetic. Pull off a Tarzan-like fight, and then fall into an ant hill.
Sooner or later, some scholarly pony should hand him a big rolled-up map of the Everfree. It's just not reasonable that they haven't mapped the place.

[Russian Bank Teller]

8544641
Yes it is.

Undiscovered west anyone?

[KvAT]

6593848
He's a moron, because he consciously chose to dip into near-insanity.

[NT1856]

10569505
Are you calling to fight to get back to what you care and love idiocy?