I'm Bold and There're Wolves After Me
Silence was a rather strange concept when it came to the Everfree Forest.
Not that the forest couldn’t be silent, of course. Most of the time it wasn’t; the wooded realm was host to any number of living things living their lively lives, and they had a tendency to generate a sizable amount of noise in the process of doing so. If some form of unicorn sorcery could manage to capture an undisturbed sample of Everfree ambience, the caster would find themselves with a collection of rustling leaves, scurrying animals, crunching in the underbrush, and snarls, roars, and moans from the region’s larger creatures.
Yet whenever a pony, or any other sentient being, entered the depths of the forbidding woods, they would inevitably find themselves in eerie, distressing silence as their eyes darted about, seeking any signs of movement as the entire ecosystem seemed to go entirely still around them. At best, they could maybe hope to hear the occasional mocking hoot of an owl, maybe the softest of rustlings that could have come from any direction; maybe, just maybe, a distant howl.
But even if such a fortunate warning of imminent danger came, it wouldn’t be from the timberwolf that had actually snuck up on said sentient. That timberwolf would have been dead silent, and even the reeking odor of its breath carried by a breeze or the sound of twigs snapping and shifting as it lunged forward was rarely registered quickly enough for its prey to escape in time, even if they had wings.
And so it went; the forest would become very loud for a few short moments, and then silent.
There were a few precautions any being hoping to avoid such an encounter could take. Traveling in groups, especially three or more, could be enough to make a wolf think twice about going in for an attack, though it was far from a certainty. There were also some areas the wolves tended to steer clear of; the woods near the abandoned castle, for example, or the general vicinity of the animal caretaker’s cottage (the latter due in part to a heavy concentration of cockatrices). But the best hope of avoiding an encounter, especially for an ill-advised solo traveler, was to enforce the silence of the forest upon themselves. It wouldn’t always save them—in addition to impeccable hearing ability, timberwolves boasted a strong sense of smell that, by some fluke of maginature, wasn’t impaired by their own stench—but it would certainly help.
Most who dared to venture into the Everfree were well aware of this. Most also knew to get in and out as quickly as possible without attracting attention.
Most.
Ever since a certain night that had gone on far longer than usual—one that had proven quite fruitful for the timberwolves, and, had it stretched out any further, could have seen them cross beyond the bounds of the forest into Ponyville—the Everfree, ever so frequently, had found itself host to a number of surprise entrances from a new kind of sentient. Well, somepony might have argued they were sentient, though none had reached any other beings who might be capable of judging; one nearly made it as far as the resident zebra’s hut (which had its own protections in place against dendrolupine intrusion) before a set of splintery jaws had clamped down around its head.
For it seemed this new sort of being, a mostly hairless, two-legged type which seemed to exclusively make its entrances into the forest via a strangely controlled plummet from the sky, was apparently entirely lacking in any sort of common sense about the Everfree’s code of conduct.
It made noise. Lots of noise.
The trouble, of course, was the fact that other timberwolves existed, with virtually identical sensory capabilities, and would inevitably be drawn to the noises of this being. And it was almost always other timberwolves. On rare occasions, a manticore might happen to be close enough to witness a landing, and thus get the jump on silencing the bizarre biped, or a nearby cockatrice might catch them in its stare. Otherwise, however, the wolves’ senses were simply too keen to be beaten.
As such, any timberwolf desiring to be the one to make the kill would have to act quickly. Though some of these bipeds would attempt to fight back, generally in a desperate, uncoordinated fashion, it meant little. One wolf could bring them down easily.
Thankfully, the excess of noise made it possible reach a landing site quickly without being detected, even with such a sizable physical frame to account for.
Such was the case with the timberwolf that had arrived on the outskirts of a forest clearing. Its large wooden body was crouched behind a barricade of foliage, but its green eyes were able to pierce through and analyze the being that had just stumbled to its feet.
