> The Everfree Foal
>  by Comrade Bagel Muffin
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Foalnapped and Circus Star
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Free Spirit yawned waking up in the small cave that the pack was spending the summer in. They rubbed their eyes with the blunted paws. Unlike the rest of their family Spirit’s legs didn’t end in the sharp bark hard claws like the rest of their family in the pack, but instead their legs ended in blunted hooves, it wasn’t the only difference between them and their family nor even the most noticeable. Everything about them was different: the rest of the family had hard bark like skin, their skin was soft with a small but gentle layer of fur, the others had glowing eyes, were as Spirit’s eyes were mostly white with just a small circle of sky blue, and the rest of the pack even the pups possessed a strength to recover from even the most debilitating wounds, but for them a broken leg from a failed hunt had taken months to recover from.
Despite these terrible abnormalities, the pack still took care of them as one of their own. Free Spirit stretched yawning again, before they made their war to the back of the cave. A beam of sun light came through a large hole in the ceiling, and reflected off of the pool that was at the back of the cave. It worked as a kind of mirror and Free Spirit looked down at their reflection. A small moss green face with blue eyes and a dirty, and very messy emerald green mane looked back at them. Spirit kicked the water not like the reflection, before leaning down and lapping up the water.
One of the older wolves joined her at the pond lapping up its fill of water before putting its paw on Spirit’s back. Free Spirit stopped drinking. The pools water soon stilled again reflecting them. Spirit growled and slashed at the water with her blunt hoof. The paw on their back pushed down hard putting them to the ground. Free Spirit gave a few pitiful whines, but offered no protest. Their whining increased as the pool calmed again showing the two of them. A few tears trickled down their face as they looked at how wrong they were compared to the elder timber wolf. The wolf leaned down and licked Spirit’s cheek a few times and Spirit returned the gesture, before the wolf removed its paw from their back and walked back to lounge at the mouth of the cave until Alpha returned.
Free Spirit walked to a small pile of leaves and curled up next to the other pups, they had just started drifting off to sleep when a bark snout pressed into their side. They stirred with the other pups. They slowly started making their way to the mouth of the cave. The full pack was gathered at the entrance to the cave, the time had come for the new timber wolf pups to be born. Alpha began walking toward Sacred Grove the rest of the pack following at their own pace. Free Spirit walked near the front always behind Alpha but the never more than one or two wolves behind, normally they’d be punished for pushing ahead of their rank but for this the other wolves allowed them to move as close to the front of the pack as they pleased.
They arrived at Sacred Grove not to long after the sun had reached its height. Alpha looked around the rest of the pack did as well, picking up the faint smells on the wind that Free Spirit had never smelled, nor could with their weak nose. Free Spirit waited not sure what the rest of the pack smelled. They looked around trying to find what was keeping the pack from examining the grove for new born pups.
A second later Free Spirit found out. A net shot out snatching them. They screamed and howled as more nets were shot into the pack. The pack cut through the nets that tried to pin them then the air filled with a greenish-grey smoke that smelled like a rotted apples and noxious things that they'd never smelled. They couldn't help but throw up as strange creatures moved though the gas and looked down at Spirit as others moved in. They were strange like spirit but with no fur or hair covered baggy yellow skin with a weird trunk that went back into their skin, they had no mouths and two big reflective black eyes. They tried to drive off the rest of the pack as they moved around collecting their nets. Free Spirit tried to growl at them to scare them away. The strange creatures glared at them behind soulless reflective eyes before pulling the net with them in it. A few minutes later Spirit was thrown into a cart and hauled away by the creatures.
Free Spirit howled and howled but none of the pack came for them. After half an hour they came to a stop and Free Spirit was dragged toward a strange structure, a closed cart with a door leading up to it. The monsters tapped on the wall and it opened for them.
"Come in come in. My door is always open." Free Spirit was dragged in behind the creatures. The thing that was inside wasn't like the monsters but was like them. A deformed wolf, but with orange fur and a black mane and tail and a bit of black hair above their mouth, and they were a lot bigger. "What is this thing I asked for timber wolves not for you to foalnap a filly." The thing said in a language Free Spirit couldn't comprehend.
"She's been howling and growling at us all the way here boss, and we found her with that timber wolf pack.
"Howls does she well let's hear it filly howl for me." He waved a hoof at Spirit. "I said howl!" He cracked a manticore tamer's whip. Spirit whimpered backing away from the creature, what ever it was, whatever she was, whatever these other things were, this one was the alpha. New Alpha moved in toward her.
"I'd not do that Ring Leader. She's been growling at us the whole way here."
"I'm fine I'm fine lads." New Alpha pulled away her net and grabbed her by her messy mane pulling her up. She whimpered but gave no protest. "See this filly is just like the bitch she thinks she is. She just needed to know that I'm in charge here." He walked back out. "You lot stay there. This this is going to be worth a lot more than just a timber wolf, I'll be sure to pay you accordingly." He threw her in a cage before locking it and walking away.





"Ladies and Gentlecolt and foals of all ages." New Alpha's voice rang out from just behind the cloth and the bars of Free Spirit's cage. New Alpha's pack had dressed her up tying bark around her body and putting fake claws and fangs on her. "It has been my pleasure to give you this show. But there is one attraction left." The booming of the drums picked up. "Those of you with small foals or weak constitutions should leave now. For this isn't like the other. The place behind the fabric went dark. "In my travels through the Everfree to bring to you a live timber wolf. I found something far more interesting." The drums got faster. "A ten-year-old filly raised by the wolves unable to speak our language, she eats only meat, and talks by barks and howls. I give you the Weremare!" The cage was opened and she was pushed out.
Free Spirit looked around in wide eyed fear at large crowd in the stands as the drums ceased their noise. She ran around trying to climb up the walls barking, begging to be taken back to the Everfree but whatever she did the ponies only gawked at her. The whip cracked and she froze in place shaking like a leaf, the bark on her back seemed to rub against the fresh whip lashes she'd gotten during 'training'. She looked over to New Alpha for her command.
"Heel." She came to his hooves tail tucked between her legs. "Sit." She obeyed. "Good girl." New Alpha patted her head. "Fetch." He threw a chicken liver she ran after it and began eating as much as she could. The crowd gasped in horror, and the whip snapped again, making her back away from the liver blood still running down her chin. "No eating. Bring." She thought hard trying to remember all the complicated commands. "Bring!" He commanded again and the whip snapped. She cowered whimpering. New Alpha sighed. "I'm sorry folks she's so wild we've yet to train her. But for her first time it wasn't to bad give her an applauds." He walked over grabbing her and moving her back to her cage. They rolled her away to the back giving her the rest of the liver to eat.
Spirit just gnawed on it. The commands were so confusing and the big room so scary. She hoped she'd never have to do it again.