• Published 23rd Jun 2019
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The Lone Wolf of Equestria - JNKing



A werewolf from an alternate dimension is taken to Equestria, and must find a way home.

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Chapter 9: Who's the Real Monster?

Author's Note:

Hello again, everyone,

So, for anyone that's on Logan's side, this chapter is for you.

Fun fact: Logan was 'born,' so to speak, after I watched the movie 'Chicken Little.' I just really hated how Chicken Little got treated by the other characters - especially his dad - and I found myself coming up with the ultimate ally for that underdog protagonist. Someone his age who saw those self-entitled jerks for what they were, and better yet, called them out on it.
This chapter is Logan getting to embrace that original persona; that juvenile who stood up to what he believed was wrong, even if it got him labelled as a delinquint.

Sorry in advance for any foul language, and I hope you enjoy.

The golden light around Logan shifted into a bright green. The scent of sulfur flooded his nostrils, making him cough and gag. The next thing Logan knew, he was laying on a wooden floor. A groan sounded behind him, and he spun to find a purple dragon with green spikes doubled over, clutching his stomach as his emerald green eyes took in Logan’s form with a shocked look.

“That’s way bigger than a scroll,” he noted.

“LOGAN!” a voice screeched.

Logan winced before Twilight practically flew down a staircase he hadn’t noticed, clearly trying to cripple him with looks alone.

“There you are! You won’t believe what…” Twilight noticed the scroll in his collar, and snatched it up with her aura. As her eyes darted across the page, Logan became aware of a drone of angry yelling coming from outside. Curiosity pulling him from his despair and humiliation, he walked over to the door and opened it… only to find an angry mob before him. Fluttershy was cowering away from them, while Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity were doing all they could to quell them.

Right at the front was that Diamond Tiara brat, a bandage wrapped around her foreleg which she was holding up gingerly. Next to her was a brown stallion with what Logan could only describe as a pompadour. Diamond Tiara’s eyes locked on Logan, and she pointed her bandaged hoof in his direction.

“That’s him!” she shrieked, “That’s the monster that bit me.”

The stallion’s eyes locked on Logan with the intensity of a heat-seeking missile.

“Don’t worry, pumpkin,” the stallion declared, “I’ll see him pay for hurting you!” He turned to his mob. “Come on, every pony. Let’s teach that beast a lesson about messing with the wrong crowd.”

“Alright, back up!” Rainbow Dash yelled as the crowd tried to push past him to get to Logan.

“C’mon, get!” Applejack snarled as one particularly bulky pegasus tried to force his way past her.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie, however, separated from the group and grabbed Logan, bustling him inside the library before slamming the door. But slamming the door didn’t free Logan from hostile glares.

“Logan T. Wolfe,” Rarity snarled, “You have a lot of nerve…!”

“That creature BIT a child,” one of the many screaming voices declared from outside, “It bit Princess Celestia. A creature like that should be caged in the deepest, darkest caverns of Canterlot.”

“No, worse,” another insisted, “It should be banished to the sun!"

“Stop!” Rainbow Dash bellowed, quieting them by a fraction, “We are going to handle this; but breaking into an angry mob isn’t gonna help.” She darted inside, and glared back at Logan. “What in pony feathers were you thinking?” she hissed at him, “You just break Sugarcube Corner’s door, run off, and bite some pony?”

“And a child at that,” Rarity asked, “How could you!? When Princess Celestia hears about this…!”

“She already has,” Twilight said, her voice a steel calm mix of anger and dread.

Logan’s ears flattened, and he let out another long-suffering sigh as Twilight joined in, the scroll shaking in her aura.

“Of all the crazy, foolish, rock headed stunts I’ve ever seen any pony pull off,” Twilight hissed at him, “This has got to be the worst one yet!”

“Twilight, what in tarnation are you talking about?” Applejack demanded.

She showed them the letter. As the others looked over it, the stallion father nudged the door open, glaring inside.