This latest biped was on the lankier side, wearing loose-fitting garb that swayed as its wearer looked around at its environment; not keenly enough, clearly, given it looked right past where the wolf was hidden. It seemed to have distinct facial features—a small mercy, for the green-skinned variants that were lacking in such had a vile taste to them. Predictably, it was making noise.
“Seriously, where am I? One minute I’m stepping out into the middle of the crosswalk after leaving Comic-Con, and there’s a big loud truck horn? I had right of way, don’t know what that asshole was complaining about. But how did I end up falling from the sky? And where the hell is this forest? This sure is a weird forest!”
As the odd creature continued to ramble, the wolf’s gaze penetrated further through the bushes that concealed it. The biped may not have been aware of anything around it, but the wolf was scanning for anything that could potentially get in its way—another predator making its own approach, an irregularity in the landscape that could cause it to stumble as it went in for the attack, or a possible setup for a trap. (Every now and then, one or more ponies would make the brave effort to capture a wolf for study—very foolish ponies, though ones that still had at least a modicum more sense in their heads than the thing in the creature’s sights.) But there was nothing; not even a bird fluttering around to investigate the commotion.
The birds knew better.
“Wait a minute! I do know this place!” the yowling continued. “It’s the Everfree! The Everfree Forest from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, my absolute favorite show! But how can I be here, that’s all fiction! Unless… unless that truck really did hit me? Am I dead? Is this the afterlife? But My Little Pony is fiction! How is this possible?”
Satisfied that the pathway was clear, the wolf crept along the edge of the clearing, hidden in the inky darkness inside the treeline. The soft ground muffled the thud of its steps, and the creature measured every movement, careful not to place its feet on anything that would send its prey running. As it reached the optimal position, it crouched all the way down to the ground, tensing itself.
“Unless… no, this can’t be the afterlife.” The biped stepped forward triumphantly, though not enough to disrupt the wolf’s angle of attack. “It’s a new life! I’ve been reincarnated! I won’t be a worthless shut-in loser anymore, no no! I’m a human in Equestria! The ponies will love me! I wonder where in the timeline I am… I could tell them about the future! I’d be a prophet! Yes, yes, I’ll be revered, celebrated, so special that ponies will want to date me, maybe I’ll even dethrone Celestia herself and become their ruler, their god!”
The being threw its arms to the sky, and the timberwolf sprung into the air.
“Look out, world, here comes—”
And then there was screaming. And then there was silence.
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God bless the Everfree for keeping Equestria safer from threats than most of its protagonists, rulers, and military.
Oh *snap*! And *crunch* and *rip* and *tear*, no doubt.
It’s for the best. I usually give manticores the solemn duty of cleaning out the isekai’d, but someone’s got to do it. Lovely little tale (and I admit, I probably wouldn’t do any better.)
Damn, that sucks. The humans don't really deserve it not did they ask for it.
11561669
"What is this concept called 'humor?' I am deeply upset by it's existence."
11561672
It's possible to understand the joke but still feel sorry for people dying.
Cesar Millan in Equestria when?
11561679
I don't know how to tell you this, but the people are made up. They aren't actually dying.
Timberwolves are well fed and do not venture out from Everfree to hunt ponies, as there is no need.
Nature is in balance, everything at it's place.
Harmony achieved.
Lore improved
The narration here is spot on, a perfect blend of sarcasm and national geographic-esque documentary about the dangers of isekaing without wearing plot armor, equally funny as effective in making the timberwolves actually threatening for a change.
The yuxtaposition between the displaced human excitement and the timberwolf approaching it's prey was hilarious too. For him it was the best day of his life. For the timberwolf, it was lunch time.
You have earned your upvote
good luck with the contest!
11561669
Eh it's just anons and the like. Nothing of value was lost.
Meanwhile, equestrian scientists are baffled by the strange bones they keep coming across in timberwolf territory! It seems to be some sort of bipedal, apelike being that nopony has ever seen before!
