Backstory of Melody Song

by Melody Song

New Pet?

"It's... adorable!" Harper squealed, and the others joined us.

Curled up in the ferns, was a wolf cub. It was a female, and she had a fur coat that was a beautiful silver color. She looked up at us with bright yellow eyes like flecks of gold. I completely agreed with Harper, she was the cutest thing ever.

"She must've been separated from the rest of the pack." Ocellus said

"Welp, then she had better get out of here before she brings the pack to us." Gallus said, making a shooing motion at the cub.

"Gallus, no." Sandbar took Gallus' claw. "What if she's hurt?"

"Yeah, and what if she's alone and without any friends and they left her and they won't ever come back?" Silverstream asked, and Gallus froze.

"I..." he sighed "Okay, so we don't have to chase her off. But what are we going to do with her?"

"Professor Fluttershy knows how to care for wild animals." Ocellus put in. "Maybe she can tell us what to do with her."

"Alright, come on then." Zamara said

"Yeah, I think we can give up on visiting the Treehouse today." Smolder added

"Yona carry wolf cub." Yona said, leaning closer.

The young wolf whined and backed away.

"What's wrong with her?" Zamara asked

"I think she's nervous. Seeing all these new faces has got to be scary for her." Glen responded

"So what do we do?" Shine asked

I hesitated, then extended my hoof. "Shh, it's okay." I soothed, placing my hoof near the cub, then promptly turning my head and focusing on a nearby tree.

"Mel, what are you doing?" Harper asked, and I ignored them.

I felt the wolf sniffing my hoof, then she licked it. I looked back to her, then reached and drew her close to me with my hoof. The cub didn't even struggle as I placed her on my back.

"Woah, how did you do that?" Dahlia asked

"Professor Fluttershy's lesson in animal care." Ocellus replied for me "She told us that dogs often need to be reassured that you aren't going to harm them. So if you hold out your hoof or claw and look away from them, you're giving them a choice whether or not to trust you."

"And dogs are related to wolves. I figured it was worth a try." I explained

"They are?" Gallus asked

"Dogs and wolves are both of the genus Canis of the family Canidae. Dogs are a sub-species, Canis Lupus Familiaris, making them closely related to the Canis Lupis-common wolf." I recited

Everyone stared at me and I blushed. I shuffled my hooves.

"I really like the parts of science class where we study evolution and things along those lines." I mumbled sheepishly.

"That's really cool!" Silverstream said eagerly

"Th-Thanks..."

"Come on, let's get her back to Professor Fluttershy." Smolder said

We headed out, the wolf cub whimpering on my back. Her claws, like all wolves, were non-retractable, but they were dull from her walking on them all the time. So her claws merely dug into my fur. We made it back as quickly as we could, but it would be too strange to see me carrying a wolf onto campus. So Gallus and Zamara went to get Professor Fluttershy while the rest of us waited with the cub.

"Kids?" Professor Fluttershy ran towards us, Gallus and Zamara flying after her. "Where's the wolf?"

"Here Professor." Harper pointed to where the wolf cub was curled at my side.

"Gallus and Zamara told me you were the one who convinced her to follow you." Professor Fluttershy said, and I nodded, looking away.

"I'm sorry, I know it was a risk but she could've been hurt."

"It's perfectly fine Melody, you did the right thing." Professor Fluttershy assured me. "Now, let's take a look at this little one."

Professor Fluttershy leaned down and began to examine the wolf. She backed away, whimpering.

"It's alright sweetie, I won't bite." Professor Fluttershy soothed, and I remembered that her talent meant she could communicate with animals. However, in spite of her coaxing, the cub continued to shy away from her.

"Hey, it's alright." I said, putting my hoof in the cub's fur. "She's trying to help."

When I joined in, helping Professor Fluttershy to urge the cub to come closer, it worked. Professor Fluttershy looked her over, then gave the young wolf a comforting pet on the head.

"Well, she seems alright. I'll keep her at Sweetfeather Sanctuary for a little bit before releasing her."

"Why? Can't she just go find her pack again?" Gallus asked

"Yona not understand why Professor can't let wolf go."

"Yeah, why can't we just let her go back to them in the woods." Shine added

"She's been around all of us for quite a while." Professor Fluttershy explained. "Our scents may be on her, and if she immediately goes back to her pack like this, they might reject her because she smells like us."

"Oh." Shine said

"Come on then, I'll drop her off at the Sanctuary on our way back to the school." Professor Fluttershy said, and we all began to head back, when I felt a tug on my tail.

"Ow!" I yelped, and turned. The wolf cub had my long black tail in her mouth, and was holding me there.

"Heh, she really likes you." Sandbar chuckled

"A little too much, she's pulling out hairs." I said, a sharp edge to my tone. The cub immediately dropped my tail after hearing me.

"Hm... you don't think that she could be... bonding with you, could she?" Glen asked

Bonding. A term I knew of. Sometimes it happened with birds, cats, or dogs, usually in young animals. When the young creature bonds with the first other creature they come into contact with. The young wolf could be bonding with me, but why would she?

"Bonding? With me? Why?" I asked

"You and Harper were the ones who found her, and you were the one who got her to come with us." Smolder said

"Yeah..." I trailed off as the wolf bounded up to me.

"You know, there's probably a slim chance she'll find her pack again once we're allowed to release her..." Shine said

"Are you thinking what I think you are?" Dahlia asked

"Please? I've always wanted a pet!" Shine said

"I don't think that's a good idea, right Professor?" I asked, but Professor Fluttershy was smiling.

"Well, it is true that the chances of finding her pack again will be slim, especially if we wait to make sure she doesn't have our scent on her. Wolves tend to roam, so they may have moved on by then. And I have been asking Twilight about a campus mascot."

"Really?!" Silverstream and Shine asked eagerly.

Professor Fluttershy nodded and the two hippogriffs hugged, squealing. The others looked rather excited too.

"So..." I prompted

"What are you going to name her?" was the Professor's response.

My eyes widened and I looked down at the wolf. "W-Well... she's silver..."

"So... Silver?" Harper asked

"What about Star?!" Shine asked eagerly

"Constellation?" Dahlia suggested

I hesitated, then looked down and smiled. "Echo."

"Ooh, that's a great name!" Silverstream said

"Welcome, Echo." Professor Fluttershy said with a smile.