The Foal and the Timber Wolf

by airbournesquid

Other plans.

Ever since the exhausted and famished pup had stumbled upon the river, he'd been reluctant to venture far from it. The woodlands were so thick that he doubted that he could ever find his way back if he got lost. This river was a miracle, a blessing from the gods, and blessings could be taken away as easily as they were given. Besides, there was little reason to leave the river's bank, anyways. He had water, creatures small enough for him to kill would come to drink, and the canopy of trees made an acceptable (albeit poor) shelter.

All that was missing was company...

As the sun melted away into the horizon and the pale moon rose up to take its place among the hordes of blinking stars, the pup took his place beneath the shade of a nearby pine tree. His thoughts drifted to his mother, and how she would encase him in a vice- like hug during nights as cold as these, soothing him with her warmth and lulling him to sleep with her rhythmic breath against the back of his head.
He snuggled up to the sap-stained trunk of a tree in a futile attempt to fill the void of his parent. Still, the wood gave him comfort, as it served as a subtle reminder that technically, he was never truly alone. There was life in the trees, albeit bleak and emotionless... However, they were company. Silent, and unloving company, but company nevertheless.

---

Serrah marched through Everfree, glowing with fury. What the hell was wrong with that old coot? The traitor had abandoned them, and her decaying relic of an alpha simply chose to sit back and let him walk away? Nonsense! It was about time she gave that rusty cretin a piece of her own mind. Alpha or not, nobody had the right to pardon deserters. The traitor's soul belonged to Netherthran and the fiery plains of hell, and she wasn't about to let someone rob the gods of their belongings... even if that someone was her father.

She approached the mouth of a cave which wound into the bowels of one of the small mountains which littlered the Everfree forest. There was nothing special about it, no skulls carved into the rock or sharpened spikes jutting up from the earth like in those ridiculous stories the ponies told their foals. It was simply a cave, blending in perfectly with the rest of the forest. Nothing to catch the eye, nothing that would raise suspicion, and nothing that would scare the food away. When it came down to it, practicality served one better than flashiness. Still, she had always found something subtly threatening about the gaping, black 'O' of the cave's entrance. No matter how long she spent staring into the inky blackness of the cave's maw, she'd never had the courage to enter it. Throughout her entire life, she had never set paw in the cave, partially because she feared who lived here, but mostly because-

"Speak, Serrah. Your words mean more to me than your silence."

She jumped at the deep, echoing rasp which emanated from the cave. A pair of yellow eyes blinked into existence among the darkness of the cave, like two stars twinkling in the night sky. A silhouette began to shift eerily within the shadows, slowly getting to its feet and pacing towards the entrance, the form of a wolf gradually taking shape. Good, he was awake.

"Father." she said, in a way that made it sound more like a rank rather than a relation. "I've come to -"

"Ask why I let him live?" finished the ominous voice calmly as the silhouette slinked closer to the light.

She winced to herself discretely. Gods, she hated it when he finished her sentences!

"Why don't you come a little closer, Serrah?" continued her father. "These worn eyes of mine have trouble making out that beautiful mug of yours." He chortled jokingly.

A shiver flowed through Serrah as the ancient wolf laughed. A voice as cold and gritty as his wasn't meant to laugh, it just sounded... wrong. She suppressed her discomfort into a small wince, and waited for her father to end his bout of horrid giggling before continuing.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm wondering. Bringing justice to those who betray us has been a tradition of the pack for millennia, a tradition that you've broken, father."

The old wolf's joints creaked as he began to draw away from the shadows. A chipped paw slipped into the daylight, two of its toes missing up to the knuckle. Serrah could just make out the small frown on the shadowed figure's face. Oh no, she'd gone and pissed him off, hadn't she? The paw inched forward, revealing the lower half of a foreleg bandaged in scars. A small chunk of wooden carapace had been ripped away along with the soft flesh underneath, revealing yellowish bone.

"Do you doubt me, Serrah?" he asked with far too much calmness for Serrah's liking..

"I- I never said that..." squeaked Serrah, turning away slightly as more of the wolf's battered leg came into view.

"Well you certainly implied it. I want you to listen, my girl, and listen well. This... deserter finds himself in a very favourable position. He is living under a roof, being fed, cared for and treated rather well, considering the circumstances."

"... So?"

"So, why is this? What does this show us?"

"I don't know..."

"The ponies, Serrah! They trust him!" he exclaimed merrily "He's gone and made friends with his food!" his thunderous cackling started up again, this time so loud that birds fled from their nests and small animals scurried out of the bushes, desperate to put as much distance between them and the two wolves as possible.

The old wolf keeled over in a fit of laughter, slapping a paw to his belly as he fell to the floor and rolled on to his back. "I- I've never seen anything so ridiculous!" He squawked out between his chuckling.

Serrah's rage boiled over. Was this why he chose to spare the traitor? Amusement? Could her father really be that crazy?

"Please... tell me that isn't the only reason..." She said bluntly "Tell me you've allowed him to live for a reason other than your personal amusement!"

"Of course there's reason, you blind girl!" he bellowed, his disturbing laughter still tainting his voice. "It's actually quite brilliant, when you think about it!"

"By the gods, will you just come out with it already?"

Serrah's father sighed in defeat, still coughing up a few abrupt giggles. "There aren't many meals, my girl, who hand themselves over to you freely."

"What?"

"You still don't see? Think, my girl! With trust comes dominance, and with dominance, power!" With every word the wolf's smile grew more sinister and twisted, his eyes brimming with deranged joy. "Why should we hunt for our food when he could bring it right to our doorstep?"

