• Published 12th Oct 2019
  • 1,150 Views, 114 Comments

Logan and Carol; The Wolves of Equestria - JNKing

  • ...
7
 114
 1,150

A Daring Detour Pt 1

Logan sniffed at the ground warily. Carol, the Mane Six (sans Rarity and Pinkie) and the two guards stood behind him, all looking around worriedly. Celestia had risen the sun already, and bright beams of gold lit up the forest in beautiful shades of golden green, yet an ominous air still held over the group.

“Five tracks,” he reported, as Applejack and Carol walked up alongside him. “One unicorn, two changelings…” his back fur flared. “One human…”

“Human?” Applejack asked, as Carol flinched in fear. “How’d a human get here?” She gasped. “Ya don’t suppose one of em got through that portal Princess Celestia used, do ya?”

“If they did, then we’re in serious trouble,” Logan growled. “If one human figured it out, it won’t be long before more figure it out too.”

“Maybe it’s one from that place Sunset was at,” Carol offered, only for Logan to shake his head.

“No good,” he replied. “You smelled them, remember, Carol? The scent’s off; whoever this human is, he’s from our world. Not that world.” He glowered as he sniffed the ground again. “What’s really throwing me is this fifth scent. I’ve never smelled any creature like this before.”

Applejack brushed at the ground, finding small hoof prints and boot prints squashed into the mud.

“Whatever it is, it’s got hooves,” Applejack noted, counting the tracks. “Some kind of pony, maybe?”

“Scent’s too malicious,” Logan said, snorting as if the scent disgusted him. “There’s something else about it… something evil.”

Applejack brushed at her neck warily, while Twilight stepped up next. “Alright then,” she declared. “I’ll write to Princess Celestia. I’ll request plenty of guards and that she re-check that any way into the human worlds are closed tight. We’ll send some scouting parties out; see if we can’t find them.” She raised a hoof before Logan could protest. “Not to fight them,” she assured him. “They’ll be ordered to do recon and report back with whatever they find.”

“I’m going too,” Logan replied. “I still don’t trust your guards to be able to handle these things. If humans or this unicorn or whatever the heck this fifth thing is are too much for them, I want to help them out.”

“I’ll come with you,” Carol volunteered. Logan flinched at her offer, sadly shaking his head.

“Sorry, Carol,” he said. “But I’d feel better knowing you were here watching over the mares. Without the Elements…”

“We don’t need the Elements to be able to handle ourselves, Logan,” Applejack assured him. She flexed her kicking legs. “Bucky McGillycuddy and Kicks McGee here did pretty darn well against Queen Chrysalis before.”

Logan’s tail wagged at the orange mare’s enthusiasm. “So… why did I hear Princess Cadence stopped Chrysalis and not this ‘Bucky and Kicks?” he asked.

His voice wasn’t angry or mocking, but it did diminish Applejack’s enthusiasm by a large fraction. Logan sighed, and continued.

“Carol knows how to Howl, which will let us stay in touch better than letters,” he insisted. “And if you guys get into a tight spot, Carol’s got the pack link. It’s no Element, but it did beat Sunset and Trixie, it’s the reason our species survived alongside humans, and it’s why I’m still here and not in Chrysalis’ hive.”

Carol nodded, and stood by Twilight’s side. “Just promise me you’ll stay safe, Logan,” Carol told him. “I know you don’t like the guards, but don’t hesitate to use the pack link for them.”

“She’s right,” Twilight said. “They may be the only help you’ll have out there; if worse comes to worst…”

“Telling me to do something isn’t going to make me want to do it, Sparkle,” Logan reminded her, though his tone was soft and his tail wagging.

Twilight briefly covered her mouth, before giggling. “I suppose so,” she admitted. “In which case…” she adopted a mock royal pose. “Your ‘princess’ commands that you throw caution to the wind, Logan Wolfe, and go forth with no regard for your safety!”

“A princess ordering me?” he demanded in mock indignation. “Well, I’m just going to use caution all the time, and ensure my absolute safety instead!”

The group laughed together, before Fluttershy raced forward, embracing Logan like she’d never see him again.

“Come back soon,” she whispered to him. “I worry so much about you.”