“What are you reading?” he demanded, “Is it a royal degree? Does it entail the punishment this creature deserves?”

Logan snarled, before Twilight shoved him further back with her hind leg.

“Unfortunately,” she said, “Princess Celestia was already made aware of Logan’s temper problems… when he broke into Canterlot Castle.” She glanced up, “He’s being held under house arrest here until further notice.”

“THAT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!” Diamond Tiara’s voice wailed, “I want him PUNISHED!!”

“Agreed,” several ponies shouted. Logan’s ears flicked as he suddenly noticed a strange tuneplaying in the air.

“If every pony could just calm down…” Twilight tried to say, but the father spoke over her.

“Ponyville is supposed to be a place of love and tolerance,” he insisted, as the music grew louder, “Not a place where my daughter has to fear for her life from some… foreign beast!”

Logan’s glower deepened, only to fade away in surprise when the stallion… burst into song.

“That big bad wolf will give you a fright.

Biting children both day and night.

No rest for the weary, nor for the weak,

Unless you wish to become that werewolf’s meat!”

Before Logan could question it, another mare joined it.

“It doesn’t care about nada; no zilch, no nothing.”

“Except bringing about,” another noted, “Our town’s destruction.”

The Mane Six were slowly forming a bit of a barricade between Logan and the mob. Yet, once again, who should jump to his defense but Fluttershy? And in song form no less.

“Now wait just a minute; there’s another side to this

And if I did not defend him, then I would be remiss.

He’s just a child too

He cares for his pack just like we ponies too.”

Yet the mob wasn’t satisfied, with the stallion’s voice sending Fluttershy to a meek tremble.

“Oh, give me a break, you’re far too kind.

That creature has a one-track mind.

My daughter is not its restaurant

But does it ever think what others want?”

No,” another mob member replied, “It don’t.”

“And that is just a fact.”

That dog, it doesn’t know how to act!”

Despite the mares looking conflicted, Fluttershy forced herself back to the spotlight.

“That is where I have to disagree,

He’s loyal to his family.

Separated, far and wide…”

She was cut off again, this time by two colts.

There’s more?” one asked.

We better run and hide!” the other responded.

Both tore away, while Diamond’s father once again took over.

“It’s big and ugly, and mean as sin!

Will you look at the state, my daughter’s in!”

Twilight tried to come forward.

“The wolf’s assault is a matter of some strife…”

But she was cut off as well.

“It tried to take my life!” Diamond Tiara screamed.

Logan tried to go forward as well, before several other mob members stepped forward.

Well, I for one don’t have a doubt,” one of them said,

“That beast must be driven out!”

“I second that, it’s gotta go,”several pegasus said,

“That creature’s gotta hit the road!”

“It comes down!” Tiara’s father declared, “To just one simple fact.

It’s crossed the line, it’s time to fight back!”

With that, the mob began to bear down, past the Mane Six and towards Logan, all while chanting the same thing over and over.

“Stop the Wolf; Stop the wolf;

Stop the Big, Bad, Evil Wolf!”

This chant continued, bearing down on him alongside the angry eyes and stomping hooves of the mob. Logan slowly started to back up. His ears were completely flat. His tail was tucked up to his chest. His eyes shut, and he pressed his paws up to his head.

Suddenly, he was younger; he was barely more than a fledgling pup. A door was being broken open, a red wolf flinching beside him.

“Find a way out,” his mother barked.

“There is no way out!” Logan protested, scampering and looking for the tiniest path out of the square closet he had blundered into, “I can’t get out!” Logan cried, curling up on the floor and sobbing.

“Don’t do that!” his mother said, bringing him to his paws. “If we cannot run without assurance that you will escape, then we meet our fate together; with bared fang and a howl for victory!” The door bashed open. “Remember, my son. Remember to fight. For death is sweeter when it is met with a roar, then a whimper.”

Despite everything; his memory trying to drag him from the horrid scolding and screaming, he still remembered those words.

Fight; for death is sweeter when it is met with a roar, rather than a whimper.

