The cave was more or less adequate for his purposes. It was not as big as he would have preferred, but it was large enough to provide both shelter and space to work in. From the outside, it looked quite similar to that...other one, which had unfortunately been...occupied. There was little in the way of food or water, but he had at least managed to forage some edible berries, and found a small stream a tolerable distance away to the north.
The more obvious downsides of his new residence included the distinct lack of both lighting and furnishings. Not to mention he didn't even have a quill and ink, let alone paper. He had always known that this undertaking would be difficult, of course, but that didn't mean he was looking forward to stooping to common thievery to acquire resources. Neuron Probe snorted in distaste at the thought. Well, there was little he could do about it. It would all be worth it, in the end.
Putting aside thoughts of his upcoming activities for the time being, Probe focused on the task at hoof. Namely, removing the magic suppressor so it could hinder him no more. As with treating his wound, he was forced to use the most primitive of tools. In this case, that meant a rock. A few strong strikes with the rock were enough to crack the embedded gem, the shock causing the enchantments to fail. With it no longer magically held in place, he was soon able to pry the accursed device off.
He studied the metal band for a moment, as it lay discarded on the floor. The central red gem, which had originally been used as a battery to fuel the enchantments, had a deep split down the middle. Sparks of residual magic crackled periodically in the wide, unnatural gap. The metal band itself was covered in scratches and scuff marks, a testament to his recent activities. A quick magical scan revealed that the enchantments themselves had been dissipated completely, most likely by a magic surge generated by him cracking the battery gem. He sighed. The gem was, sadly, likely to be no longer usable in any significant capacity. He could try to break it in two, perhaps, and hope the resulting halves would not be too small for any useful application. Maybe they would still be serviceable as minor batteries or components in other magical devices.
With that thought in mind, he levitated the suppressor over to one side of the cavern for safekeeping. As he did so, he felt a momentary thrill at the feeling of his magic no longer being contained. He quickly fought it down though; this was no time to celebrate. He still had work to do. The most pressing concern, of course, was the need to construct some shielding to deter scrying and other magical locating methods. The wild, ambient magic of the Everfree helped in that regard. The magic field which had created the unique environment created interference in most magical means of communication, as well as the all-important locating spells. Unfortunately, the protection was not perfect- a dedicated mage could find ways around that particular hurdle. However, even as he pondered the Everfree's unique magic field, he was already preparing the spells that would most assuredly protect him. They had come in most useful during his original experiments, when he had been in constant danger of discovery. Now it was just a matter of remembering how to correctly apply them after so long...
A few hours later, and he judged his defenses to be sufficient. For the time being, at least- when he moved onto the later stages of the plan, he would obviously need to improve them to avoid being disturbed in his experiments. But for now, he could turn his attention to other things.
Such as the howling coming from outside, for example. Cautiously, Probe crept to the mouth of the cave, and peered outside. The scene he saw confirmed his suspicions: Timberwolves. To be precise, three of them. They had clearly been separated from the rest of their pack, though whether this was accidental or an intentional abandonment he could not tell.
As he watched, another inhabitant of the forest came to investigate the noise. The Timberwolves visibly tensed as the noises of something crashing through the dense undergrowth came closer in origin. And then, a Manticore leapt into the clearing outside the cave. The two parties growled at each other fiercely. Probe held back a gulp- the slightest noise could bring some very dangerous attention to him.
Suddenly, the Manticore threw itself forward with an angry roar. The Timberwolves responded in kind, and soon a fierce battle developed. The Timberwolves clawed and bit savagely, and the Manticore easily used its own claws and barbed tail to reciprocate the damage. The Manticore may have been outnumbered, but its opponents were more fragile than itself. Overall, it was a fairly even match.
Eventually, a solitary wolf loped off into the undergrowth, all other combatants either dead or near enough. Judging the area to be now relatively safe, Probe approached the fallen beasts, ignoring the occasional jolt of pain from his leg. Some movement caught his eye, and he turned his head to see one of the timberwolves shuddering slightly, it's fading magic attempting to pull itself back together. It was too far gone, however. It simply didn't have the energy to heal it's wounds.