Logan licked softly at her mane. “I’ll come back,” he assured her. “Equestria’s gonna need a lot more than some weird creatures to put me down.”

Fluttershy still held onto him for another minute before letting him go, time Carol used to get her own hug in. And while the mares and hound returned to the Castle, Logan glared back down at the tracks, and set off into the forest.

“Alright, human,” Logan growled. “I don’t know how you got here, but you’re either going back where you belong. Whether that’s back on our old world… or back to Tartarus.”

#

“I really hope we don’t have to go back down to Tartarus,” Thorax noted, following after Luco as he cut through the forest… somehow with a baseball bat. “Sending Tirek off on his own could allow someone to get to him.”

“T. Rex is a big centaur boy,” Luco replied, slashing down some vines with his bat. “He can take care of himself.”

“And… if he goes after Tempest?” Thorax asked. “She is kind of on her own.”

“And he’s got Chrissy with him,” Luco replied. “She’s kept you and your brothers and sisters in line, right?” Luco paused and glanced back. “Do you guys have brothers or sisters… or… do you have all the same…?” He motioned downward.

“Oh! Uh…” Thorax rubbed his hoof nervously, causing Luco to back off.

“I mean, if you don’t want to tell me,” Luco started to say, but Thorax waved him off.

“No-no, it’s fine, just…” Thorax sighed. “Non-changelings never take the time to ask that kind of stuff.”

Luco grinned. “Let me guess; they’re usually asking…” He covered his mouth and mimicked screams of terror. Thorax only wilted further.

“I mean…” Thorax whimpered. Luco spotted his hesitation, and cupped his head gently.

“Oh, Thorax,” Luco bemoaned. “My poor, depressed dear…”

Smiling slightly, Thorax shifted back into his deer form, and Luco cackled in glee.

“There we go,” Luco said, turning back to his path. “Now, don’t you worry, my dear! Things are going to work out just fine! But for now…” Luco’s eyes widened as he spotted something ahead. “I believe our determined little wolf is due for a bit of pride before his fall!”

#

Despite Logan’s promise to stick close to the guards, he found himself straying further and further away from them. Not long after leaving the Castle of Two Sisters, the tracks split, with the unfamiliar figure and a changeling going off in one direction, the unicorn going in another, and the human going off with a second changeling.

Logan didn’t talk much with the guards, but he could smell how nervous they were. Especially about the human. And personally, Logan felt responsible. He knew the most about his world; he knew what the humans were really capable of. And if one of the guards came across their targets, Logan had much more faith that they could handle something that at least came from Equestria as opposed to the complete foreigner this human would be. Granted, Logan already had very little faith that these guards were capable of much beyond standing around and looking stoic, but at least with this mysterious fifth intruder, there was a chance that they would know what it was and report back rather than do something dumb.

Thus, for the next week, Logan found himself tracking the human. Not just through the Ever-Free, but out into the more remote regions of Equestria. He made sure to send out Howls every night, to ensure Carol and the others that he was alright, but the tracks were too good not to follow. Not that the human made it easy for him; the tracks constantly wound and re-looped around, making Logan’s head spin. Yet they were oddly fresh and, if anything, effort seemed to have been made to keep them visible. With every step, Logan sensed a trap coming. As he followed after the human, he kept imagining what would be waiting for him at the end. A snare trap with a leash waiting to tighten around his neck? An ambush with changelings and humans lunging together to pin him under a dog pile of insects and apes? Maybe even the human himself, waiting in some sort of clearing to bore him to death with a villainous monologue?

What he didn’t expect was to run into Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle again. Yet, as the tracks brought him for another loop-the-loop, he ended up on a small pathway out of the forest. He glanced down the road curiously, and had to take a second look in shock as he saw Rainbow Dash and Twilight walking up the road towards him.

“Logan?” Twilight asked in shock.

“You crazy canine!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “We were wondering when you’d…”

She stopped when Logan snarled, his back-fur flaring. Rainbow Dash jumped in front of Twilight on instinct, holding a foreleg up like a shield.

“Logan?” Twilight asked, her voice cracking. “Don’t you recognize us?”

Logan shut his eyes with a grimace. “How do I know you’re really Twilight Sparkle?” he asked. Before Twilight could protest, Logan indicated the tracks. “Two changelings were with this human,” he insisted. “Tell me something that proves you’re not them!”

