Author's Note

Applejack feels the call of the wild.

No, this is not a third Timberjack segement. Kinda.

I had it in my head for a long time to develop each Monsterverse segment in the Journal into a full story for quite some time. When did I decide to do that? When Audrarius made a particularly salacious piece of wonderful artwork based on the futanari segment, I made a second monster story, Fluttershy's Feeding Ground for him as a thank you. That got me thinking. What other monsters would the My Little Pony verse be?

That was the seed that brought Timberjack, the full story, into fruition. Yet as I sat at the word processor at the now refined scene, I didn't like what I had. I fully intended to have what I had in the Journal as a centerpiece, but having too much the same felt... cheap. I rewrote it yet again, but then a big problem came to mind.

There are only so many ways you can write a wolf.

Humans are multifaceted. Wolves are not. At least, not as much. I did get almost to where the sex scene would be util I realized I had dealt all my cards. There was nothing left to get back into sexy times; how would a wolf of all things to this when it is just a wolf? Taking initiative is not the forte of a wild monster. Call this story a testament to my hubris, but this is that final segment where I stopped while I was ahead. No sex in this chapter. Sorry.

TimberJack (First Story Draft Cut)- [Applejack] [Fluttershy] [Timberwolf] [Lycanthropy] [Inappropriate nuzzle] [No sex]

There was something foul in the air. Some nagging little tick had lodged itself in Fluttershy’s brain and was holding on for dear life. Some unseelie blessing came with this moon. There was something wrong this night. Something bad.

Despite the full moon casting the skies in a dim blue glow, tonight was not a good night to be venturing out. It never was in Ponyville. Whereas the light allowed ponies to see and gave farmers slightly longer hours, so did it benefit the creatures of the forest. The still night air did nothing to silence the beasts awakened in the forest.

Fluttershy had made the terrible mistake of alerting Zecora to recent events. Wolves and attacks, investigations and murder. Zecora whispered some poem in her native tongue and cast a sign to ward off evil. Fluttershy had found her on the trail back to her hut in the forest. It was up to Fluttershy to find her way back home. By then the sun had already set, but even then very little could penetrate the canopy of the Everfree Forest. She knew the path by heart, but even she knew that getting caught after dark in such a place was bad enough. Staying home would have been the safe choice, but Zecora needed to know.

The quiet was on her side. She was small and quiet; a little one such as her wasn’t worth the trouble of a meal or considered a threat. As much as Rainbow Dash wanted her to be more extroverted, being as she was was a considerable advantage.

Roots and moss softened each step. Fluttershy quickly and quietly cast her head about. Her ears twitched back and forth, but sound wouldn’t be of much help. Although ponies had very keen hearing, the primordial woods held beasts that called this place home long before the arrival of equines. Stealth was second nature to them. No, she was looking for the bushes and plants, the telltale sign of disturbed shrubbery—

Oh no.

She was ambushed before she could react, tackled just as she heard the sound of groaning wood. Timberwolf!

But only one? It was strange to have one alone and not in a pack. Perhaps it like her was caught alone in the twilight hours. Or was it the wildling, a mystery beast that had attacked Applejack and not Noteworthy after all?

It took just a moment for her to catch her footing and her remaining limbs were safely beneath her shaking knees. If there was one thing she was good at, it was running away. She could always perform the Stare, but she could barely see in the dark underbrush. All she could hear once she had orientated herself was the slight rustle of the shrubbery.

Behind!

Fluttershy turned tail and ran. She wasn’t brave, but she knew enough about survival. She knew where she was in the woods. She was still on the path and could return home to the safety of her cottage in no time at all!

Everything was thrown off kilter as the wolf caught up to her again, sending her sprawling into the dirt. That didn’t make any sense; Timberwolves were not this fast! Nor were they this aggressive. They were pack hunters; they attacked with ambushes, and certainly didn’t use these hit and fade solo maneuvers like the one currently tailing her.

Was she in a new wolf’s territory? Did she intrude on a fresh kill? No, she would have smelt something. A solitary timberwolf driven from its pack or had its pack killed off by another predator? It was possible, but at the same time the other packs should have driven it out very quickly.

Fluttershy froze as she heard the wolf issue a creaky growl of warning. The groaning and creaking of its voice along with slow, measured steps signified its approach. She needed to see it to gauge how best to react. Normally they wanted intruders just to leave them alone, but perhaps the best course of action was simply use the Stare.

Inch by very careful inch she turned her head, not daring to get up for fear of reprisal. Doing so might be interpreted as a sign of challenge. Her jaw dropped the moment she saw those glowing green eyes.

“Applejack!?”

The timberwolf faltered slightly. It was Applejack, that much was plain to see, but Fluttershy had no earthly idea what happened to her. Was this some kind of curse? Bark covered just about the entirety of her forelegs and barrel, but her cutie mark was as clear as day. What fur she did have left was long and shaggy. Another bark-like infection covered most of her eyes and forehead like a mask. Unearthly green timberwolf’s nature magic made her eyes glow in the dark. Twigs, leaves, and brambles dotted her normally immaculate mane.

But what concerned her most was the long drooling tongue and the pony molars that were now lengthened into large canines.

Applejack clawed at the ground and advanced, barring her teeth at the timid pegasus. Her cursed friend’s leg tightened, the jaw of sharp teeth opened wide.

Fluttershy didn’t think, she just reacted. Wings open, eyes wide.

“Sit down!”

Applejack snarled and whined under the force of Fluttershy’s Stare. She swiped pitifully but there were still much too far apart for one of those dangerous paws to connect. Applejack took a step away and her ears folded back. A growl, earthy and flanged, dripped from her lips but there was little menace behind the cowed cursed pony.

“A-Applejack, it’s me! Don’t you remember? What happened to you?”

