The Foal and the Timber Wolf

by airbournesquid

Pondering the past

For innumerable days and nights, the young timber wolf walked. He dragged himself through the lifeless wasteland of ash and embers, and back into livelier lands, where the forest remained untouched by the ravaging inferno that had swallowed up his home. The forest used to be so comforting and homely to him, but now, without a pack, everything seemed so alien. There was nobody left to watch over him, nobody there to cradle him when the sun went down and the winds grew strong. Being alone was all so new to him, and so terrifying. He wasn't strong like his dad, nor was he nimble like his mother, he was simply the runt, the unwanted little weakling. He was weak, defenceless and most of all starving. If something had wanted him dead, he wouldn't have put up much of a challenge. He barely had enough strength to stand, let alone fight.
However, in a strange kind of way, he almost wished that something would just jump out of the bushes and kill him already. Dying would just be so much easier, and starvation was already beginning to drain his life away anyways. Perhaps, if he prayed extra hard to the gods, they would grant his wish and send a manticore his way. Maybe death wouldn't be so bad. It could be like falling asleep, or even waking up. Yes, waking up from a terrible nightmare, safe in the knowledge that it was all just some warped dream. Could this be a nightmare?

No, nightmares had the courtesy to end.

The steady roar of gushing water caught the half-dead pup's attention. He had gone the past two days drinking nothing but his own saliva, which had coincidently dried up not long ago. He licked his lips with his bone dry tongue in anticipation. With great effort, he began to crawl towards the noise, the rumble of the distant waterfall willing him onwards.
As he edged closer, the sound grew louder, and his desperation grew stronger. With a final push he tumbled through the thick shrubs and bushes in front of him, revealing a tremendous river which seemed to go on for an eternity, winding through the forest like a vein of liquid crystal, gleaming and shimmering under the sunlight.

A couple more minutes of agonised struggling later, and the pup soon found himself staring into the rushing water, his unclear blur of a reflection looking back at him. With a heavy sigh of relief, the young timber wolf plunged his maw into the stream, lapping up the water so fast his throat began to sting. He came up, gasping for air, before dunking his head into the river once more. It seemed as if death wasn't ready for him after all. Not yet, anyways.

---

Applebloom slipped silently through the orchard, dragging the unconscious wolf behind her. Luckily, Applejack was on her break, napping underneath one of her beloved apple trees, which was a habit that she had picked up from Rainbow Dash. Hopefully nopony had checked the barn whilst she and Splinter were out on their walk around the outskirts of Ponyville. Applejack was a great sister and all, but she did tend to get a little... stressed when somepony disobeyed her orders. Once, Caramel (who worked on Sweet Apple Acres as a part-time employee) began harvesting the apples a day earlier than scheduled because he wanted to 'get a head start', as he put it. Applejack chewed him out for two hours straight and gave him a week's worth of night shifts to boot. The poor guy just stood there and took it on the chin.
To put it simply, when Applejack got mad, she got furious.

Applebloom dragged the limp wolf through the barn door and gently laid him to rest on the floor. Now that she thought about it, the floor was hardly a fitting bed for him. Meh, maybe she could get him a couple of towels, or a rug or something. Perhaps even a basket, like the one Winona had. Yeah, Splinter was bound to love that.

Well, at least she didn't have to worry about feeding him anymore. Fluttershy had agreed to drop off that weird wolf chow after Applebloom had snuck Splinter back into the barn. She was probably waking up Applejack right now, plopping her saddlebag full of meat down in front of her and insisting that she feed it to the Splinter so that he could stay 'nice and healthy'. If there was anypony who could talk about feeding chunks of a dead animal to your pet and sound adorable at the same time, it was Fluttershy. Heck, even Applebloom had a hard time competing with her, and she was a certified heart-warmer.

After motherly nuzzling Splinter's rough, wooden cheek, Applebloom skipped out of the barn with child-like innocence, brainstorming the different ways of how she could concoct a comfortable bed for her new pet. Could you earn cutie marks in bed making?

Hopefully...