Twilight’s worry and sadness faded, and she and Rainbow Dash exchanged a look. Then Rainbow Dash grinned.

“Remember that time you were mad at Pinkie, and I got into a fight with you over it?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Logan’s ears perked, but he said nothing.

Rainbow Dash leaned forward. “When I hit you with my Atomic Rain Boom…” she whispered with a grimace. “Our snouts touched.”

Both of them jumped up, ready to shout, but Rainbow Dash beat Logan to the punch.

“It wasn’t a kiss, and it will never be a kiss,” she insisted. “But it happened.” She crossed her forelegs. “Deal with it.”

He held his own pose for one second. Two seconds. Three.

Rainbow Dash glanced at Twilight… only for Logan to zip over to her.

“How about you,” he demanded. “How do I know the Changelings aren’t trying to pull another Twilight love thing on me?!”

Twilight nearly retched at the memory, before holding herself up higher.

“You had to drag me out from under the Crusader Clubhouse,” Twilight mentioned. “Back when you first agreed to tell me about wolves.”

Logan huffed, but his back fur smoothed out and his posture relaxed.

“Okay then,” he said, before confusion graced his features again. “So… why are you guys out here instead of back in Ponyville?”

Despite his curiosity, Logan quickly found himself regretting asking due to how Rainbow Dash’s eyes lit up.

“You know about Daring Do, right?” she asked.

“The girl I helped with the sphinxes,” Logan deadpanned, before Rainbow Dash talked over him.

“Okay, so… this author, A.K. Yearling, has been writing books about Daring Do’s adventures. Only her latest book got pushed back two months,” Rainbow Dash said. “And I’ve waited six months and twenty-six days too many for this new book!”

Logan gaped at Twilight, but she just shrugged. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, was too involved with her story to see Logan’s dumbfounded look.

“So, I figured that the book is obviously being delayed because she needs help dealing with whatever every day nonsense is distracting her from spending her every living breathing second writing! So, we’re going to find out what she needs help with, and… well, help her!”

“Except she lives out in a remote part of Equestria,” Twilight noted.

“So, remote that the human came through?” Logan noted.

“Which is probably to keep folks from intruding on her privacy,” Twilight continued, oblivious to what Logan had said. “Something we should consider before…"

"WAIT, WHAT?!” Rainbow Dash demanded. She knocked Logan onto his back. “That human from your world came through A.K. Yearling’s home?!”

“Why do you think I’m here?” Logan demanded.

Rainbow Dash shot up with a gasp. “That’s gotta be why the book’s being delayed, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash yelled, horrified. “The human captured her!” With a scream and a blast of rainbow light, Rainbow Dash shot ahead of the wolf and alicorn.

“Wait, the human did what?!” Twilight exclaimed. She and Logan shared a horrified look. “He wouldn’t… would a human…?”

“Anything’s possible, Sparkle,” Logan said, already following Rainbow Dash.

Yet even as they caught sight of a tiny cottage nestled in the forest – giving Logan a feeling of nostalgia for Fluttershy’s cottage – Rainbow Dash’s scream of horror filled the air. Logan and Twilight picked up the pace, racing inside to find Rainbow Dash pacing frantically through an utterly trashed house. Papers were scattered over the floor, furniture had been upturned, and a typewriter lay morosely behind a table.

“Oh, no!” Twilight exclaimed. “Something terrible must have happened to her?”

“No more books!” Rainbow Dash bemoaned. “The horror!” She suddenly noticed both Logan and Twilight glaring at her. She sheepishly grinned. “But… of course I’m worried about her too, heh…” Rainbow Dash rubbed her mane sheepishly, while Logan started sniffing through the house.

“Well, you can relax by a fraction,” Logan replied. “The human didn’t come in here.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, while Rainbow Dash sighed in relief. “You’re sure?”

“His tracks led past the house, but he didn’t go in,” Logan said. “There’s still some other pony scents here… Southern Equestria born, maybe. I wonder…”

Whatever he was wondering, it was cut off by a new voice.

“What are you all doing here?!”

