For the next week, Logan and the Crusaders would wander around town, trying different ways for the three fillies to earn their cutie marks, and every day, they would inevitably stop by Twilight’s place, where Logan would share more information about his race. Yet the instant the moon rose, Logan would head back to the Ever-Free, and stay there until the rising sun called him back to Ponyville. His collar grew more and more scuffed every time they saw him; no doubt he was still trying to remove it somehow.
Yet despite his struggles with Celestia’s chain, the information trading was a resounding success. Not only did the Crusaders and several other foals that joined in enjoy everything the young wolf had to say, but to be completely honest, Logan had enjoyed it too.
He told them of his grandmother Shiva; the White Wolf and the first (and last) Queen of Wolves. He got to tell them of the Goddess Myst, the creator of werewolves, and the source of Myst’s Rage, a dangerous form of power that was only bestowed on wolves who let anger and hatred drive them from reason. And with every lecture, Logan felt closer to his pack than any attempt on Canterlot had brought him. Because while they still might have been far away, he could still carry on their legacy, through his stories and explanations.
It was not just a treat for him; Twilight and even the veteran teacher Cherilee were blown away at how much of a success he was with the foals. He was barely older than they were, yet he carried himself in a way that befitted a prince or a great warrior king. He commanded attention, yet he didn’t demand it as he had in his previous fights with Twilight. It was interesting to see him when his defiant energy was being channeled into something productive.
The foals played his Hunters and Hiders game with him several more times – with Scootaloo proving herself to be the second-best hunter behind Logan – and they ate up everything Logan told them about his world to the point where Cherilee started asking Logan to continue his teachings at the school.
Though Logan turned her down; he was more comfortable sharing at Twilight’s library, where the purple mare was the only one taking notes on everything Logan was offering. After every lesson, she gave a genuine thanks to Logan for his generosity and promised that her knowledge would benefit his pack as well as Celestia. Bit by bit, Logan’s aggravation and irritation at her began to fade. Because she was no longer the main Mane Six member he had problems with.
On the second day, the Crusaders and their canine companion had run into Pinkie, who had been hopping hopefully with an odd basket on her head. Yet, before a hello could escape her lips, they heard a scuffling sound, and turned to discover Logan gone; vanished from sight. Pinkie moped, but there was little she could do about it.
Every time she showed up, Logan vanished, and didn’t reappear until she left. He ignored any questions and comments by the Crusaders as to where he had gone, and never touched the many ‘I’m Sorry’ cupcakes she left for them. It was worse when Pinkie tried to gift him with cupcakes on his own, as he just buried them.
As the week passed, Pinkie’s attempts grew less and less frequent, but the others grew concerned at her change in appearance. Her fluffy mane flattened, the color faded from her coat, and her eyes gained a consistent resemblance to a sad doe. Her hyperactivity lessened by the day, and very little could get her to laugh.
“We gotta snap her out of this,” Rainbow Dash declared on the fourth day, seeing Pinkie shuffle sadly through town. “I can’t stand seeing her like this.”
“I’ll talk to my sister,” Applejack promised. “She’s got some hold over that wolf; I’m sure she can snap him out of this grudge he’s got against her.”
“Maybe Pinkie should talk to him, face to face,” Twilight offered.
“You remember how that worked out for us last time?” Applejack replied, “Nah, we gotta make sure Logan ain’t feeling threatened.”
“How?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Applejack just smiled.
#
And so, as the week came to an end, Logan found himself watching the outside of the library as the foals left his most recent telling of wolf culture. With still cautious parents ensuring their kids were okay, he kept a careful eye out for the pink mare.
A poke on his hind leg broke him from his funk, and he turned to find Apple Bloom standing next to him, looking thoroughly uncomfortable.
“Hey,” Logan said, “What’s up?”
Apple Bloom looked around with a red face before she finally responded. “I was wondering… could… I was wondering if you could walk me home today. Well… Applejack’s really busy and… can’t... today.”
“Yeah. Sure,” Logan said, glancing back around. “Where we going?”
She led him away, a hopeful expression on her face, and the wolf and the filly walked side by side, their journey mostly in silence.
However, as Logan walked, he began to realize something. Applejack, as the Element of Honesty, likely hadn’t taught her family to lie very well. And as they got closer to Sweet Apple Acres, Logan realized how nervous Apple Bloom had been. Like she had been hiding something.
And what she was hiding was becoming more and more clear, as an ominous scent of sugar started to waft from the barn, which Apple Bloom then tried to lead him to.
“Well,” Logan said instantly, “You’re here.” He started to turn away. “See you.”
“Wait,” Apple Bloom stammered, her ears flattening her eyes darted between him and the barn. “There’s, well… I needed, uh…”
“Apple Bloom,” Logan said calmly, “Is Pinkie Pie in that barn?”
Apple Bloom’s eyes darted back and forth. “Well…”
“And did she make you promise not to tell me about another surprise party?” Logan asked.