---

Winona had always considered herself a forgiving dog, within reason, of course. Whenever Applebloom hid her favourite chew toy and laughed whilst she spent hours on end trying to sniff it out. She let it slide, because in the end of the day it was just a game. When Applejack hauled her off to the vets to have some funny looking stallion jab the living crap out of her with sharp needles that supposedly stopped rabies, she would forgive her as well, because she was just concerned about her health. When Granny Smith forgot to feed her, she wouldn't take any notice of it, because Granny Smith was technically a relic, therefore bound to forget things here and there. She was a Granny after all, having the memory span of a goldfish was kind of in the job description. However, if there was anything that she found utterly inexcusable, it was tardiness.

And guess who was behind schedule.

She thought she had made it clear to that foul mouthed log of a canine, meet her here, four o'clock, on the dot. It was five, so she'd been waiting by the oak tree for about an hour. He actually had the moxy to stand her up. Did that cocky mound of kindling even want to learn about the joys of living? Probably not. Still, she gave him an appointment, an order, and nobody disobeyed her orders (the farm's cattle found that out the hard way).

Winona got up from the spot she had been waiting in, and briskly began to make her way towards the barn, her fury building with each step. When she was finished with him, there would be nothing left but a couple of wood shavings.

---

I wake up to the musical twitter of songbirds and the steady whir of a subtle summer breeze. Opening my eyes, I'm greeted with the lively green and deep brown of the forest. The sunlight weaves its way through the ceiling of leaves, coating the world with a warm, golden light. Everything from the mighty trunks of the trees to the grassy and damp ground is teeming with life. Beetles and ants scurry across the soil, sparrows and woodpeckers sit perched upon the branches and countless forms of wildlife strafe through the sun soaked bushes. It was all so colourful, so alive.

I realise almost immediately that I am home.

How did I get here? I left these lands long ago, ever since... actually, you know what? It doesn't matter, I'm here now, home. I don't know how I got here, and to be honest, I don't really care either. I'm back, reunited with my homeland, everything else is unimportant.

Home.

"You know, you can't laze around all day."

That voice... so stern, yet so soothing. There was only one wolf in the world whose voice was as delightful as that.

"Mum?" I ask, turning slowly on the spot. My jaw hangs open on its hinges as I face the wolf behind me. It's her. Oh gods, it's her. My mother sits before me, her head tilted ever so slightly to the side and her mouth curved in a warm and comforting smile. Her brilliant yellow eyes shine with motherly compassion, her innocent stare thick with the love only a parent can give.

"Mum? H-how are you... when did... how?"

She giggles heartily, a mirthful and joyous sound. I swear her laughter alone was enough to thaw the iciest of hearts.

"Oh, come now" She cooed, gracefully striding towards me "you don't have to worry about any of that, you're here now, and that's all that matters".

She raises a paw and gently lays it on my cheek. A single tear trickles down her face before she pulls me towards her and encompasses me in a loving hug.

"After all this time... you're back, you're finally back."

My eyes brim with tears as I return her sweet embrace. This was impossible, my parents died gods know how long ago, and my home died with them... yet here I am, my remaining foreleg wrapped tightly across the back of my dead mother's neck.

She tightened her grip, sliding a paw onto the back of my head and bringing it firmly into her chest. My ear flattens against her breast, and I can hear the rhythmic beating of her heart drumming away inside of her. She lowers her head to mine and whispers in her sweet, motherly voice.
"Fucking coward."

What?
I try to get back up and face her, but pushes me down. Hard.

"M-mum?"

"We raised you, loved you, wiped the shit from your backside, and this is how you repay us?"
The sound of my mother swearing was strange and unnatural. A voice as harmonious as that wasn't meant to be tarnished with foul language, it just sounded... wrong.
Suddenly, I realise that there were several things that didn't quite seem right. My mother's hug was never so tight, my home never used to be so colourful, the birds in the trees weren't moving, it was like some kind of elaborate set for a play. However, there was one thing that trumped all else, something that stood out above all the rest.

My mother, or whoever the hell this was, wasn't casting a shadow.

I pull away, this time harder, and thankfully tumble out of the imposter's grasp. Scrambling to my paws, I aim to put as much distance between me and... whatever the heck this thing is as possible.

"So, you're running away again?" growled my fake mother. "I knew you would, I damned well knew you would!"

I bolt off into the woods as fast as my legs can carry me. Slowly, the trees begin flake away and dissolve into clouds of grey ash, as if an unseen fire was ravaging them.

