Pony’s Best Friend

Gotta run…
Gotta think…
Gotta run and think at the same time…
In the dark of night, a lone wolf was dashing through the dark forest. There were cuts and bruises all over his body, some of them bleeding. He had no idea where he was going. All he knew was that he had to get out of the forest and figure out where he was, among other things.
Okay, just keep running. Good. Keep doing that. Right, mental checklist time.
My name is…
He drew a blank.
Okay, we’ll come back to that one. I was born in…
Another blank.
DAMMIT. No, no, don’t panic. Keep thinking, keep running. Right now I’m a…
He looked down at his panting form. He saw plenty of fur and two paws carrying him. A quick glance behind him revealed a bushy tail.
Wolf. Okay, I’m a wolf. Now we’re making progress.
His thoughts faltered for a moment.
Wait, no. This isn’t right. I’m not a wolf, I’m a…
Again, a blank.
Well, whatever, I’m a wolf now. And the reason I’m running is, um… a monster! Right, I was attacked by that big lion thing. That would explain the cuts and bruises. And the searing pain.
Having ignored it until now, the thought quickly reminded the wolf of the extreme level of discomfort he was in.
I can’t keep this up, I gotta hide somewhere.
By a stroke of luck, the wolf’s paws had carried him to the edge of the forest. Sitting quietly in the night was a small, wooden cottage.
A house! Smart things live in houses! Hopefully this smart thing is also a nice thing.
Starting to burn out, the wolf hobbled his way up to the cottage door and began scraping at it, whining softly. No one came to the door, though, and after a minute the wolf had finally run out of adrenaline and could no longer stay awake.
Can’t… go on… someone, anyone… help…
He collapsed on the doorstep. Just as darkness filled his vision, he caught a quick glance of something yellow and pink.

“Why bother with this if you aren’t even going to give me a fair shot?!”
“Your past is corrupted, young one. I want to give you an opportunity to redeem yourself, but in order to do that; certain elements must be wiped clean.”
“You can’t just take away my life like this!”
“I assure you, I have taken nothing that you have not already lost.”

The wolf bolted up from sleep and looked around himself in a panic. The sun had risen outside, banishing the cold night. He was inside a small living room full of various furniture, as well as animal pens and cages. He was lying on a large, fluffy green blanket, and his wounds had all been bandaged and treated. He felt an aura of calmness exuding from the walls around him.
I’m okay…? Maybe whatever smart thing lives in this house helped me. Well, I’ll be sure to thank it, then.
Right on cue, the wolf heard something descending the stairs. He looked up, waiting to see his savior. Strangely, his savior wasn’t much bigger than he was. It was a small horse-like creature covered in yellow fur. Its mane and tail were colored a bright pink. On its sides were two small wings, an equal shade of yellow to the rest of the creature. Finally, on its flank, was a small picture of three butterflies.
What the crap…? Is that my savior’s pet or something? Cute, I guess, but I’d really rather meet the person who saved me than their pet.
Noticing the wolf moving around, the small horse flashed a smile and fluttered over to him. Surprisingly, it spoke.
“Oh, thank goodness, you’re awake! I was so surprised to see a collapsed wolf on my doorstep; I just knew I had to help you.” Her voice was rather quiet, but it had a very soothing, motherly quality to it. The wolf was surprised by the creature’s statement.
“This thing is what saved me?” he muttered to himself. To a normal ear, this would just sound like a low whining noise. But to the little horse’s tuned auditory sensors, the message came across perfectly.
“Oh yes. I found you bleeding out, so I took you inside and patched you up.” The wolf was startled by the response.
“Wait, what? You can understand me? But I’m a wolf! And you’re a… well you’re certainly not a wolf, anyways.” The horse smiled again.
“Of course. Communicating with animals is my special talent. I’ve had it since I was a little filly.” The wolf gave his equivalent of a shrug.
“Well, little horse-thing…” he started, when the horse cut him off.
“Pony.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m not a horse, I’m a pony. And my name is Fluttershy. Haven’t you ever seen a pony before?” The wolf shook his head.
“Can’t say I have, Miss Fluttershy. Course, I can’t remember anything from before last night, so if I have seen one, it’s completely gone-zo. Anyway, I appreciate what you’ve done for me, but I should really get going.” Fluttershy let loose a small gasp.
“No! Amnesia and all of those injuries? You’re in no condition to be going anywhere, Mister Wolf!” She pleaded. The wolf stood up to leave nonetheless.
“Nonsense. I’m fine! Couldn’t be-” Before he could finish that thought, he quickly collapsed from the sudden rush of pain. “-much worse. Okay, maybe I’m not in tip-top shape, but it’s nothing a little rest won’t fix. So, if you’ll excuse me.” But as the wolf continued his rather difficult attempts at leaving he turned around to look at Fluttershy, immediately regretting doing so. On her face was the saddest, most pleading look the wolf had ever seen (or so he assumed, considering the whole amnesia thing). He couldn’t stand to look at that face any longer, so he slumped back onto the floor in defeat.
“Okay, fine. Maybe I’ll stay for a little while.” Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief and let loose another smile.
Persuasive little nugget, isn’t she…
“You just wait right here, Mister Wolf. Oh, wait. Do you remember your name?” She asked. The wolf shook his head again. “Well, we’ll just stick with Mister Wolf for now. Anyway, you wait right here and I’ll find you something to eat.” As she scampered of into the kitchen, the wolf laid his head back down onto the blanket.
Could be worse, I guess.
Suddenly, his thoughts were disturbed by a loud thumping noise. The wolf turned around to see the source of the noise and saw a small white rabbit, thumping its foot with an irritated look in its eye.
“Can I… help you?” The wolf asked, cautiously. The rabbit put its paws on its hips.
“Yeah,” it responded, clearly male, “you can explain what you’re doing with my waifu.”

