I am a timberwolf.
Didn’t expect that one, did you? But, it’s true, I am a timberwolf. Why is a timberwolf protecting ponies? Because almost everything in the Everfree wants to kill them. Not that they know i’m protecting them.
At night, I patrol the border of the forest, fending off any creature that wants to hurt the ponies of Ponyville. You didn’t think Ponyville was just a safe place, did you? That there was some magical force field that stopped the animals of the Everfree from entering into town? Before I was here, the Everfree could waltz into Ponyville whenever it pleased. Damage some property, scare some ponies, whatever.
Now, here’s where I come in. I watched the ponies, and decided to help them. It saddened me to see them so scared, as they weren’t bad, or evil. So that’s what I did. I stopped the manticores and hydras and everything else from getting into town. Mostly. I tried to stop them from getting the few ponies that ventured into the forest, but sometimes I was too late. I couldn’t save everypony.
Why am I so attached to ponies, when my very nature says I should act like my brothers? It was a long time ago. I was scared. I was alone. I was just a pup. My parents had left me to the mercy of the forest.
“Come along, son,” my father said, turning around with my mother to walk along a small trail. I scampered to catch up with them, sending up little puffs of dust.
This was exciting! I had never gone anywhere with just my parents before. Usually we took my brothers and sisters, too. I wondered where we were going. I hoped it was special.
“Dad? Where are we going?” I asked, having to almost run to keep up with the adults.
He didn’t even turn around. “You’ll see.”
I didn’t ask any more questions. The sunlight filtered through the trees, dappling the ground. The bushes were covered in morning dew. My little wooden paws pounded against the dirt, much faster than my parents’ even gait.
We had been traveling for a while, and the sun was now high in the sky. It was heating up, and I was huffing.
“Are we- are we there?” I gasped. “I’m thirsty.”
“Almost,” my mother promised, “It’s not far now.”
I followed them farther into the forest, and I almost couldn’t see the sky through the thick canopy.
“Here,” my father barked. We stopped in a small clearing with a stream and some grass. “Go. Get a drink.”
I ran up to the stream and took large, grateful gulps of water. When I finished, I turned to my parents. Who weren’t there. I never even heard them leave! “Mom?” I called, listening for a response. “Dad?!” I cried, “Mom!”
I desperately ran around the clearing, looking for them, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. A hopelessness started growing in me, but I didn’t give up. I waited in that clearing for hours, just like I was supposed to, but they never turned up.
They left me, I thought. I forced myself to accept it. It made sense, really. I mean, I was the runt of the litter. I wasn’t good for anything. That didn’t mean I wasn’t upset. I sat there and cried for who knows how long. I had to swallow my howls of despair. They really, really left me.
It was one of the worst feelings I could have ever, ever imagined to be left by one’s parents. Be it accidental or not, the feeling of sorrow, of loneliness, is almost overwhelming; and to know why they left me makes it worse. I wanted to lay down and just die. My own parents didn’t want me. I was nothing - just one more mouth to feed.
After a time, I got up and followed the stream. Against my better judgement, I still howled frequently, just in case. It was going to be dark soon, and that’s when all the monsters came out. And still, I walked on. What did it matter?
I was exhausted. My tail drooped and trailed in the dirt. My head was down, and my paws felt like they were going to drop off.
The moon peeked above the treeline and shed a ghostly light across the forest. The stars twinkled above me in the dark velvet sky, the warm air buzzing with insects. I had to find somewhere to rest. Soon.
Ahead of me I saw a bush. It had large green leaves good for cover. I got up to it and found just enough room for me to wiggle under. I got down on my belly and crawled forward, twigs scratching and poking me as I went. It was a tight fit, and wasn’t necessarily comfortable, but it worked. I put my head on my paws and fell asleep almost instantly.
I woke up to the sound of snuffling right outside my hiding spot. It was getting closer and closer, so I growled. It came out small and weak, but whatever was outside stopped. I waited a while, and thinking it was gone, poked out my head. Standing there was a rabbit. It squealed and ran away, and I laughed at myself. Scared of a little bunny?