“Uh…” Apple Bloom stammered.
“Because if she's in there, and you’re hiding it from me,” he said factually, “I’m going back into the Ever-Free, and I’m not coming back out. Not even for you.”
Apple Bloom’s bow wilted. “Please, Logan…” she tried to say, but Logan shook his head.
“I don’t trust Pinkie,” he said, “And after what she did, I won’t ever trust her.”
“Ever?”
“Ever. Now…” he turned around firmly. “I’ll see you… later.”
Apple Bloom shut her eyes, and gave a sad nod of acceptance. As Logan walked away, the only expression sadder than Apple Bloom’s was Pinkie Pie, who looked out from the barn with her mane flat as a pancake. Rainbow Dash was alongside her, her face turning red like an over-boiled kettle.
Logan’s own ears flattened as he made his way back to the forest. Part of him was worried he was taking this way too far. But the defiant part of him struck the piteous part down, reminding him of his time with the humans. These ponies were like the humans – a bit nicer, sure – but he didn’t want to let his guard down around them, and especially not around that pink psycho. Just before he got to the edge of the forest, another surprise waited for him.
“You are really something else, you know that?”
Logan looked up to see Rainbow Dash glaring down at him.
“You’re going to let a grudge get in the way of a Pinkie Pie Party?” she demanded. “Dude, it’s like you want to be miserable your whole life.”
Logan rolled his eyes.
“I remember being pretty miserable at the last one she threw,” he replied, turning away. Rainbow Dash fumed, before realizing he was leaving her behind.
“Hey, hang on,” she yelled, running after him, “I’m not done.”
“Well, I am,” Logan said. He kept walking away, but Rainbow Dash kept after him.
“I’m serious; Pinkie is really suffering. You’re hurting her with this.”
“She needs to get over herself. Just because you’re the dominant race doesn’t mean you’re always in the right.”
“Look who’s talking!” Rainbow Dash retorted, “She’s doing everything she can to make up for it, and you’re stomping it into the dust.” She indicated another place where he had buried a serving of cupcakes. “Literally!”
Logan just gave the thing an indifferent glare. “Cakes are like poison to my kind anyway,” he replied, causing Rainbow Dash to stare at him in disbelief.
“Can you please just get over it!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “So you got shot with a party cannon. Big deal; you didn’t get hurt!”
“Cannons like that killed my people,” Logan shot back.
“Well, it didn’t kill you!” Rainbow Dash snapped back, “And either way, she’s sorry for it!”
“Does ‘sorry’ take it back?” Logan demanded, “Does ‘sorry’ reverse time so it never happened? NO!” He turned away, “Every time I’ve said sorry, I’ve had it flung back in my face. Never again.”
“You broke a Pinkie Promise!” Rainbow Dash refuted, only to get Logan's still visible scars shoved in her face.
"I cut myself to show my regret," he barked at her. "How was that not enough?"
“Well…” Rainbow Dash stammered, but Logan was already walking off. “I said, I’m not done!” Rainbow Dash yelled. But as she went to grab him, Logan spun.
Rainbow Dash barely avoided two snaps from his jaws before spinning around. Reacting on instinct, she bucked at the wolf, but Logan jumped over her kick and got her by the nape. Rainbow Dash bucked him off before stomping at him. Logan rolled out of the way before biting at her again.
Rainbow Dash leaped out of the way and took off into the air.
“You know what?” Rainbow Dash growled, “That’s it! Time some pony taught you a lesson!”
Logan simply growled and rose up on his hind legs in challenge. Rainbow Dash shot down, her hooves slamming into his arm. She shot back and forth, her charges knocking Logan around. Yet the wolf still managed to keep his paws on the ground.
If Rainbow Dash had been watching closely, she would have seen an electric field flickering around his body whenever she hit him, like a shield that was tanking her blows. However, before she got the chance to look too closely, Logan ducked under one of her charges and got her tail between his teeth. With the weight dragging her off course, Rainbow Dash was slowed enough for Logan to hurl her back to the ground before jumping onto her again. Rainbow Dash bucked and kicked as his teeth fastened around her neck. For a moment, actual panic entered Rainbow Dash’s eyes as Logan started biting down with a lot more ferocity. Lunging into the air, Rainbow Dash spun, hurling Logan from her and sending him skidding across the ground.
“Are you crazy?!” Rainbow Dash demanded, “You could’ve…!”
A rock hurled out of the woods and hit her right above the eye. As Rainbow Dash clutched her head with a shriek of pain, another stone hurled out of the woods, hitting her in the stomach. Down below, Logan reached for another stone, his eyes set in anger and determination.
“Okay,” Rainbow Dash growled, “That is it.”
She shot up higher than Logan could throw. As Logan glared up at her, the pegasus folded her wings and plummeted back down towards him. As her hooves raised, and she sighted down on the wolf like a target, Logan put his claws up in a combat pose, as his eyes glowed yellow.
