In hindsight, Twilight should have known that Logan was going to react badly to her news. However, since Carol had joined him, Twilight had hopes that he would be able to go along with her plans with dignity and grace.
“So, explain to me again,” Logan asked, glancing out the train window. “What are we doing?”
Twilight sighed. “The Royal Scientists caught wind of you teaching me and Celestia about the wolves’ culture. They sent a formal request that you and Carol be brought to them and tell them all about what you’ve told me…”
SMASH!
Twilight nearly flipped over her seat as the train window exploded. Glass pitched away into the wind, and when Twilight poked her head up fearfully, Logan was gone, wind whistling through the shattered train window. Carol, however, sat curled up, her eyes shut without a care in the world. A ticket collector stared at the shattered window, before giving a whinny of exasperation.
“Boss!” she yelled, racing away. “That’s two windows the wolf owes us now!”
Twilight’s eyes darted between Carol, the empty seat beside her, and the broken window.
“Did he just…”
“Yep,” Carol muttered.
“Because…”
“Yep.”
Twilight watched Carol cautiously. “And… you’re not going to…” Twilight asked.
Carol lifted her head up. “I’m not defiant enough to be dumb, Twilight,” Carol replied. “Though I still don’t know how I feel about going to the place where Logan got his spine broken.”
Twilight sighed.
“He didn’t tell you that was an accident, did he?” she asked.
“Reaper died there, Twilight,” Carol said coldly. “All things being considered, he went easy on you guys.”
Twilight paled, and lowered her head. She took a steady breath.
“What do you want?” she asked.
Carol tilted her head. “Pardon?”
“What… do I need to give you,” Twilight said slowly. “In exchange for you not trying to kill Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, or any of the Royal Scientists.”
Carol looked up, her ears flapping.
“I’m going to need you… to stay quiet,” Carol replied.
“Huh?”
“See, I’m not fully sure just how much Logan taught you,” Carol said. “But before I joined his pack, I came from a very different culture.”
Twilight’s ears flattened. “How different?” she prompted.
“Think Pegasi and Earth Pony different,” Carol replied. Before Twilight could remark or note on that, Carol raised a paw. “Some things I say are going to be different from Logan’s. Thus, I need you to just keep your mouth shut and not point out any contradictions.”
Twilight winced, already pondering how Carol would run with that, but Carol’s eyes sparked, keeping Twilight from talking over her.
“Do that, and you can consider your precious Alphas safe.”
Twilight nodded. “Okay,” she said, before her ears flattened again. “But that goes both ways,” she reminded her, remembering how Fluttershy had tamed Logan. “If you don’t hold up your end of the bargain and be on your best behavior, I see no reason not to stay silent. These are some of the smartest ponies in Equestria, and you are a delegate for your entire species.”
Carol leaned back and stared out the broken window. “Don’t worry about me, Twilight,” Carol said coyly. “Worry about Logan when he figures out I didn’t follow him.”
#
A half hour later, the wolf and unicorn mare reached Canterlot. Carol gave the white and gold castle a less than amused huff, but followed Twilight without protest as they headed through the city and up to the castle.
The two were joined by two soldiers, who kept a constant watch on Carol while they led them to what appeared to be a large conference room. Inside, about two dozen ponies all sat around, talking with each other. Carol’s ear tips flicked as she realized each of them had their noses firmly in the air and were dressed in fancy suits.
Carol froze in place, causing Twilight to glance at her.
“It’s okay, Carol,” she said placating. “They’re well behaved.”
“They look like rich humans,” Carol noted. “The kind that watch canines like me fight to the death for their amusement.”
“Just… be a good sport,” Twilight asked.
Carol’s ears flattened, but before she could reply, a familiar voice cried out.
“Twily!”
“Shiny!” Twilight exclaimed. Carol’s ears perked as Twilight and a familiar royal guard scurried over to each other. Carol’s tail tucked at the affectionate way they nuzzled each other before remembering the guard was Twilight's brother; Shining Armor.
"What are you doing here, Shining?" Twilight asked.
"Just talking with Princess Celestia about upgrading the Crystal Empire's security," Shining replied with a airy wave. "But how about you? How you doing?"
“I’m doing great,” Twilight replied. “Carolina here agreed to share information about her culture with the Royal Scientists.”
Shining Armor turned to Carol when Twilight pointed. The smile faded from his face, slowly being replaced by a more neutral look. Carol herself just kept a small glare on him.