Again, Applejack hesitated, the remnants of her old life struggling to pierce the primal call of the wild singing through her veins. She had stopped her advance though, her twitching wooden ears betraying the thoughts going through her mind.

Fluttershy saw the signs coming far in advance. Applejack’s rising hackles and lips pulling back to bear teeth was an aggressive posture. What little fur she had left in this new form was beginning to puff out.

“No!”

Fluttershy bored her gaze into Applejack’s. She wasn’t some pup to be pushed around by an animal testing an alpha’s mettle. The forest animals were er responsibility, its animals under her care.

She was the alpha here.

Applejack backed down again, her mystical green eyes giving her side glances. Direct eye contact was considered a threat by most canines.

“Applejack, I am here to help you.”

Applejack’s ears perked at the name. The lycan sniffed the air.

“I know you’re in there, Applejack.”

Applejack was slow to get up this time. Fluttershy shook her head and returned to the matter at hand. Applejack’s head was low and her tail between her legs in the typical posture of submission, but that could all change in an instant. Fluttershy struggled to not shudder as she was poked and prodded with a cold nose. As Applejack sniffed her barrel, Fluttershy reflexively twitched. She needed to stay still and let Applejack inspect her new alpha. She forced herself to stay calm matter no matter how much her body wanted to run. This was her friend, whatever happened to her notwithstanding. Applejack circled her, sniffing and prodding where she pleased. Fluttershy’s animal care instincts were in full swing. This wasn’t Applejack, not fully. She had the instincts of a beast.

Beast...

Like a wolf...

Recent events intermingled in her brain as she tried to come down from her fearful high. Applejack was attacked by a beast, but a pony was found instead. A silvered mirror. An imprisoned monster. A monstrous Applejack.

The lycan in question crept forward and sniffed the air, wary of the creature that could dominate its will. Fluttershy didn’t dare move, but that was because her mind had just made a thunderous revelation. Of all things, why a mirror shard? Because it was a mirror that contained silver, and she spent enough time with Twilight to know about alchemy. It was a symbol of purity. An element that weakened monster regeneration abilities.

Most importantly, it was a symbol of the moon.

Fluttershy’s eyes went skyward. It was difficult to see, but rays of moonlight pierced the canopy and clouds. Noteworthy was found dead one month ago, right after a full moon.

He had to have known what happened to him. Did he catch Applejack’s scent in the marketplace and couldn’t stop himself as he turned? No, he didn’t run right away. There was another piece of the puzzle. Something about Applejack made him run afterwards, something that likely made him break Twilight's mirror in order to give Applejack a defense against him. He had to have known what kind of monster he’d turn into. Applejack may have been marked for death in Note’s beastial mind...

...Just like Applejack went straight for her.

“Oh no.”

It was too late. Once more, Applejack blitzed Fluttershy and brought her to the ground.

Fluttershy held sway over animals, but not over a curse. The needs of a wolf were survival and reproduction. A mad beast would lash out at everything. Noteworthy hunted down Applejack accidentally stabbed him with a silvered item.

Applejack’s lupine form straddled Fluttershy’s prone body. Bared fangs hung close to her throat. A bite, a wound that Applejack claimed to have, but was missing. A bite transmitted the curse.

“A-Applejack?” Fluttershy’s breath caught in her throat. A thin sliver of drool dripped down Applejack’s bared teeth.

She was challenging the alpha female, Fluttershy, to her role. Fluttershy had made the mistake of thinking that was the end of things as soon as she dropped the Stare. Wolves had a hierarchy. What did a pony/wolf hybrid have? Was Applejack looking for food? Was Noteworthy? Or was she looking for a kill? A pack?

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” Fluttershy bemoaned. Nothing in her vast knowledge of animals prepared her for animal curses or moon-related illnesses. Another thought was shot down before it even had time to surface. No, she didn’t have any silver.

Fluttershy went limp. If she was right, the curse was spread through a bite. Biting was a wolf’s primary method of offense and play. It would take so little effort for Applejack to infect her with the same fate.

“Please, Applejack...”

The lycan whined. For a second, the fangs vanished, but were out a moment later. Fluttershy could get through to animals, unlike Applejack, which was likely why Noteworthy was deaf to Applejack’s pleas.

Applejack sniffed her throat and Fluttershy shut her eyes. Could she risk a Stare? Would she have enough time? All it would take was a flick of the eyes. Or a snap of Applejack’s teeth. Fluttershy shivered. To end up like Noteworthy, alone in the woods...

A wet, rough tongue licked Fluttershy’s jaws where the tears had begun to streak down her face.

“Applejack...?”

The teeth were there, but there was something in the wild eyes. Something.

‘Think, Fluttershy.’

Why did wolves lick others? She knew why, but trying to recall anything was like trying to catch smoke. Affection and submission. That was it. Well, Applejack had her dead to rights, so that ruled out the latter.

An idea so nonsensical clung into her brain that she carried it out without thinking. Fluttershy leaned in and licked Applejack’s cheek.

‘Friend?’ she pleaded.

Applejack sniffed her again.

“Ahh!”

Try as she might, she couldn’t stop her hips from pumping as a cold nose was shoved in her crotch. She was just checking her out, Fluttershy told herself. Smell was how canines recognized each other best. Plus, it wouldn’t take much for a wolf to tear out her throat. Even if she managed to survive the encounter, there was a real chance she might bleed out like Noteworthy before she got proper medical attention. Applejack was acting like a pup that didn’t know its limits, so there was no telling what she’d do.

Applejack backed off. Fluttershy’s heart began to beat at more manageable levels and with the slowness of a coward, she got to her hooves. Another Stare?

Maybe. She was getting somewhere.

Fluttershy bowed her head in submission and slid her tail between her legs.