Pony’s Best Friend: Chapter 2

“Your… what now?”
The Rabbit sighed in irritation.
“My waifu. Fluttershy. You were getting rather comfy with her, and I can’t say I appreciate that.”
The Wolf, confused at the whole situation, decided to just roll with it.
“Look, pal. I didn’t mean to horde in on your girl. But the lady said she wants me to stay, and I am a gentlewolf. Probably. Besides, she helped me with my injuries, so I think I owe her some polite-ness, at the very least.”
The Rabbit narrowed his eyes.
“I don’t think you get my drift here, furball. I’m telling you to beat it, or else.”
Now the Wolf was becoming rather aggravated.
“Who are you calling furball, small fry? I ain’t leaving and that’s final. Now back off before I get impatient with Fluttershy and decide to eat you instead.” The Wolf laid his head back down on the soft blanket and closed his eyes. The Rabbit hopped over to him and, with his powerful hind legs, delivered a swift kick to the Wolf’s nose, eliciting a startled yelp.
“GET. LOST.” The rabbit said, his voice stone cold.
The Wolf rose to his feet and growled. “You wanna’ tussle, shorty?!”
The Rabbit puffed up his chest. “Bring it on, fuzz brain!”
What followed was a fight sequence so cartoony that the author was rather unsure how to properly convey just how cartoony it actually was. Just assume it involved the Wolf and the Rabbit fighting for like, five minutes in a big dust cloud thing with various sound effects added in.
Mid-way through the fight, Fluttershy re-entered the living room with a bag of dog chow held in her mouth. She gasped, dropping the bag, and ran over to break up the fight.
“Both of you please stop!” She shouted.
The dust cloud dissipated abruptly with the Rabbit frozen in the air midway through a kick to the Wolf’s gut. Both of their eyes turned to Fluttershy. The Wolf, in a panic, pointed a paw at the rabbit.
“He started it.”
The rabbit gave him a cold glare. “And I plan on ending it.”
Fluttershy stared both of them down until they began to cower. “Angel, shame on you. Mister Wolf is our guest, and I expect you to treat him as such.”
The Wolf snickered at the somewhat effeminate name. “Yeah, Angel. Shame on you.”
Fluttershy then turned her mega-stare onto the Wolf. “And Mister Wolf, you should know better than to pick fights.”
I should? What are you? My mother?
Noticing the Wolf’s skepticism, Fluttershy intensified her stare, causing the Wolf to cower once more.
“Okay, okay, geez,” he turned to Angel. “I’m sorry Angel. I didn’t mean to pick a fight.”
Angel huffed in response. “Sorry I mistreated you, I guess.”
Fluttershy ended her stare and smiled. “Good boys. Now, Mister Wolf, I found some dog food a friend of mine gave to me. Please try it.” She grabbed a nearby bowl and poured some of the brown chunks into it. The Wolf gave it a cautionary sniff, then backed off slightly.
“Not gonna lie to you, Miss Fluttershy, that stuff smells awful.”
Fluttershy seemed confused by this. “That’s strange; the bag says it’s the number one rated dog food in Equestria.” She looked over the bag and noticed a small line of directions. “Oh, silly me. I forgot to add water.” She fluttered back into the kitchen and quickly returned with a small pitcher of water in her mouth. She emptied some of the pitcher’s contents into the bowl, then pushed it towards the Wolf. Again, he gave it a cautionary sniff.