“Come on, you bitch,” Logan snarled.
#
Twilight jumped in shock as a rumble spread through Ponyville. She had just made her way back to the library when she saw a rainbow-colored mushroom cloud rising from the Ever-Free, followed by an electric shockwave that rattled the foundations of the houses and knocked Twilight onto her tail.
“What the…?” she gasped as she recognized Rainbow Dash’s rainbow hues. “Rainbow Dash!”
#
A second later, Twilight appeared with a POOF. The Ever-Free’s boundaries had been knocked back by the blast, with several trees even getting uprooted. Rainbow Dash was stumbling around with spinning eyes, her wings flared and her hair messier than usual. Logan was standing right behind her, though he was wobbling on his feet, and holding one of his paws gingerly. Both pony and wolf were covered in scraps, cuts and bruises.
“T-That all you got?” Logan demanded, his voice cracking as he tried to put weight on his injured front paw, “You chump.”
Rainbow Dash growled and nearly raced at him again, only to stumble over her own hooves. Before she could launch her flailing body onto Logan’s, Twilight yanked her back.
“Rainbow Dash? Logan!” Twilight exclaimed, “What in the name of Celestia are you DOING?!”
Rainbow Dash blearily focused on Twilight. “He… started. It. Twi.”
“And now I’m gonna finish it!” Logan snarled, forming another combat stance. “Come on,” he snarled, “Show me what you really got!”
Rainbow Dash nearly rose to the challenge, but Twilight yanked her back down.
“That’s enough!” Twilight snarled at her friend. As Rainbow Dash kept a glare on the wolf, Twilight stomped between them. “And you,” she said, facing Logan, “I thought we were past this, Logan! I thought you saw things…”
“I agreed to make sure that Celestia didn’t cause a war when she met with my kind,” Logan snapped at her, “I didn’t agree to put up with more of Pinkie Pie’s schemes!”
As they argued, the rest of the Mane Six showed up, though Pinkie again flinched and backed up as Logan mentioned her.
“She was trying to throw an ‘I’m Sorry’ Party,” Rainbow Dash said, “It was just for you.”
“I never asked for one!” Logan snapped.
“You don’t ask for a Pinkie Party,” Applejack said, as she joined the conversation, “Pinkie’s the Element of…”
“I don’t care what element she is!” Logan barked, “If someone doesn’t want a party or a gift, then don’t expect them to accept it!”
“But…”
“BUT NOTHING!” Logan snapped, “I don’t want your parties; I don’t want your apologies; I thought I made it clear I’m not gonna be a part of your freaking pack; all I want… is…”
He stammered to a halt. The others began to notice it too. In all the confusion, only Fluttershy had noticed that Logan’s collar now had a very large crack across it. Logan stared at her horror-stricken face, before following her gaze. His paw lifted, moving under the cracked collar.
“Sugar cube,” Applejack warned, “Don’t…”
But Logan pushed, and the collar came away from his neck, fizzling with a few dying sparks. He dropped the shattered pieces to the ground. Logan chuckled. His chuckle grew to a maniacal laugh.
While the other mares started to back up nervously, Twilight crept forward.
“Logan…” she said firmly, “Don’t do anything stupid…”
He grinned at her, showing a nearly bestial smile of sharp carnivore teeth… before ducking away into the woods.
“Hey!” Applejack yelled, “Logan, stop, don’t do this!”
“Screw you guys,” Logan’s voice howled, “I’m going home!”
“But Celestia didn’t say if she had the portal working!” Twilight protested, “You’re just going to make things worse for yourself!”
He didn’t respond.
“Logan!” several of the mares yelled. Nothing. As the others looked around hopelessly, Fluttershy just managed to spot Logan’s form.
“Logan, please,” she whispered. He halted at the sound of her voice. “Stop this.”
But Logan didn’t even look at her. “You can’t manipulate me anymore,” he replied, even though the laughter was gone from his voice, “I know what you think of packs. Just do yourself a favor…” He winced before adding, “And don’t make me hate you too.”
Fluttershy completely froze, and sunk to the ground. Tears more than brimmed; they spilled from her eyes as Logan raced away. The wolf didn’t give himself the courtesy of looking back.
Pinkie watched as Fluttershy wept for the loss of her friend. And the fluff came back into her mane. She turned back to Twilight and the others as they re-gathered.
“He’s going to go for Canterlot,” Twilight said.
“No doubt on that,” Applejack noted, already heading for the train station. “C’mon, ya’ll; he won’t take a train. Maybe we can cut him off before he does something stupid.”
“You go,” Pinkie said, her voice unnaturally somber. “There’s one last thing I can try.”
“W-What’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked. “You know he won’t listen to you.”
“We’ll see,” Pinkie said, striding with a determined gait into the forest. “He may like what I have to say.”