Canine Complications

Past and Present

"Must have been the wind then." Applejack replied, quickly wanting to return to the topic at hoof, "Now princess, I don't want you to think I'm not believin' ya, but I really don't know if this is a good idea."

Everypony looked to the farm mare with confusion, but hope as she continued, "I mean, maybe there's something to all this we're not seeing! When the ursa attacked, it was because those foals were taunting it. When the manticore attacked, it was because it had an injured paw. I'm not even too sore with the hydra, seein' as we were making a racket near his home and all..." she took a breath, "All I'm saying is, with every other animal there's been a reason. Maybe there's something we did that provoked them, and we can solve this without violence."

Fluttershy raised a hoof just far enough to catch attention, "I'm for non-violence," quickly adding a quiet "-If that's alright..."

Everypony else joined in, supporting peace. Everypony except Celestia.

"I'm sorry my little ponies..." she heaved a pensive sigh, steeling herself, "but that is not the case with these creatures... They cannot be reasoned with... Because they are not animals. They are monsters."

There was silence until It was broken "...Whada'ya mean by 'monsters' princess?" Applejack asked slowly.

"I mean, My Little Ponies, that they are not 'animals' at all. They do not have reason or thought, they operate purely on instinct; that's how magical constructs work. They exist only to fulfill the instinct given to them by their creator.

...And in the case of Timberwolves, that creator was Nightmare Moon."

Celestia heaved a heavy sigh as the gathered mares looked to her in confusion and shock.

"What I say now, I request that you never speak about to anypony... I- This-" The normally unflappable ruler struggled a moment in an uncharistic loss for words.

"...There is a reason I removed her and her actions from history..." her words barely rose above a whisper but her next words were almost inaudible "...I had to... The effects of her actions still haunt Equestria to this day... If the ponies knew..."

"Princess..." Fluttershy edged up to the princess, offering some comfort to the distraught alicorn.

Celestia noticeably calmed at the touch, building the strength to continue.

"When my sister changed into Nightmare Moon, she didn't hold back at all. The nightmare used all of her power against us, including the formation of an army. While there were some ponies sympathetic to her cause, there were much too few to actually construct an army, so she did what she could, summoning the Celestial beasts and droves of golems."

"Are you saying that the giant bear that attacked Ponyville was made by Nightmare Moon?"

"...Yes and no, they already existed, but she is responsible for pulling them from Luna's night sky. We have Luna to thank for why they are for the most part, peaceful. They were already 'alive' making them more like animals than Nightmare's desired soldiers, which is why after some initial chaos, she lost control of them and they all sought refuge in the Everfree." She shook her head, "...but I'm getting off track. The important things now are her golems."

"Her golem armies were grand. In their height they consisted of tens of thousands of clay-pony golems, hundreds of stone minotaurs, even a few dozen dragons of pure volcanic fire, but of all her various beasts of all shapes and forms, her most terrible were the wolves of wood."

"It was near the end of the war when the Nightmare was driven back into in the same forest in which her Celestial Beasts had escaped that wood wolves were first encountered."