Serrah's eyes widened in realization "you plan to eat the ponies?"

The wolf had turned around, and was retreating back into the gloomy depths of the cave. His worn joints creaked with every step, like a sickening orchestra of age and decay.

"Father! Where are you going?" she bellowed after him "I demand an explanation!"

I'll give you my reasons in good time, dear Serrah. But if you don't mind, the sun's starting to go down, and an old wolf such as myself needs his rest."

"What? No! You can't just leave me on a cliffhanger like this! This is a serious matter, and we need to discuss it properly!"

"Then come in here and discuss to your heart's content. Meanwhile, I'll be taking a nap."

She made to follow him, but stopped herself near the shroud of shadows which enveloped the inside of the cave. The sillhoette of her father faded away into the darkness, like a spectre gliding off into the night. It was so... black in there. She turned away, heading off into the thick brambles and trees of the wilderness. Her father was right, an old wolf such as him needed a good, early bedtime. She and him would talk about that gods damned traitor later, for now she needed a place to sleep... Preferably somewhere in the moonlight.

---

"And I say it's personal!" I growl at the nosy (but nonetheless hot) dog before me. Do Equestrians have a different idea of etiquette? Because apparently it's all well and good to wake someone up in the middle of their hypnosis-induced beauty sleep so you can demand that they tell you what they're dreaming about. Not ask, demand. Well, Winona had done just that, a fatal mistake in my books. You think I'm a prick on average? When I'm fresh out of my metaphorical bed I make the usual me look like a bunny rabbit glomping a teddy bear.

"Consarnit! Why d'yall 'ave ta be so defensive!"

"Why do you need to be so perverted!"

That caught her off guard. "What did ya jus' say?"

"I said, why do you have to be so 'per-ver-ted.'" I drew the final word out so I could get it though that thick hillbilly skull of hers. No, it wasn't necessary, but by gods was it funny D'you have a thing for eyeing up your guests whilst they sleep or something?" I didn't mention the fact that the prospect of her watching me sleep had done so much for my fantasies.

She stared at me slack-jawed, her only movement the blinking of her eyes. Finally, she spoke "Are you really accusin' me of that?" She asked, her jaw still slack in confoundment "Y'all call me a pervert, in mah home, to mah face!"Her left eye twitched slightly, a subtle indicator of the rage within her. On hindsight, when I saw that little twitch I probably should have called it a day, but you know me...

"Can't say I blame you," I said matter-of-factly "I mean, who wouldn't want a piece of me?"

"OH THAT IS IT!"

---

Applejack stood vigilant at her quaint apple stand, trying in vain to sell her apple based goodies to the stuck up mares and stallions who were obviously too busy 'enjoying' themselves (if that was right word for it) to bother with a country girl such as herself. To them, she was nothing but some backwards hick, staining their party like a streak of sticky black oil on a pristine, white carpet. She could hear them whispering their snide comments about her 'common mane' and 'atrocious attire' as they strode past her, casting sour looks whenever sheso much as looked their way. 'Best night ever my flank' she mused to herself sadly as she fiddled with her stetson.

"Go back to Apploosa, cowmare." hissed a green unicorn as he trudged past uncaringly. Ouch, that one hurt. Her eyes began to grow warm with tears, and her chest tightened into a knot. 'c'mon, Applejack, you're a big mare, toughen up' she told herself, fighting back the urge to cry. Damn it, she was better than this.

"You know, I could kill them."

Turning to her left, she found the wolf, staring at her with eyes which burnt like and flickered like embers. Its mouth swung open, and it spoke to her in a raspy and otherworldly voice.

"I can kill them all. I could do it slowly, I could do it fast, I could do it any way I wanted..."

Applejack tried to scream, oh by Celestia how she wanted to scream, but no matter how hard she tried, her body wouldn't let her. It was as if somepony had jammed an invisible cork down her throat. She stood in shock, her eyes now interlocked with the wolf's.

"They'll die, Applejack, they'll die slowly, I'll make extra sure of it. And you're going to watch, just like you did when I hospitalised your brother."

---

Applejack awoke with a jolt beneath her favourite apple tree. That wolf, that Celestia damned wolf... She'd had that dream countless times before, but he had never been there before. She bent forward and rested her face in her hooves. If her paranoia over that vile creature kept up for any longer, she'd find herself in a straight jacket.

BARK BARK

*Whimper*

Applejack's ears perked up at the sudden angry barking and pained whimpering, her heart sinking into her stomach when she noticed where it was coming from.

"The barn!"
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Good afternoon, morning or night my fair readers! I'm afraid to say that I'll be off in adventure land for the next two weeks, so don't hold your breath for the next chapter. Super-duper-starship-trooper sorry, guys.

I'd like to give thanks to Maskedferret for his proof reading, it's thanks to him that this chapter is actually legible.

So, farewell! I'll get right back to work as soon as I'm finished abusing my liver.

Comments

[Brony Tom]

Arrrrgh, I don't know if I can last two weeks without another chapter. It had better be a good one.

Also, have fun and party soft!

[airbournesquid]

1463499Thanks a bunch, I'll try to get another chapter done in between all the hardcore ing.

[Aiovas]

MOAR please

[McPoopin]

There's a bunch of missing green, a few missing quotation marks and two or three spelling mistakes. It's good to see that this is still going, and bummer but oh well about the break. As for your liver, it fell down the stairs after walking into a door frame.

[Doctor REDACTED]

This story is bad