I left the bush and scrunched up my eyes, momentarily blinded. when they had adjusted to the morning light, I looked around. The sun was shining and the birds were singing merrily. Patches of sunshine covered the ground and the morning mist still hung in the air. There was no sign of water anywhere - I couldn’t hear the gurgling of the stream or the roaring of the river. I was well and truly lost. I looked around some more and decided to follow the rising sun.
So I set off. I was hungry, as I hadn’t eaten since the morning before. I was still small, and couldn’t hunt what the Everfree offered anyway. I focused on finding water.
It had been hours of walking, and my efforts were unrewarded. I was hot, thirsty, tired, and hungry, but I couldn’t afford to stop. I had to find something before long. As I kept walking, the realization hit me. I was really alone. My parents had just left me, so I didn’t have them anymore. That went for my littermates as well. The crushing weight of sorrow fell on my shoulders. I had been with my family all my life - I knew no one else.
Caught up in my emotions, I almost missed it. A soft sound penetrated through the forest, and I perked up my ears, listening closer. It was a whispering, moving sound, and hope flared in my chest. With all my might I ran toward it, all the while it was getting louder. Finally I saw it - and recognized where it was I had stopped. I was on the edge of the forest. Not even my parents had ventured this far out; and here I was.
I had heard stories of what lived out here: the wolf-hating ponies. The ponies who would kill my kind for fun. The ponies who had the power to move the sun. They were ruthless and bloodthirsty, and if they saw you, they wouldn’t stop until you were dead. Immediately I wanted to run back into the Everfree, but I remembered why I was here in the first place.
In front of me there was a large meadow with all sorts of animals; and not like the ones where I came from. There were birds, and mice, and squirrels, and chipmunks, and even a bear. There was a hill, and on top of that hill was a structure made of wood. More importantly, there was a stream running down the middle.
I looked around and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, so I bolted for the water. I stopped at the edge and lapped up water as fast as I could. It was refreshing and cool, and tasted sweet on my tongue. The sun was beating down on me, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to find somewhere to rest until nightfall. There was a stone bridge spanning across the small river a ways down. It had ample space underneath and provided shade. I figured I would be hidden well enough and padded down to it.
Curling up there, I closed my eyes and listened to the rushing water. It was soothing as I slowly drifted toward unconsciousness. Before I knew it I was fast asleep.
I opened my eyes to find I was in a small room. I was on some sort of soft pelt, but it didn’t look like any pelt i’d seen - It was brightly colored and covered in butterflies. I rose and explored the room. I must’ve been taken to some pony’s den.
There was more birds and small animals, but thankfully no bear. The ground was covered in wood that clacked as my paws came down. It was a weird feeling, not have dirt and grass under me. A small white rabbit ran up to me, looked at me for a moment, and ran out. That was strange, I thought, walking away. There were large holes in the side of the room that showed outside, but for some reason there was no breeze. Hearing something coming behind me, I turned my head. What I saw terrified me.
It was a pony, a live pony. She was a soft yellow, had a long, light pink mane, and blue eyes. I couldn’t get away fast enough. I ran as far away as the room allowed, which wasn’t as much as I’d like.
“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” she said quietly, coming closer. I backed away and found myself in the corner, and she kept getting closer. There was no way out. I watched in fear as stood above me. She leaned down, and I closed my eyes and whimpered, resigned to my fate - I was a pup, I couldn’t win a fight against a pony. Except it never came. To my surprise, she patted my head. I opened my eyes and stared at her in confusion. She was a pony. Why was I not dead right now? She picked me up and held me close to her body.
“Shh, it’s okay,” she cooed, “I’m not going to hurt you.” Being held as I was, I had no choice but to trust her. “Why are you all alone? Where’s your mama and papa?” she asked. “Are you lost?” She gasped as she came to a conclusion. “Did they leave you?”
I licked her hoof to show she was correct.
“How could they do that?” she said, slightly horrified. “Is it because you’re so small?” I let out a tiny whimper and she hugged me closer. “I’m sorry, I don’t know much about timberwolves,” she said. “They’re just so scary.”
Scary? A pony called us… scary. Maybe, just maybe… what if all those stories were wrong? This pony certainly doesn’t seem the ‘kill on first sight’ type. What if ponies had changed? What if they no longer chased us, but feared us? This pony had took me and showed me more compassion than my parents.