Logan’s head shot up. His eyes began to glow. He ignored the look of horrified concern on the others. And just as the chant faded to one final lyric, he felt his grip on any semblance of self-control he might have had snap.

“It comes down to just one simple fact;

It’s crossed the line, it’s time that we— “

“SHUT UP NOW!”

His howl wasn't quite a howl; it was neither the song that he had uttered outside the forest, nor one of his many screams or yelps of unbridled emotion. This howl took the form of a vortex of sound and lightning. It hurled the mob off their hooves, the few that managed to keep their footing flinching away. Had Logan been able to hear over his own howl, he would have heard someone whisper, “The Royal Canterlot Voice?” Had his eyes been able to open beyond glowing slits, he would have noticed two apparitions appearing alongside him, in the form of a black wolf and a white wolf, who both briefly charged alongside his howl like ghosts of the past before dissipating into sparks of light.

Logan slowly caught his breath, his eyes narrowing as he took in the many frightened faces before him. Diamond Tiara herself was hiding behind her father, both of them trembling as if they stood before an angry alicorn. Logan strode over to them, fixing them with the darkest, angriest glare he could fathom. Then, he lifted his gaze to the rest of the mares and stallions.

Part of him wanted to fight. Just as he had fought Celestia and her guards. Yet, doubt burned in the back of his mind. He had lost or merely tied in both those fights, and that was giving him leeway. If he went all out on these guys… could he really afford to take them all on?

Then, just over the horizon, far out of reach of his howl, Logan saw a familiar cream colored filly with a red bow, flanked by two other fillies, all staring at him with worry. And he realized; he may not be able to beat them with teeth and claw. But what about words?

“Let me see if I understand something,” Logan said, his voice raspy, but no less capable of a booming voice. He indicated himself. “I’m the monster here? The blood thirsty, barbaric wolf that terrorizes little girls?”

The ponies all glanced at each other.

“Well… yeah?” and “Uh huh” flickered nervously from pony to pony.

“Then, with that in mind,” Logan noted, “Why is it that the bloodthirsty, barbaric wolf cared more for that filly,” he pointed to Apple Bloom, “Than any of you ever did?”

He stormed over to Diamond Tiara. She tried to hide behind her father, who raised a foreleg in her defense, but Logan was quicker. With a swipe of his paw, Diamond Tiara’s bandage fluttered away, revealing unscathed flesh and unharmed fur underneath.

“I didn’t hurt this girl,” Logan growled, “I didn’t mutilate her or eat her. But I did scare her. And you know why I did that?” he pointed at Apple Bloom again. “Because she was harassing that girl right over there.”

The others turned to Apple Bloom, who started to hold herself higher as Logan’s words reached her. Applejack, in particular, was looking particularly confused.

“He’s not lying,” Apple Bloom insisted, “Diamond Tiara was bullying me; teasing me for not having my mark.”

“Oppressing her,” Logan added in, “Putting her down because she wasn’t branded with some stupid butt picture.” His glare centered on the crowd. “And, from what Apple Bloom told me, this has been happening long enough that Apple Bloom took an extreme measure to get one of those stupid butt pictures; a measure that could’ve killed her!”

The ponies flinched at the ‘k-word.’

“Is he talking about the Cutie Pox incident?” one voice asked.

“I think so,” another replied.

“And what did any of you do?” Logan demanded, “What did any of you do to try and help her?” He spun around. “Did any of you consider encouraging Apple Bloom? Encouraging any filly that this… creature,” he spat at Tiara, “Picked on. At the very least give them permission to stand up for themselves?”

“What? By biting and attacking?” Applejack asked, gaining enough courage to stand up, “I won’t see my sister turn into a bully as well…”

“Your sister?” Logan growled, marching up on Applejack, even as the farm mare tried to stand her ground, “You let your own sister – your pack – get hurt, and encouraged her to do nothing!?”