“Right,” he said blankly. “The, uh… second wolf to assault Princess Celestia.”
“And Princess Luna,” Carol recited. “And Princess Cadence… pretty much, everyone who was involved with dragging me over.”
“Never mind that they were reuniting you with your last pack mate,” Shining Armor noted coldly. Twilight put a hoof on her brother’s shoulder.
“Be nice,” she asked. “She was having a rough day.”
“So was I,” Shining replied with a scowl. “Attacking all three princesses? One of them my wife?" Carol's ears just flicked at that news. Shining marched over to her.
"You know how much paperwork you two gave me?" he asked.
“Paperwork?” Carol asked. “Are you serious?” Shining nodded.
“Incidents that big have to be documented and recorded. It’s standard protocol,” Shining Armor replied. “I had to fill out three blue forms for your incident alone.” He got in her face. “I. Hate. Filling out blue forms,” he whispered.
“And what color form do you fill out for getting your tail beat?” Carol replied venomously, jutting her face into his. “Cuz you’re gonna have to fill out a couple of those if you don’t get out of my face.”
“Both of you,” Twilight scolded. “Be. Nice.” Twilight spun on Carol. “Carol, we had a deal!”
“I promised not to do anything bad to the Alphas,” Carol replied, giving Shining another glare. “Not some jumped up Gamma who thinks he’s a Beta.”
Confusion crossed Shining Armor’s face, and Carol took the opportunity to saunter away before Twilight could hope to explain that Shining was married to Cadence, and thus, technically an Alpha. However, Carol only got a few paces before the doors opened, and she found herself before Princess Celestia.
The alicorn gave the red wolf a cautious look. Carol could feel the eyes of not just Twilight and Shining, but the entire delegation behind her. People were curious how the Red Wolf of Equestria would react as compared to the former Lone Wolf’s reaction. Would she attack? Would she growl? What would she do?
A half grin spread across Carol’s snout, and she tipped her head in a nod.
“Your Grace,” Carol said politely, before stepping out of her path.
The tension leaked out of the room. A few condescending huffs trickled from some of the more snobbish ponies. A small relieved sigh whispered from Celestia’s snout, and she returned Carol’s nod, striding inside.
“Welcome, my little ponies… and wolf,” Celestia added with a grin to Carol. Carol didn’t grin, nor scowl. Undeterred, Celestia continued. “It is time for our meeting to begin. So, if every pony could take their seats, we can get started.”
The ponies took a second to move into the conference room, settling themselves into their seats. Carol and Twilight went up to the front of the room, to a large chalkboard with fresh pieces of chalk under it.
“Thank you, Carol,” Twilight whispered to her. Carol nodded. The unicorn and wolf’s attention was quickly drawn to Celestia, as she stood up in front of the crowd.
“Now then,” Celestia began. “Good afternoon, esteemed members of the Royal Science Division. It is my great pleasure to introduce to you today a member of a whole different universe. Brought to our world through…” she faltered for a brief moment. “As of now unknown means.”
“Smooth,” Carol mumbled, grinning at Twilight. Twilight rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. Carol’s ears flicked, and her grin faded as she noticed some odd noises coming from the door.
“I have invited one of them here today, so that she may share her knowledge of her world with us. All to further expand learning and friendship among our races. Please give a warm welcome to…”
Celestia trailed off as the noise picked up.
“Sir, you are not allowed to be here!” Shining Armor’s muffled voice growled.
“Get the heck off me!” another voice growled back.
“Someone get me some cuffs!” another guard yelled.
“Here’s your cuffs!” the voice snapped again, followed by a THUD.
Carol leaned back with a grin. “Oh, this should be good,” she commented.
Celestia and Twilight glanced at her nervously, before the door swung open with a bang. Carol’s tail wagged; Logan stormed inside, looking rather angry if Carol did say so.
Blood seeped from several glass shards still stuck in his head, but he didn’t seem to pay them any mind. His paws were dark from walking through mud, and he had a black eye in the shape of a hoof print. However, he strode confidently past the delegation and straight up to Celestia. The Princess found herself backing up before the wolf as he took her spot before the delegation.
For a moment, he simply stared them all down. The unicorns shuffled and whispered among each other;
“Should… someone get him some medical aid for those cuts?”
“What is another one of them doing here?”