An idea bloomed in Probe's mind. A devious, ingenious idea. He rushed back into the cave, and soon reemerged with his broken suppressor. Working quickly, he discarded most of the wooden fragments- he wouldn't have enough energy for an adult body. A younger, smaller one however...
A hasty examination of the magic held in the Timberwolf's body led to an equally hastily created animating enchantment being placed on the metal band and hooked up to the damaged energy-storing gem. The resulting creation still sparked warning. Thinking fast, Probe jammed a suitable chunk of Timberwolf in the gap. He reasoned that if the wood was hardy enough to conduct such a powerful animation spell, then it could surely be used as a conduit for other forms of magic. In this case, bridging the gap in the battery gem. And if it didn't work, so what? It wasn't as if he had anything to lose.
Placing his construction in the wreckage of the wolf's chest, Probe stood back and charged up the gem. The sparking was still present, though not as pronounced as before. The extra energy was enough for the body to be reconstructed, albeit on a smaller scale. When the process was finished, a rather exhausted Timberwolf adolescent lay on its side on the ground. The former suppressor was now being used to help keep it alive, with the Timberwolf fragment having integrated with both it and the rest of the body. Rather fittingly, it was positioned over where the heart of a regular wolf would be located. It still sparked occasionally, but that was acceptable. Probe wondered whether the device would need to be kept charged once the Timberwolf had full recovered. At the moment, it was obvious that without it the Timberwolf would not have enough energy to survive. And by the looks of things, the device was now as much a part of the Timberwolf as the rest of its body. It could most likely go either way. Maybe he could modify the animation enchantment to create a sense of loyalty towards him, just in case? He knew it had probably been done before. Golem creation wasn't unheard of in Equestria, just very rare. And all he would be doing was essentially modifying one that was already made.
Weakly, the Timberwolf struggled to its legs, and made its way to Probe's side. It made no attempt to attack him- it obviously knew its continued life was in his hooves. Probe grinned. It looked like the suppressor was good for something after all. He now had a new and most welcome facet to his security.
Chuckling in delight, Probe made his way back into the cave, the Timberwolf following its new master on slowly strengthening legs.
Neuron Probe is obsessive. THat's freaky.
This...is nice.
A psychopath and his dogwood.
The best of friends.
Already planning experiments... T-T
IT'S ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!
Just in time for the new season too. I can't wait to see the new updates!
hmmm. i am a bit iffy bout it to a degree. he was a psychologist after all. how would he know how to animate something? not to mention something born of the everfree forest.
5818969 He is pretty smart. And he didn't actually animate it from scratch- he basically just copied what he could of the Timberwolve's 'inner enchantment' to make a compatible magic battery, and then pumped the whole lot full of magic. Plus, Probe himself isn't sure if it'll work or not, he just figures it's worth a shot.
I've always loved the idea of controlling/creating your own timberwolves. Now with that said, I have a couple gripes.
1. I would assume the reason why golems are rare is because it is either extremely advanced or extremely dangerous magic, how does Probe know how to do this?
2. If the gem is powering the ring, and the ring has a mana suppression enchantment, then repowering the gem while it is still attached to the ring would just repower the mana suppression enchantment, no? Unless I'm interpreting your rules of magic wrong.
3. A wolf is still an extremely dangerous animal, and they are liable to turn on you. Unless you rewrite the timberwolf to be loyal it would still remain a threat.
4. A ruby or garnet is much stronger than an average stone. Also, smashing a rock into the ring would not only hit the gem, but also would transfer all that force into the horn below the ring, which would be extremely painful if you subscribe to the theory of unicorn horns being sensitive to touch. Even if you don't think that, it could potentially crack, or even snap the horn off.
That's all I can think of right now, I would appreciate explanations.
A good chapter. Not sure about the timberwolf. I guess it depends on what you end up doing with it.
Now isn't that something.