11561695
No shit.
AKA, 99.999% of HIE, anon, or Displaced, stories (yeah, I know a few shake things up. But they're seriously outnumbered). So the timberwolves are in fact doing Equestria a major public service by removing them from continued living.
Take your damn fav and upvote.
kicks that one time I did the human-in-equestria meets timberwolves trope under the rug in mild shame
11561616
11561630
11561646
.
This.
11561687
11561706
Now if only more would do this.
11561724
Hey , unlike the Mighty Whitey (horse edition) Gary Stu performing autofellatio disguised as a story, Anons are usually entertaining idiots like that yellow guy.
Yes, this is an excuse to post the first half of the previous sentence.
Consider using "sapient"
About Timberwolves, I have this headcanon that the deeper you are in the forest, the faster they regenerate. They are never alone, never tire, and can only be killed in specific ways that are not possible for an average character in a random encounter. Smashing one to bits would only win a few seconds.
You have an excellent grasp of how most HiE stories are written. I only regret that you had to read enough of them to get this data.
Alondro lands in the Everfree... and the Timberwolves approach.
Alondro... smiles... horribly... the wolves freeze in terror. They sense something... unnatural.
The Thing called Alondro speaks, "Mmmmmm, are you vegetative lupines into vore?"
The Timberwolves scream like little girls and flee for their lives.... and their virginity.
(Now THAT is a horror story!)
A moment of silence for all the Anons lost in this story.
11561715
.
This.
11561798
11561813
Then stop acting like fictional human lives matter.
11561857
🤣.
11561892
Exactly.
11561938
Same.
11561983
11561993
Only important things deserve a moment of silence. Prey doesn't.
11562076
We're allowed to post our thoughts. Stories invoke emotion, good or bad, joke or no joke. Stop telling people how to act.
11561646
Silly question, but why manticores? They need more love to be fair.
I never understood why everyone thinks timberwolves are a threat to humans or anyone else for that matter. They couldn't catch up with Spike, a bipedal midget, they take forever to regenerate, they fall apart if someone throws a rock at them. Hell, just tripping and falling is enough to shatter them. Even their giant, powered up form died by choking on a tiny pebble. And yet almost every story portrays them as super murder machines. What gives?
11562156
The same reason many stories tend to portray the Royal Guard as competent. It's cooler.
11562143
"Human runs into manticore" seemed to be more prevalent than "human runs into timberwolf" when I wrote it.
Huh. Déjà vu.
I think your story's better, though.
11561646
11562272
Manticores are so 2012. Get with the times, old man. We timberwolf gang now.
11562143
11562272
As 11562306 helpfully if obliquely pointed out, manticores had a season and a half's head start.
I get the feeling Zecora suspects a large number of Sasquatch are getting eaten in her patch of the forest.
Dang, I thought anon or whatever would treat the wolf like a doggy. It would probably be distressing for the wolf, or end up being like that wolfman from that anime with the professional wrestler.
Well, sometimes I would really wonder why do humans act so arrogant towards something new.
11562156
(just like if guards don't get to do things they get useless over time
)
You know, I once thought that a hare's hopping legs are only good for running away, until I found out that some of them could actually kill an attacking eagle with a kick. Mother nature's so fascinating, isn't she?
And Creatures learn, creatures involve, surely after particularly Big accidents like this they would know how to eat the better food in better ways.
Being content in the forest doesn't help much with intelligence especially for plants, you know
11562365
Only problem is that we only ever saw one manticore (that I remember). We saw plenty of timberwolves. So it does make sense in a way that they're the ones to clean up these messes.
11562592 There were 2 manticores. The first was 'Manny Roar', and the second was the one with horns who took part in the 'Manticore Mouth Dive' 5 seasons later in the show.
Hello! I'm reading and reviewing all the treefic contest entries, so here's yours. I noted your request not to take this too seriously, and I had fun. Upvoted!