“Isn’t that the one that assaulted the Princess the first time…?”
“So,” Logan growled, cutting them off. “You wanna know about wolves, huh?”
The crowd was silent at first.
“That would be an understandable reason as to why we’re here,” one haughty unicorn replied. “Rather than getting more important things done.” A smattering of laughter rang through the hall. Logan smirked, but the smirk was far from amused; it was the same smirk he had right before biting Celestia the first time.
“Well,” Logan replied. “If there’s ‘more important things’ you got going on, why are you here?” He pointed to the door. “Go on and get to them. Go on!”
But no pony moved. Another mare raised her hoof.
“Um, pardon our dry friend,” she insisted. “He didn’t mean to insult…”
“Oh, he didn’t mean to insult?” Logan asked. “Then why, may I ask, do you all feel the need to go around acting like you’re better than everyone else just because you got more bits than them?”
“Wait… huh?” several of the crowd whimpered.
"Well..." the haughty scientist said. "We are better than them."
“Seriously?” Logan insisted. He indicated Celestia. “Celestia’s one thing; she’s an Alpha; she has to look like a leader. But the rest of you? Fancy suits? Big mansions? All you are doing is making everyone else jealous and envious of you. You know what that leads to on my…” he paused, remembering Carol. “On our world?” His paw hit the table and the unicorns jumped. “Riots!” He hit it again and they jumped a second time. “Class Wars!” He hit it a third time, still making them jump. “Revolutions!” He leered at the now quivering scientists. “And people like you don’t end up too well at the end of those revolutions.”
Celestia cleared her throat as several members started to stare at her. “Logan,” she said softly, but he wasn’t done.
“You want the truth about my race?” he asked. “Get yourselves out of this castle and prove that you deserve it. Head down to Ponyville; prove you understand the meaning of friendship by helping out some of the mares there. Moon knows they deserve some sort of karmic luck; they put up with me for two years.”
Carol chuckled, and a smattering of nervous laughter permeated the air.
“But until someone here proves that they have what it takes to earn a wolf’s loyalty,” Logan concluded. “I see nothing but a bunch of pampered snobs used to getting everything they want at the drop of a hoof…” He started to turn away. “And they are in need of a serious wake up call.” He turned his back on them, striding for Carol. “C’mon, Carol; let’s get out of here.”
Twilight started to stand, wanting to protest, but Carol put a claw out, forcing Twilight back down. Her eyes were locked with Logan’s.
"And why would I want to do that?” she asked him.
Logan paused. His glare didn’t fade, but Twilight could tell he was shocked, judging by the tuck in his tail.
“Did you ever think about what I might want?” Carol asked, standing up. “Or did you just assume that I’d agree with you?”
Logan didn’t reply, but his ears lowered.
“I have my own mind, Logan,” Carol growled at him. “I can make my own choices. And right now, I want to share what I know with these ponies.” Her own claws bared. “Are you going to let me be a big girl and make my own choices… or are you no better than Celestia?”
He stepped back from his pack mate, and the two of them stared each other down for what felt like an eternity to Twilight. Finally, Logan relented; his head bowed, and he stepped aside, allowing Carol to take the stand.
A golf clap raced through the meeting hall.
“Thank you,” one of them said. “For putting that wolf in his place.”
Logan glowered at them, but everyone was focused on Carol at that point.
“Now,” the condescending scientist continued. “How about you… start at the beginning.”
The others laughed as if this was the most hilarious joke. However, Carol’s tail wagged, and she glanced back at Logan with a wink. With a start, Twilight realized that Logan’s tail was wagging as well; both of these wolves were happy about something. But what… Twilight wasn’t sure.
“To start?” Carol asked. “Well, I was born when a hound caught a deer. Deciding that he found the deer incredibly attractive, instead of simply eating her, he…”
Several unicorns gasped before she could even say what her father did. Twilight gave a giant gag.
“NO!” she squeaked. “He meant…” she paused. “By Celestia, did you mean…?”
“No,” the scientist wailed. “No, I had no idea that’s what she would take from that…”
“You did tell me to start at the beginning,” Carol noted. “Everyone begins by being born, and you can only be born if…”
Another uproar cut her off. Half of the scientists fainted from her scandalous lecture, while the other half were plugging their ears, not wanting to hear the specifics on how Carol or Logan had been born.
“Start…” another scientist managed to get out. “After that.”
