*About a month after the reveal*
Shiva sat back at Sugarcube Corner, casually chatting with Mrs. Cake and letting Pound Cake tousle her mane.
"I must say," Shiva mused to Mrs. Cake. "I was worried that chocolate wouldn't mix with my wolves, but..." She watched with barely suppressed laughter as Kodo buried his head in a triple fudge delight.
"Well, I'm certainly glad he likes it," Mrs. Cake noted. "Pinkie and I have been working all hours of the night finding canine-safe sweets for all of you. I can't imagine sugar was easy to come across in the Ever-Free."
"Sadly for those like Star, no," Shiva admitted. "There were a few plants that had honey-like substances, and a few zap apple groves, but those were often the riskiest to hunt for, and ultimately not worth it. I'll certainly be glad that we don't have to fight our way through timber wolves or Neptune Pony Traps to..."
Suddenly, the door burst open, and Celine burst in.
"Alpha!" she called. "We have a situation at Sweet Apple Acres."
Shiva straightened, biting back a curse. "Excuse me, Mrs. Cake," she said, before whistling. “Kodo?”
Kodo was instantly at her side, his eye a bit dilated from the sugar, but narrowed with determination all the same. “I’m ready. What’re we killing?”
“No killing… hopefully,” Shiva murmured. “Celine, lead the way.”
Together, the trio raced out, Celine in the lead.
"What's going on?" Shiva asked as they ran.
“These guys calling themselves the ‘Flim-Flam brothers,” Celine explained. “Apparently, they showed up a couple years back and made some sort of bet with the Apple Family. Now they’re saying that because they technically won the bet, they now own the farm. Twilight's going through a law book now trying to find any loopholes while some of the Wolves are... keeping the two back. I came to get you and Kodo before things could get out of paw."
"Good work," Shiva agreed, as the three arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. As Celine mentioned, Kodo’s mate Red, son Logan and at least five other wolves were glaring down what had to be the Flim-Flam brothers, who were trying to look confident while sweating buckets. Between them was another pony in a lawyer outfit that clearly looked like he did not want to be there. Twilight was rapidly reading a large law book as the Apple family looked on distraught, and the rest of Ponyville watched off to the side looking worried. Star Wing sat in the background, looking like she needed a drink.
Kodo walked next to Twilight as she dropped the book with a groan.
"I can't find anything," she admitted. "Their claim is legit."
"Told you," Flim noted, before Logan growled.
Flam chuckled. "Now... can you please call these dogs off?"
The wolves' snarls increased, and even Shiva gained a miffed look.
"Sorry Flam, they only listen to their Alpha." Mayor Mare said.
"And you're lucky their Alpha's not ordering them to do what we usually do to those who call us dogs," Shiva added, causing the brothers to pale and back further up.
"N-Now hold on a second, Alpha," Flim said. "We have a legit claim to the farm. We won the bet, fair and square."
"And according to the laws of bet-making," Flam added. "We have a binding contract."
"That law was supposed to have been removed," Twilight grumbled. "Celestia and every student she took went through the book with a fine-toothed comb, but we somehow missed that one."
Kodo picked up the book and started reading it, before arching an eyebrow.
"Applejack, where is the Zap Apple grove located?" he asked. "Because I'm guessing that's what these two want right?"
"It's in the Everfree," Applejack replied. "About a ten to fifteen minute walk."
Kodo hummed. “Interesting,” he noted. “Because the Wolves of Equestria have laid claim to the Ever-Free and everything in it.”
The ponies gasped in realization.
"That's right," Mayor Mare exclaimed. "The grove isn't actually part of Sweet Apple Acres; it's part of the Wolves' territory!"
Flim and Flam gaped, turning to Shiva, who was grinning triumphantly. Flim stepped forward. “Well… would you care for a…”
“Don’t even try,” Shiva growled.
Flim backed up. “Okay,” he murmured.
"Seriously, what exactly was your plan here?" Shiva asked. "Seize control of the farm for some petty reason, and then try to sell off the Zap Apples for a profit?"
"Well..." Flam tried to say.
"It was never going to work," Kodo noted. "Even if by some miracle, you did convince us selling or betting with you was a good idea, the zap apple groves also belong to the Timber Wolf territory."
"And while the timber wolves respect us enough to let us pass through unabated," Shiva would add. "They don't know you. You walk in there, you might as well put a steak around your neck."
"But can't we pay you to get them for us?" Flam offered.
"With what?" Beta would reply.
"Well," Flim noted. "We do own the Apple Farm now."
"I'm glad you mentioned that," Star noted, stepping from the shadows and taking the book from Twilight. Flipping to another page, she read, "'In the event that a land owner becomes a known criminal, the Crown has the right to seize the land until another owner can be found.'" She'd grin up at them. "And remind me, everyone, didn't these stallions con you all into buying first faulty cider and then some kind of fake energy tonic?"