"Well, running won't do you any good here, you hear me you little shit?" Roars the voice of my mother "you'll burn, you hear me? Your going to fucking burn!"

It's just a dream, just a gods-damned dream. Oh please, for the love of Drathgurg, let it be a dream!

---

Winona closed in on the barn, her teeth bared and her ears flattened against her skull. She could smell the wolf's treacherous scent wafting through the air. He reeked of laziness, cowardice and... filly? Applebloom. Yes, that was it, he smelt like laziness, cowardice and Appl- wait.
Her heart sank into her gut and her entire body went numb as a horrifying realisation struck her.

Applebloom was alone with a timber wolf.

Winona's angry march broke into a terrified dash towards the barn. How could she let this happen? She was a guard dog, it was her job to make sure nopony went and got themselves killed! Dozens of images flashed through her mind, each depicting what that savage would do to poor little Applebloom. She could see it now, she'd burst through those doors and find the floor red and sticky with blood, little yellow limbs thown carelessly across the room and chunks of strawberry coloured scalp resting in small, crimson puddles. The wolf would be standing in the middle of the gory chaos with what little remained of Applebloom's shredded torso gripped in between his sharp, flesh-churning teeth.
In short, Winona wasn't a very positive thinker.

She bolted into the barn with such speed that she actually skidded across the floor and collapsed onto her side. Winona wasted no time getting to her paws, there could be lives at stake here. 'By Celestia, if he's so much as touched a hair on her head I'll-'

The wolf was laid out across the floor, convulsing violently. His jaws were clamped shut and his teeth were making a cringeworthy squeal as they grinded together. The sound made her skin crawl in disgust. It was vaguely similar to the sound of cutlery being dragged across a dinner plate (Big Mac had a horrible habit of doing that). She'd have to stop him before he turned his teeth in to dust.

'But would that really be such a bad thing?' Murmured the small, almost silent voice that was in the back of everypony's head. The one that tells you to light fires and laugh at the sick and dying, the little devil sitting on your shoulder, begging you to do something mean 'no teeth means no biting'

Winona briskly shook the thought from her head. Although she didn't like the foul mouthed varmint, she didn't exactly hate him either. Besides, she'd never sink that low. Flankhole or not, he was still an animal with thoughts and feelings.

'Yeah, he has thoughts alright. Remember the way he was staring at you this morning, oh! Or those things he'd said to you yesterday?'

Damn straight she remembered it, heck, it was pretty hard to forget someone telling you that 'your hips look very adequate for child bearing'. Somebody needed to teach this wolf to put a cork in it every now and then, to have some restraint, and to not go swearing his head off at the closest pony whenever he got a little agitated. It looked like that somebody was her.

The wolfmade a struggled and choking noise, as if drowning in his own saliva. Just what the heck was wrong with him, anyways? Was he having a fit or something? Do timber wolves even get fits? Regardless, it looked like he was in trouble, and she had the perfect idea to fix that.
She strode up to the fidgeting wolf and delivered a slap to the tip of his nose.

"-UST A DREAM!" wailed the wolf as he jerked upright fast enough to put that rainbow coloured pegasus who slept around in the apple trees to shame (Winona could never quite remember her name... Raindrop Runner or something? Bah! Stupid pony names).

Any anger Winona held for the wolf quickly dissolved into concern. First the muttering in his sleep, and now this? Just what the hay was he dreaming about that could give him such a scare? Something was wrong with him, and those scars on his face didn't just appear overnight. There was a story to this wolf, a dark one.

And in due time, she'd find it out.

Comments

[McPoopin]

Interesting story, but my gosh there are a lot of punctuation errors.

[Aiovas]

More please

[airbournesquid]

1358816mind giving me a helping hand and point them out? I hate leaving errors uncorrected

[Kishin]

I love this. I didn't notice any punctuation errors (I'm a fast reader though, so I might not pick on any errors, and I'm somewhat very forgiving about spelling)

I can't wait for more!

[airbournesquid]

1361660 Thanks, I think I'm (finally) getting over my atrocious grammar issues

[Wargish Blood]

You know how to write a good story. All I am going to say.

[airbournesquid]

1401859 Thanks, I appreciate it