“After that? Okay, let’s see…” Carol mumbled, sharing another gleeful look with Logan, who was trying his best not to crack up. “I learned that wolves have an alternate tribe. Then again, there are actually many tribes, when you think about it.”
“Tribes?” one scientist asked. “Like… earth ponies and pegasi?”
“In a sense,” Carol replied. “When the Great and Terrible Myst gave sentience to my kind, there was a bleed effect. All animals, over time, gained the gift of intelligence. Yet the wolves were the first. Thus, with several factors in play, a common name for our kind became ‘demi-wolf;’ part wolf, and part…. Well, anything really.”
“Can someone please tell her to stop talking about such scandalous subjects,” one of the scientists begged.
“All to aid in forming the Empire of Wolf,” Carol finished with a grin.
A small squeak escaped Twilight, and she shared a furious look with Logan. Hadn’t Logan mentioned that the White Wolf had eschewed leadership for packs? What was all this talk about an Empire?!
But Carol shot Twilight another glare, and Twilight reluctantly hushed herself up.
“For example,” Carol continued. “The Hound Tribe was composed of domesticated dogs. The Ursa tribe was composed of bears. The Bovine tribe was composed of bulls.”
“Like minotaurs?” another scientist asked.
“Correct,” Carol said. “And there was even an equine tribe consisting of beings not dissimilar to Earth Ponies.” Carol flicked her bangs out of her head. “That’s why my pack mate was willing to trust the Elements when he arrived; they had served as servants in his Empire.”
A scandalized gasp went through the crowd, while Twilight’s mane began to smoke. Celestia and Logan, on the other hand, shared a single look, and Celestia had to keep herself from laughing.
#
When Carol finally wrapped up her stories, Logan was cracking up behind her, while Twilight’s fur started to resemble some sort of fire dragon. Carol had told them the story of how the Wolf and Hound tribes, formerly close friends, went to war with each other over a lover’s quarrel between the White Wolf and the Great Hound, before an attempt at a coup by the Great and Terrible Myst caused the two to join forces. She told them how the Street Dogs were formed with the remnants of the Hound Tribe forming an alliance with humanity, and how they went on to find Broadway Theater and musicals. She even explained how it was thanks to their discoveries that empirical peace was discovered, and how several tribes now solve their differences through rap battles. Celestia had much more composure than Logan, but she still was snickering and giggling.
“And, if any of you have any questions… or contradictions,” Carol concluded, glancing at a furious Twilight. “You are more than welcome to visit my home at the Ever-Free Forest in Ponyville. It’s quite welcoming… in a dark, ominous and slightly painful kind of way.” Winking at Logan as he came up alongside her, Carol strode confidently from the room, Logan right behind her.
Twilight scampered up after them, her eyes almost red from anger. The scientists didn’t even seem to realize that they might have been fooled, as they eagerly dispersed, comparing notes on Carol’s lecture. The second they were out of sight, however, Twilight lost her composure.
“Carolina!” Twilight growled.
“Why, hello, Twilight,” Carol replied, turning to her as if Twilight hadn’t been right behind her the whole time.
“Don’t you ‘why, hello, Twilight,’ me!” she hissed lividly. “What. Was. THAT?”
“That, my faithful student,” Celestia said, smiling broadly as she joined them. “Was easily the best meeting of the Royal Science Division I’ve ever been to.”
Twilight’s ears flattened, and the anger faded from her face, replaced with confusion.
“B-B-But…” Twilight stammered, looking from her to Carol to Logan. She finally locked on Logan. “Y-You told me about your world, Logan. There wasn’t anything about an empire, or tribes o-or deer and wolves…” She indicated at Carol before fizzling out.
“I did warn you,” Carol noted. “I told you, I came from a different culture.”
“B-But you said that it was as different as pegasi and earth ponies!” Twilight insisted. “That?! That was…!”
“I am curious about that,” Celestia noted, turning to Logan. “How much of what Carolina said was… actually true, Logan?”
Logan just gave her a raised eyebrow, before grinning at Carol. She grinned right back, and the two wolves strode away from the alicorn and unicorn, both cracking up with glee.
Celestia’s wings drooped, while Twilight looked about ready to pass out.
“I… suppose I should have expected that,” Celestia noted. She smiled softly down at Twilight. “Well, it beats getting bitten, right?”
Twilight passed out.