5819016 To answer your questions:
1. To be honest, he kind of doesn't. It's said that it might not work, and he's just doing it because there's nothing to loose by trying. Probe can somehow, probably through some sort of magical examination, detect what the inner magic/enchantment of the Timberwolf is like, what it's basically doing. He's fairly intelligent so his mind fills in any of the larger gaps in the system, and he can therefore formulate a basic enchantment to get the job done. All he's doing really is going off of what he can get from the Timberwolf's magic and applying it to his construction. And in any case, the Timberwolf's own magic is doing most of the work. All that Probe's really done is give the Timberwolf a more-or-less compatible 'battery' so that it doesn't die. He's basically just copying what he can, and pumping it full of magic, leaving the Timberwolf's own magic to do the rest. That piece of timber in the battery is helping massively in holding it all together, and is acting kinda like an access point for the battery's magic. There was a lot of magic sparking around, the timber's helping in channeling it into the rest of the wolf properly.
2. Honestly, I kinda forgot about that...I'd better add a bit to explain it. I think the original enchantments were probably already broken and removed by Probe breaking the gem. Like how a big shock to an electrical system can sometimes fry the components- when he smashed the gem up, he destabilized the magic, creating a blast of feedback that disrupted the enchantments. Well, either that or he removed them before putting the new one on.
3. This is one of Probe's main concern's with his new pet. He says as much towards the end of the chapter. Basically, he's planning to fiddle around with the Timberwolf via his jury-rigged battery, and see if he can make it properly obedient and loyal to him. There's always the option of dumping it in the forest if he can't fix it before it becomes dangerous to him again, when it doesn't need the extra energy from the battery to stay alive.
5819142 I guess I'll buy it. But I just really think it shouldn't be as easy as looking at a very complex system to tell how it works.
I know how a steam locomotive works, but I'd never be able to operate one without training.
5819016 Re #4: Yes and no. You can still smash something hard and even tough, like a gem, as long as you don't mind thoroughly scarring whatever you smashed it with. In extreme cases, like diamonds, you end up with something that you can't scratch at all but can shatter by dropping from just a few feet onto something rigid like steel. (There are more than a few rings that have gone out this way when someone bobbled them into a steel sink.)
The force required is still not insignificant, but I suppose if unicorn horns were at one point used for purely physical bashing that would be less of a problem.
5819346 Yes, but we don't KNOW what a unicorn's horn is made out of or how it's structured or how it developed over time. The author must tell us and then maintain consistent with what he has said.
And yeah, I only remembered the diamonds after I posted, so that one is my bad.
5819298 To be honest, I'm not sure how best to explain it myself. It doesn't help that mlp's magic is completely undefined in terms of how it actually works, at least to my knowledge. I'm basically just making most of it up as I go along.
In terms of the locomotive analogy, I suppose the best explanation would be that the train was magic, and that he just made an extra water tank/tender and tacked it on with a big blast of magic, which kick-started the reforming process. He could figure out the basics of making steam in order to push pistons about, but in the end the locomotive/Timberwolf's own magic did most of the actual engineering and plumbing involved to get it all hooked up and working properly. After that, he's just providing the extra water.
5819353 For this one, I'm gonna say that unicorn horns are really tough, and that the gem just wasn't strong enough to withstand the strong blunt force trauma, like the examples given by Wellwater. That being said, it probably wasn't the most comfortable of experiences- maybe I should add a sentence or two to that effect?
Hmmm this Timberwolf thing seems alright it would be cool if it affected the ending
Kewl chapter
I like the idea of the timberwolf. Maybe it could kill something
it's fading magic attempting to pull
It simply didn't have the energy to heal it's wounds
once the Timberwolf had full recovered
1. Its.
2. Its.
3. Fully.
Hmm... Not much I can give for an interlude chapter like this sine it is after all an interlude. Though I am wondering if Probe would possibly think of using something to possibly extract the poison sac from the Manticore or even just sever its tail to possibly use it as a pseudo weapon. Assuming it doesn't rot like the rest of the body.
I like this story...I especially like the fact you don't make Pinkamena crazy.
I like the fact Pinkamena is rational and Surprise is the real party pony.
Sweet. I will be keeping an eye on this story. Have my watch and my like.
I am SOOOOO excited for the next chapter! I can't remember ever loving a story concept as much as this one!
You've been writing it really well so far and I can't wait for more! ^_^
THE STORY, IT LIVES!!!
Sorry, I had to do that. But YAY!
Interesting, Probe has a higher chance of succeeding with experimentation on Pinkie... KILL HIM WITH FIRE!!!