“Oh, you must be hungry! Let’s get you something to eat,” the yellow pony said, placing me on the ground. Suddenly I was ravenous. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until she mentioned food. Following her through a door, there was another room with a raised platform topped with granite, surrounded on one side by shorter, smaller platforms. She went around it and to some tall, white object, that when it was opened, sent out a blast of cool air.
“I always keep something for my carnivorous friends,” she said, pulling out a piece of meat. She cut it into small pieces and placed them in a hollow thing. She put this on the ground, and followed with a thing full of water. I walked over and sniffed the meat, and then started eating. It was cold, but I was so hungry I didn’t mind.
“My, you’re hungry,” she said, picking up the now empty object. “You’re too young to hunt, aren’t you?” she asked, washing it out with water. She then dried it and placed it on some shelves. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to take care of you until then.”
The pony, Fluttershy, had cared for me for a few months until I was big enough to catch my own prey. One day she called me and we walked over to the forest.
“I see that you’re old enough now to take care of yourself,” Fluttershy started, looking out into the Everfree, “you don’t need me to feed you anymore.” She looked at me and sniffed, her blue eyes pooling with tears. “You’re a big wolf now, so I have to let you go. You can’t stay here forever.” I trotted forward and licked her face. She giggled and wiped a hoof across her eyes.
“So, goodbye. You need to go back to the forest,” She said, tears sliding unbidden down her muzzle. Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around my neck and spoke through her tears, “I won’t forget you, little wolf. Goodbye,” She whispered. I licked her face once more and sped into the forest.
I ran and ran, and when I couldn’t run I collapsed. It hurt me to leave as much as it had her. Over the months we had grown close. She had become my best friend. Of course, I knew it had to end this way; me going back home. It always was. I couldn’t stay in Ponyville, even if I wanted. But I could watch.
I found a hillside that overlooked Ponyville, and lied down. I observed the ponies doing their day-to-day things. There was a market with vendors selling their wares: fruit, flowers, anything you could want. I watched them interact with each other, the kind smiles and happy waves. I watched little foals play around their parents’ hooves. I watched it all, and found the ponies were not what the Everfree said they were.
They were not vengeful, bloodthirsty monsters. They were caring, loving families. They were scared by us. They were amazing, with love and friendship reigning over all.
I vowed, then and there, to always watch over them, to keep them safe. I would not let anything wishing harm on the ponies out of the Everfree. I would not let them hurt Fluttershy, or her friends. Sure, when I started, I was made fun of. I was laughed at. They said I had a soft heart, that I was a coward who couldn’t face up to being what I was, a timberwolf. They called me a dog.
I feel courage is more than laughing in the face of danger. True courage, real courage, is standing for what you believe in, even if you’re the only one who believes. At first, their taunts hurt, and almost convinced me I was being stupid. But then I thought of Fluttershy, kinder than any of my own kind, and stood firm. She was like family. I would not, could not let anything hurt her. She was my friend, and I would not forget her, either.
If being loyal to family was being a dog, than I would gladly be a dog.
It’s a thankless job. It’s an unknown job. It’s even a lonely job. Nopony knows what I do, but I do it anyway. Even if they saw me, they would run, like they always do. They don’t know i’m helping them, and that’s the way it has to be.
To see them thriving, loving, caring, not a worry in the world, is the best thanks I can get. They don’t worry that a manticore will come in at night and terrorize the town; they don’t worry that a timberwolf will come and steal their beloved pets away. To simply watch their carefree lives is amazing. And I know it’s because of me. That’s what makes it all worth it. All the pain, all the loneliness, it’s worth it because it keeps the ponies happy; even if they don’t know it.
One day, I will die. I will leave this world, and with it, my post - hopefully no time soon, but it will happen. I will leave them undefended. If no other steps up to take my position, the Everfree will run rampant in Ponyville. I pray someone then will realize just how good the ponies are, that they don’t deserve what the Everfree feels they deserve.
Until then, I will protect them. With my dying breath, I will protect them. It is my honor to protect them, unnoticed from the shadows.