“Well, I…”

“She’s supposed to be your pack!” Logan roared, “Your family! Your flesh and blood! Did you even think of telling the bully to stop?”

“Well… no,” Applejack admitted, “But…”

“Did you tell Tiara’s father that his daughter was making your sister’s life miserable?”

“No,” Applejack whimpered, her stance faltering.

“Have you done anything to help that poor girl deal with some pony that drove her to an extreme that nearly damaged her for life?” Logan almost screamed.

Applejack sunk back down, her look of cautious fear replaced by pure shame. Then again, shame began to register on all their faces.

“Oppression is the vilest sin I can imagine,” Logan said, “Anyone – pony or wolf – who picks on innocent and helpless people just to make themselves feel powerful is evil. And anything bad that happens to them should happen, because they brought it on themselves. Are things really so screwed up here that just defending yourself from oppression and tyranny makes you evil?”

The ponies stared at him, looking like their brains had been completely rocked. Logan’s ears flattened, and he shook his head.

“I don’t know why I expected better,” he muttered, “After all, this place apparently punishes people for worrying about their pack. That is, when you’re not shooting people in the face with cannons?” He glared in particular at Pinkie Pie, who flinched at the harshness in his gaze.

“W-Well,” Pinkie whimpered, “It was a Party Cannon. It was just part of a surprise welcome party I wanted to…”

“A welcome party?” Logan asked with a humorless grin. “So, you WELCOME people by ambushing them, and shooting them in the face?”

Pinkie flinched back down to the ground. While her friends were giving her a very severe ‘I told you so’ glare, the other ponies were looking at her in shock and horror, like they couldn’t believe she would do such a thing.

“Well…” Pinkie sputtered feebly, “You did break a…” she stammered into silence as Logan gave her an utterly disgusted glare.

“Even after I apologized for that?” he demanded, holding his arm up, where the words ‘I mean it’ could still be faintly seen under his fur, “Even after I cut myself to prove my regret?”

Pinkie didn’t meet his gaze. He glared around at the rest of the town, who were all looking down in guilt and regret.

“You want to call me the monster?” Logan demanded, “Get your self-righteous heads out of your plots and look in a damn mirror.” He looked towards Apple Bloom. “And Apple Bloom… you and every other foal out there who’s suffered… I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you have to live under such hypocritical, self-righteous, pathetic excuses for role models.” He extended a paw in her direction. “Be better than them. Don’t let them turn you into something less than what you are. And more importantly, don’t ever let them make you think less of yourself.”

With that, he turned around, and stormed off down the road. Slowly, the ponies picked themselves up, and wandered off in separate directions. Applejack herself stared after Apple Bloom as she turned and walked away.

“Hey, Twi?” Applejack asked. Twilight glanced at her warily, “Can ya make a note to Princess Celestia?”

“Uh, sure,” Twilight said hesitantly, “D-Do you need me to…”

“Nah, it’s pretty short,” she said, “Just say, ‘Dear Princess Celestia; today, I learned I was the worst role model for my little sister.” Her eyes narrowed, “It’s a mistake that I’m never gonna make again.”

She strode towards where her little sister had walked off.

“Agreed,” Rarity said, following after her.

“Same,” Rainbow Dash said, flying off after them.

Twilight, Pinkie and Fluttershy exchanged nervous glances – the only mares left from the mob – before a flash of fire from inside made them jump.

“What was that?” Fluttershy whispered as Spike let out a roar of frustration.

“The collar!” Twilight noted with a gasp, “Logan must have wandered out of Ponyville’s borders. Princess Celestia said he can’t leave while that thing’s around his neck.” She dashed to the door, Pinkie and Fluttershy right behind her. “Logan?” she asked, starting to open the door, “Logan, please listen to me. I…”

CRASH!

The door busted open, flattening Twilight against the library wall. Fluttershy was unscathed, but Pinkie similarly lay trampled into the dust. Her head popped back up from the pancake shape, but there was no sign of the wolf.

Only a slew of tracks leading away.