A distant howl alerted the ears of the mare.
"What was that?" the Voidtrotter whispered, crouching lower to the ground. "Did you hear--"
"Shh... not now, Cookie," the mare shushed, raising her spear. "We may be watched. I give a prayer to the Sun Goddess for your protection, mysterious Voidtrotter."
"Is there any assistance I may be?"
The mare glanced over the Voidtrotter's body, noticing his wings folded against his back.
"Yes," she nodded, "If you wish to be helpful, you may soar into the skies like our pegasi brethren and locate the direction in which the wolves howl."
The Voidtrotter paused. "Pegasi?" they asked. The word was strange on their tongue-- it was familiar, though in ways they couldn't fathom. Did it have something to do with Celestia back in the Void? They didn't know.
"We may discuss the pegasi later," the mare pushed, "As for now, if you wish for our hospitality, you must assist us in defending our settlement."
Without another word, the mare turned away and descended a flight of crudely-built stairs, yelling something incomprehensible at a nearby group of ponies. As for the Voidtrotter, they took off to the skies.
It felt surreal, flying. The Voidtrotter had yet to be even a day old, and now they were already soaring through the skies as if they had flown their entire life. An endless expanse of forestry stretched beyond the horizon beneath them, pockmarked by little huts and shacks that peeked out from underneath the otherwise thick canopy.
A flicker-- a little glint of light, where there shouldn't have been one. Their attention caught, the Voidtrotter veered off course, in the direction of the flicker. They were still young, still naive, but all the more curious because of it.
A soft thud announced their not-so-soft landing. The forestry where the Voidtrotter had landed was oddly clear of any trees, and a single gem lay at the ground.
"Do not disturb this place," Celestia's voice commanded, "for it is of significance."
"But it is only a gem," the Voidtrotter countered, "What harm is there in disturbing a single, meager gemstone?"
"It is of no concern to you at this moment. If you must, you shall defend this gem from harm, for the yet-to-come future of this realm rests upon it."
The crack of a twig pierced the air.
"A wolf," the Voidtrotter muttered, taking a step back, "What business do they have in this area?"
Celestia did not respond.
Guttural growls grumbled from within the dark underbrush surrounding the clearing. The Voidtrotter was an unfamiliar beast to them, and they certainly didn't take any chances with such an intruder.
"Celestia--"
A long, drawn-out howl filled the air. One by one, pairs of glowing eyes opened from within the dark surrounding forest, all focused upon the Voidtrotter. The trees began to rustle, with leaves and twigs falling to the ground as if they were cut from the branches. A dim aura materialized around them, catching their fall before they ever reached the ground.
The disembodied howl came again, now closer than it had been before. Wherever it was coming from, the wolves that watched the Voidtrotter were awaiting its arrival.
The aura-encapsulated twigs began to swirl about, revolving around a central patch of ground right before the Voidtrotter. Slowly, the wood began to weave itself together, incorporating bits of earth and greenery from time to time for additional support. All the while, the howling only continued to grow, with some wolves even now emerging from the underbrush.
"A timberwolf," the Voidtrotter growled, locking eyes with the still-forming progenitor of the future Everfree species. Now wasn't the time to pay mind to where they had learned the name for the creature. "Where did you come from?"
As before, we'll leave this chapter in its current state. It's up to you, the reader, to decide what may happen next, and to define parts of the story itself.
Where did the timberwolf come from? Are the regular wolves that it leads going to become future timberwolves?
What significance does the gem in the ground hold?
What other threats may live in the forest?
What is the location of the setting relative to modern Equestria?
Of course, these aren't the only questions you may answer. Feel free to comment on whatever you'd like to see added or happen in the story.