I wonder how close he will get to experimentation on Pinkie Pie... again, KILL HIM WITH FIRE!!!
Oh sweet bucking , of course he gets a damn Timberwolf body gaurd. Why don't we just give him the Elements, a party cannon, and a Twilight lazer Gatling gun while we're at it!
Anyway, awesomeness. Do you like mustaches? have one on me
Overall, I like this chapter. It shows he is far from incompetent, and indeed can be quite inventive. This is important because events in Ponyville suggested his goal was hopeless, which is not something you want from a primary antagonist well before the climax.
As much as I hate Probe, I do want him to be a challenging enemy. So him getting a pet, upgrades his threat level a bit.
Keep bringing the goodness.
He could use the young injured timber wolf to lure fluttershy into a trap and use her as a hostage to get to Pinkie. And he could use the little timberwolf to sneakily send a letter to pinkie telling her where's to go if she ever wants to see flutters with her mind intact again. And of course the "come alone" restriction to avoid the others finding out.
Bonus dark twist if applicable: He uses hypnotherapy to condition fluttershy into getting pinkie to come to him unknowingly.
O say flutters because she's the only one who's care about a baby timberewolf rather than ignore or attack it.
I prefer not mentally damaging fluttershy, but I figured if you needed any ideas I'd put them out here.
Also glad to see a new chapter, and I look forward to future installments!
NO, I NEED MORE!
Alright, it has come to the forefront of my mind that this is a fact: THIS IS MY FAVOURITE STORY I'VE EVER SEEN.
Coming from me that kind of means a lot, since I've read...well the total fanfic count is in the thousands for me.
So you can imagine how badly I want the story to be updated. And I mean it's one of the highest ranked stories on this site, so that's definitely gotta mean something too, right?
Oh by the way; I reread the entire story immediately after I read it the first time. Then the next day I read it again.
And I just want to keep rereading it over and over again.
5838628 LOL
5834998 Now that is what I call a clever idea!
There's a TVTropes page for your story now! It's still a work in progress though.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/PinkiePersonalities
I think that Probe will manage to distract the guard, probably by his pet Tinder wolf, sneak past the guards, and actually manage to capture the Single Trio, maybe in Twilight's basement? Then he will ALMOST manage to finish his research. But then, the Royal Guard, Princess Celestia, the Mane 6, and who knows how many more, burst in on him, after they were distracted, and again, probably by the tinder wolf, and beat him to a bloody pulp.
Sorry if my grammers bad, it's almost 2 AM.
GOOD NIGHT!
Neuron Probe, you are fucking badass. Plz teach this skrub how 2 git gud.
I really liked this story so far it was the first one that caught my attention and only to find out that it was incomplete once i reached its current stop point was heartbreaking that i couldn't continue. all this goes to say that i am waiting for the rest of the story with bated breath
I like where this story is going. Another story tracked.
And so, we now have a possible threat.
He was a alone pony, couldn't likely do any damage, and now we have his abilities in controlling creatures?
This is going to be big...
Continue pwease!
Lose
Wow. All these comments, and nobody pointed out the symbolism? ONE large Manticore against THREE basically adolescent Timberwolves... Draw any conclusions about the rest of the story?
Although, if that is the case... one lives, one dies, and the third falls under his control...
How very ingenious! I like this idea. It rather fits the doctor's personality so far. However, instinct is something that prevails. You cannot take the wild away from a wild animal.
So how useful with it be once it's big enough to cast away it's protector and life giver?
How is it that no one has made an Iron Man reference, in regards to the timberwolf?
Spike had better end up destroying the Timberwolf. In a badass way, especially after that bollocks ending to that bollocks episode called Spike At Your Service.
Cool new minion. That Timberwolve idea is very interesting. Wonder how the wolf gets further tamed
This Proble pony is even more of mad scientist than Twilight or Dr Whoove.
6039665
With the amount of detail poured into this story, your guess seems plausible. But I really hope that it doesn't come to pass. I really hope.
The idea that timberwolves can't infinitely respawn is something I've basically never seen. Neat!
Oh heck crud bucket has a wolf
I'll mess with somepony's mind and electrocute her half to death, but I'll never stoop so low as to steal pen and paper!
10217633
I mean, villians DO have standards you know.