It was a calm evening in Equestria: Birds were singing, flowers were blooming, and any interdimensional, dangerous threat that appeared quickly had its flank kicked by the Princess of Friendship and her friends.
So, yeah, it was quite peaceful lately. Some would say finally, even.
But nobody complained, especially not a certain Diamond Tiara, who leisurely walked back home after another long day at school.
Even better? It was Friday, so no school tomorrow, or the day after, 'cause this weekend would be all about being dragged to social events, taught to become the perfect little successor to her mother and father's businesses, and escaping to Silver Spoon's house to catch a break every once in a while!
How fun!
"It's been so long since I was able to walk calmly back home, without having to worry about the latest threat to Equestria," Diamond Tiara chirped, sporting a smile across her face. "I feel like I could stay calm and cheerful the whole way-"
And then, she stopped as soon as she heard a peculiar sound.
That of a canine creature whimpering.
After processing what the sound was, Diamond Tiara trotted to the being generating the upsetting noise. Which she found after a short sprint.
It was a tiny creature with a canine shape, with a body made entirely of wood, a tail made of leaves, and one leg slightly bent unnaturaly.
Anypony else could've figured out this was the puppy of a Timberwolf, easily one of the more agressive creatures in the Everfree Forest.
(Un)fortunately, she didn't seem to notice the creature's species, only that it was heavily injured.
"Oh no, what happened to you?"
She moved closer to the injured creature, who whimpered as the equine put him on her back.
"Let's go back home and get that leg of yours fixed."
At Diamond Tiara's bedroom, the wooden canine laid on the floor, his injured leg having been put in place, and wrapped in bandages that kept it from bending again.
It also left the puppy with only three legs to move, but he would snap the bandages pretty quickly anyway, though Diamond Tiara didn't know about this.
"And there we go, your leg's somewhat fixed now," Diamond Tiara remarked as the puppy stood up. "If I remember correctly, it takes a couple hours for it to heal completely, but once that's done, you should be able to move it no problem."
Happy to have his pain stopped for now, the pup ran to Diamond Tiara and jumped at her, reaching her cheek, which he licked as she laughed out loud.
"W-Wa-ahahaha-it! T-Tha-haha-at tickles!"
Diamond Tiara grabbed the pup and gently put him down.
"Alright, so, you'll stay here for a while, so I need to give you a name."
Diamond Tiara looked at the ceiling and hummed to herself.
"I know! How about Woody!"
The timberwolf pup barked cheerfully.
"Woody it is!" Diamond Tiara chirped. "Now, next thing I should keep in mind is to try and hide you. I mean, who knows how my father would react if he saw you-?"
"Diamond Dazzle Tiara!"
The pair turned around and saw Diamond Tiara's father, Filthy Rich, standing at the entrance to her bedroom, holding a look of disapproving shock.
So much for keeping the creature hidden.
"What are you doing with a timberwolf cub?!"
"Timberwhat-now?"
"Timberwolf! A wood-like creature from the Everfree Forest!"
While Diamond Tiara had no idea what her father was talking about, she knew from him mentioning the Everfree Forest that it couldn't be anything good.
"W-Well, I was trotting back home, a-and I saw him injured, s-so I thought I could heal him up, a-and maybe let him stay until he recovers!"
Diamond Tiara smiled nervously, hoping her words would be enough to convince her father not to get rid of Woody.
And hey, at least there was a chance she wouldn't lose him. If she were talking to her mother, she definitely would lose him.
"Diamond Tiara, I'm going to be very blunt with you, and I want you to understand that I'm only going to act like this because I want what's best for you."
Filthy Rich took a deep breath.
"You have to return this timberwolf pup to the Everfree Forest."
Diamond Tiara gasped and hugged Woody, who sniffed her and licked her cheeks.
"B-But, Daddy, you can't be serious! I mean just look at him! He's so young and defenseless, his leg hasn't healed yet!"
Filthy Rich sighed.
"He might be small and injured now, but he'll be in perfect health before you know it, and in little over a year, he'll be as big and ferocious as the rest of his kind, at which point it'll be impossible to hide him."
Woody whimpered as Diamond Tiara put him down, and Filthy Rich looked at him.
"And even if keeping his existence a secret wasn't a problem, timberwolves are a wild species, which means they belong in the wild, not society."
Filthy Rich looked back at Diamond Tiara, who's sad look made it clear she was hoping he could make an exception, or give her some hope that she wouldn't be separated from her little friend.
However, despite his heart stinging at the sight of his daughter saddened, he had this to say:
"Yes, we could try domesticating him, but that would take years, not to mention that, with him being from the Everfree Forest, this could cause quite the scandal in Ponyville."
And then, the ponies' house shook violently for a moment.
"W-What was that?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"The most important reason why he can't stay here," Filthy Rich somberly answered. "Let's go outside."
The Father-Daughter duo, and the tiny cub, walked out of the house to see what was making it shake so hard.
It was a large timberwolf, looking the same as the rest of its kind, if a little bit smaller. They were smashing their head repeatedly against the wall, somehow stopping itself from falling apart as any other, ordinary timberwolf would've done.
"That's a timberwolf?" Diamond Tiara inquired. "What's it doing here?"
"That's the cub's mother," Filthy Rich revealed. "She must've found out her cub was her, and she's trying to force us to hand back her baby."
It was then and there that the timberwolf noticed the ponies alongside her baby, turning her attention, as well as her sharp wood fangs, towards them.
However, before things could get interistingly violent, Woody barked and ran up to his mother, calming her down in an instant as Filthy Rich and Diamond Tiara took deep breaths of relief.
The mother, though, still had her eyes set on the ponies, prompting Diamond Tiara to take a step forward.
"I-I'm sorry if I made you worry for your puppy. It's just that..."
Diamond Tiara glanced at Woody and lowered her head.
"I saw him whimpering, and I didn't seen anybody else come, so I-I just couldn't... stand back and let him suffer. If I hadn't helped him, I don't know who would've."
Diamond then noticed the timbermom walking over her, sending a shiver down her spine as her father got in front of her.
"I-I was always going to return him, I swear! But I wanted him to be back to full health first! I didn't want to risk him getting injured as soon as he returned!"
Once the timbermom appeared in front of her, ignoring her father in the process, Diamond took a step back, and several deep breaths as the mom looked at her strictly in the eyes...
And then, she licked her cheek, waving her wooden tail.
It was at this point that Diamond Tiara realized the timberwolf mother wasn't angry at her at all. In fact, she was overjoyed at being reunited with her puppy, just like how Woody was ecstatic to be with his mother again, judging by how he ran in circles around her.
"Oh... w-well, I'm happy you're both happy."
The timberwolf mom nodded in agreement, gently nudged her pup, and went back into the dark shadows lurking within the Everfree Forest, expecting her pup to follow her soon after.
However, Woody didn't do that.
First, the puppy ran up to Diamond Tiara and tackled her, sniffing her as he licked her cheeks, the young filly laughing all the way.
Then, the puppy got off the pink pony and wagged his tail as Diamond Tiara caught her breath, got back up, and smiled with a saddened expression.
"I'm going to miss you too, Woody."
The pup nodded, and with one final hug, the duo separated and the puppy entered the forest, for good.
With her friend gone, Diamond Tiara took a deep breath and gave the forest one last, longing look.
Once accepting that her little wooden fellow wouldn't return to her, Diamond Tiara shed a single tear, not of sadness, but of happiness, as she walked back home with he father.
We may not see each other again, Woody, but as long as you live a happy life... I'm happy too.