"That's right," Granny Smith noted. "Them dern cons nearly convinced me to crack my skull on a high dive!"
"Well, sounds like we got us a criminal record," Star noted. "And since I am also a Princess of Equestria..."
"That ain't fair!" Flim said. "We were only trying to make a bit or two."
"Well, you'll have to do it somewhere else," Star replied. "Because on behalf of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna of the Equestrian Diarchy, I, Princess Star Wing, hear-by seize Sweet Apple Acres from you." She then proceeded to snatch at a tree, lifting it up with her alicorn strength. "Consider this symbolism." She set it down - very hard - in front of the lawyer pony, who would lose the last of his resolve and run away.
“You two are on your own,” the lawyer yelped as he ran. “I’m not doing this! I don’t get paid enough!”
Realizing they're beaten, Flim and Flam would reluctantly follow after him. Star would grin before turning to Applejack.
"Applejack, would you and your family be a treat and hang onto Sweet Apple Acres in the meantime?"
Applejack chuckled. "Princess, we'd be honored."
###
Unfortunately, as Shiva and her pack returned to Ponyville, they encountered… resistance. Several ponies blocked their path back into Ponyville. And judging by their expressions, they weren’t looking to move anytime soon.
Shiva sighed, as Kodo growled softly. “I should’ve known this would happen eventually,” she grumbled. Shrugging and motioning for her pack to be patient, she approached regardless.
"What are you dogs doing here?" one might say. "You should've died centuries ago."
Logan bristled in fury, but Shiva calmed him with a claw on his shoulder.
"Easy," she said. "We always knew these ponies would rear their heads one day."
"What? The ones that actually remember what monsters you are?" one of the bullies snapped. "Go back to the Ever-Free where you belong."
"We got a better idea," another voice might declare. The bullies would turn to find Carrot Top, Derpy, Doctor Whooves, and the other residents of Ponyville ready to gang up on them. "Why don't you lot go back to Tartarus where you belong?"
The bullies backed up, nearly running into Shiva and the wolves before scampering back.
"Y-You can't trust those freaks," one of the bullies might still insist. "You're all making a big mistake. They're just trying to butter you up so they can eat you later."
Shiva stepped forward. "If that's what you think, then go ahead," she dared. "Hit me. Take me down right now."
The bully blinked, glancing back at his friends. Doctor Whooves or the others might come forward.
"Alpha, please..." one of them might say.
But Shiva would wave them off. "The one thing I'll never forgive the nobles for is that they were the most certain of us being bad, yet they hid behind soldiers and guards instead of facing us like proper stallions. I won't let these boys make that mistake." She glared the bully down. "If you really think the nobles were right about me and my people, at least prove yourself better than them, and hit me yourself! Do it!"
The bully glowered, his hoof grinding into the dirt. Then, egged on by her taunts, he pounced.
Shiva dodged out of his way.
He whirled and tried to hit her again, but she easily spun aside.
His friends tried to join in, but Celine, Kodo and even Logan blocked them. And together, the wolves continued their odd dance, toying with the bullies as they punched, kicked and even bit, but managed to hit nothing.
At one point the leader charged Shiva, who grinned and didn’t move. But right before his hoof could find her face, she teleported, and his hoof instead found the face of his friend, just as his friend’s hoof found his face.
“Dumbbell, you idiot!” the leader hissed, clutching a broken nose.
“What’re you calling me an idiot for, boss, you hit me!” the other one snapped.
At that moment, Logan skidded between the two, causing a third bully to crash into the first two. Kodo backed up over the pile, luring his own bully, who was frothing at the mouth. Only for the fourth bully to trip onto the pile as well. The four bullies lay there, groaning as Shiva and her family surrounded them. Shiva tsked in sympathy.
"Seems to me the biggest threat to you colts... are yourselves." She'd motion to Omega. "Go get some of our healing herbs." She'd turn to Doctor Whooves. "Aren't you a doctor? Do you know a medical professional?"
Doctor Hooves grimaced. “I’m more of a scientific doctor than a medical one, but…”
Together, he and Shiva worked out a spell or two, combined with some herbs that could heal the boys, and she'd restore the bullies to normal. The four bullies glared at the wolves, but with one loss already chalked up and the rest of Ponyville glaring them down, there wasn’t much more they could do.
“This isn’t over,” the leader warned, even as his friends ran away and he backed up after them.
"And yet you're the one walking away," Shiva mused.
The bully opened his mouth for a taunt, but none came. Shutting his mouth with a glower, he reluctantly fled, while Shiva sighed and turned back to the Ponyville ponies with a grateful smile.
"Thank you," she'd say. "Thank you all."
Derpy would give the bullies a sad look. "I just don't know what went wrong," she'd note.
Doctor Whooves would pat her back. "A sad fact about ponykind," he'd say. "There will always be differing opinions." He'd look up to Shiva. "I truly hope this doesn't set back our friendship."
Shiva grinned. "My dear doctor," she'd reply. "It only enhances it."