“Say, that smells way better now.” He lowered his muzzle into the bowl and took a bite. His tail began wagging. “Hot dang! No idea what it’s supposed to taste like, but it’s good!”
Fluttershy flashed her award-winning smile once again. “Oh, I’m so relieved.” She turned to Angel. “I’ll be right back, Angel. I’m sure you’d like a carrot from the garden.”
Angel gave a small nod. “Yes, I would. Thank you.”
Fluttershy exited through the back door, once again leaving Angel and the Wolf alone. Taking a pause from his meal, the Wolf cleared his throat. “Okay, so… maybe we got off on the wrong paw here. Wanna try starting over?”
Angel glanced up at him with annoyed eyes, but decided to comply. “Fine. My name is Angel Bunny, Angel for short. I have been living with Fluttershy my entire life and she means the world to me. Your turn.”
The Wolf took another quick bite of his meal. “Well, my name is… something, probably. In case you didn’t hear Fluttershy mention it, I have amnesia. No idea who I am, where I’m from, or even when I was born. All I know is that last night I was attacked by some giant lion thing in the forest and ran my butt over here.” Another bite. “By the way, what was it you called Fluttershy earlier? Your wifey or something?”
“Waifu.”
“Right, that. Is that like, ancient bunny language for mother or something?”
Angel was taken aback. “Of course not! It’s Neighponese for wife.”
The Wolf raised an eyebrow. “Wife? You sure, pal?”
Angel nodded. “Sure I’m sure. She cooks my meals, bathes me, tucks me into bed at night…” The Wolf gave him a blank stare.
“You are describing a mother to me.” Angel gave him an angry look.
“Just because she’s motherly does not make her my mother, alright?!”
The Wolf rolled his eyes. “Alright, buddy, whatever you say.”
A moment of silence passed.
“Say, what’s Neighponese?” The Wolf asked.
“The language spoken in Neighpon,” Angel replied.
“And… what’s Neighpon?”
Angel started to become aggravated again. “A small island community on the east end of Equestria.”
“And… what’s Equestria?”
Now Angel wore the blank stare. “You really are clueless, aren’t you?”
The Wolf had finished his bowl of food. “Hi, amnesia? Where have you been for the past three minutes?”
Another silent minute passed, and Fluttershy re-entered, carrot in teeth. “Sorry I took so long, Angel. I saw a groundhog outside and got kind of lost in conversation.”
Angel hopped over to Fluttershy and claimed his prize. “As long as I have my carrot, I’m content,” he quipped as he began nibbling.
Fluttershy turned to the Wolf. “Oh, you finished it already? Good! Now, I think it’s a good time for a little bath, Mister Wolf.” The Wolf raised an eyebrow, and then leaned over to Angel.
“You sure she ain’t your mother?”
Angel nodded quickly and resumed his nibbling. The Wolf shrugged and followed Fluttershy upstairs. He stole one last look at Angel before he disappeared beneath the stairs.
He is in so much denial it’s almost not funny. Almost. The Wolf quietly snickered to himself as Fluttershy opened the door to the bathroom and motioned towards the tub.