Lets have him come with two other timberwolfs. There all aggressive and the ponies are getting defensive. Right as shits about to go down, a feminine voice tells the three timberwolfs to stand down. Then another timberwolf comes out, this one is notably taller and slimmer, and sits right beside the original timberwolf that showed up (we will call him Woody to make things easier to explain). Woody looks at (and we will just call her Sap, to also make things easier to explain) and gives a grunt/growl. She doesn't even flinch, and just gives him a glare. Woody rolls his eyes and sits. Sap looks at the ponies and explains "hey, sorry for the trouble. Me and these guys were scouting out the area, and this little mut broke protocol. But we are going to have to report you guys to the alpha." (Don't actually use that dialogue, it was bad) and with that they leave back into the forrest before any of the ponies get a reaction in. But this creates some conflicts, like: tribe rivalry, or they try to work together but the timberwolfs and the ponies don't get along. I don't know, but I thought this might help to give some structure to the story, but in the end its up to you.
The wolves are natural inhabitants of the forest. They are different from the timberwolf. Timberwolves are guardians of the forest that have a connection with the common wolves, sometimes calling them for help when an intruder came. Cookie is a perfect example of an intruder. The ponies, a relatively new addition to the forest, are also counted as intruders.
The gem is a crystallized form of ambient magic, becoming solid for its high concentration in the earlier days before civilization. The crystal now holds the leylines together and is an intricate part of keeping the ambient magic usable by biological beings in the area. They are the reason timberwolves exist, thus why they are protective of it, and why being around them is a really bad idea.
Some ponies don't get it, and there are tribes that collect these gemstones and wonder to the Sun and Moon why they get so many timberwolf attacks. At least, before they got devoured.
The Timberwolf has companions much like in the other comments, however because of the massive amounts of magic the crystal carries the female wolf can cast a simple form of telepathy showing images and different colors for emotions to be interpreted by VT. The wolves being an early predecessor to the ones in the show are actually good and wish to help and teach the ponies what is safe to eat and what isn’t in the forest, but since the earth ponies are not receptive to telepathy don’t know what the wolves want. VT now feels like it is his/her responsibility to act as a translator between the two groups and help them live in coexistence and survive together.
Maybe a bear or two might show up now and again
I'm going to say that the Timberwolves started out here, but when the windigos appeared they migrated to the place that is now the Everfree Forest
Well if we're not going to follow show canon, it's the Tree of Harmony, but if we are, then I have no idea what it's supposed to be
Manticores, cockatrices, tatzlwurms, hydras, ursas, ya know, the usual suspects
Although, I feel like parasprites would make a major threat in this point in time when you consider that the ponies are just getting started and have limited food
Its wherever the three tribes era took place... so, not in Equestria
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Next chapter:
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Sorry, you kinda lucked out this time. Let's see what you've got for the next chapter!
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I am enjoying your writing style. This story is kinda relaxing to take part in
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Thanks! It's a mix of the writing style I've used in stories like Pony-Me and Worlds Reset combined with random things I've been picking up from my AP Literature class! I wanted to experiment a bit, so I went ahead and tried to imitate the writing style of some of the books we read, while keeping the same touches of intentional vagueness that I've used throughout my previous stories.
It was Dark, magic,
a pony had a wolf as a pet, but it was killed,
so the pony planted a tree over the wolf's dead body
that try to use Dark magic to make it the wolf come back to life
and now.. timberwolf
It's what make normal ponies, into ALICORNs
D.dogs, Changelings, and Buffalos
Caracows
camo.fimfiction.net/zHSR08WmoKEN1Lp5n0c-cN2rR3BFHz9Y4GnYXaQk9Tc?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com%2Ff%2F733244e2-7d50-491a-8276-d918b46ae75a%2Fdd2if45-a10b8f99-deae-49d6-94c5-d1180c2e6591.jpg%2Fv1%2Ffill%2Fw_1095%2Ch_730%2Cq_70%2Cstrp%2Fmap_of_equestria____and_beyond__by_keenkris_dd2if45-pre.jpg%3Ftoken%3DeyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9NTI4MCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzczMzI0NGUyLTdkNTAtNDkxYS04Mjc2LWQ5MThiNDZhZTc1YVwvZGQyaWY0NS1hMTBiOGY5OS1kZWFlLTQ5ZDYtOTRjNS1kMTE4MGMyZTY1OTEuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTc5MjAifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ._TRYQcGPbq5BzgnqtF_VTYJI56hF-dsr1WNuZlxjToY
https://www.deviantart.com/keenkris/art/Map-of-Equestria-And-Beyond-790278917