The two mares and the wolf jumped and spun around. Standing in the doorway was a mare with light gold fur wrapped up in a purple shawl. A dark mane was tucked up in a grey cloche, and rose red eyes peered out from heavy, red-framed spectacles. Yet, as Logan smelled the scent on her, he gasped, thankfully being drowned out by Rainbow Dash’s gasp of recognition.

“A… K-K… Yearling!” she gagged, before falling over with a squeal of delight.

However, ‘Yearling’ only had eyes for the wolf. Her ears flared under her hat, and she stepped forward hesitantly.

“You…” she stammered, before looking around. “What did you do to my house?!”

“We didn’t do this,” Twilight insisted, jumping in front of a still stunned Logan. “We swear, we just found it like this…”

However, as she spoke, Yearling dashed right by them, and began searching through the rubble.

“Um…” Twilight said nervously, watching the light gold mare search. “We’re… glad to see you’re alright.”

“And clearly this isn’t the best time,” Rainbow Dash added. “But I’ve just gotta say how much we all really love your books.”

But Yearling ignored them, until she located a book with gold bindings. Logan’s eyes narrowed as she glanced inside, revealing a large golden ring before bundling it into her coat.

“It’s safe,” she sighed in relief.

“Great,” Rainbow Dash said, sliding the overturned typewriter her way. “Maybe now would be a good time to ask how we can help move the new book along a little faster. Chop-chop, you know?”

She chuckled again, while Yearling and Logan glared up at her. Rainbow Dash’s laugh petered out again, and Twilight hooked Dash with her magic.

“Rainbow Dash, a minute please!” she said, dragging her out. Logan cautiously shut the door, before turning back to Yearling.

“Yearling? Really?” he asked. “I thought you were called…”

Yearling pounced on him, shutting his snout before glancing at where Twilight and Rainbow Dash had gone. “Not with them nearby,” she hissed, before noticing the state of her house again. “I’m serious; did you do this, wolf!?”

“No,” Logan replied firmly.

“If you’re lying to me…” the author said, but Logan easily shoved her off him.

“I don’t lie,” he growled.

“Besides,” another new voice said. “We’re the ones that did this.”

The wolf and pegasus turned. Three burly earth ponies had entered the house, and stood in a circle around the two. Logan’s ears flicked.

“Hey, I know you,” he said, pointing at the darkest of the earth ponies. He smirked. “You’re the one that ran away from the sphinxes like a little filly.” He laughed. “You had a really nice scream.”

The dark earth pony glowered. “What do you care about my screaming?” the earth pony demanded, stomping his hoof.

Logan chuckled one final time, before smiling darkly. “Because it means I get to hear it again,” he said, baring his claws.

‘Yearling’ chuckled. “Don’t think you’re getting all the action, Lone Wolf,” she said, before yanking her shawl off and hurling it at the nearest minion. As the minion fell back, Logan lunged forward, his claws raking down the earth pony’s snout while one of his buddies got tangled up in ‘Yearling’s shroud. The third one tried to jump in, only for ‘Yearling’ to buck him away while yanking on a pith helmet. Underneath the shawl and glasses, Logan noticed she had been wearing a very familiar olive green jacket.

Logan caught Twilight and Rainbow Dash’s shocked expressions through the window, and couldn’t resist wagging his tail.

“Good to see you again,” he declared to the mare, “Daring Do.”

#

Logan never liked being watched while he fought; if it weren’t for the people in the minotaur’s arena being more than willing to kill him, he would have smacked every one of them across the head, kids included. Thus, while he and Daring Do struggled against the three earth ponies, and Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle sat fan-girling outside, Logan knew they were going to get a serious knocking around if they didn’t come in and help soon!

“A.K Yearling and Daring Do are one in the same?!” Twilight was squealing. “My mind is officially blown!”

“Aw, come on! I knew it all along!” Rainbow Dash declared.

Logan glared at them, but in his moment of distraction, one of the earth ponies managed to knock the ring into the air. Logan lunged to catch it, only for the smaller of the minions to barrel into him. The ring bounced off his snout and into a hearth with a crackling fire. The minions stopped, fidgeting worriedly as the ring slowly turned red hot, but Logan dived right past them and seized the ring in his claws, pummeling the three with the burning ring. He managed to land hits on all three minions before the pain reached his nerves, causing him to fling the ring into the air with a cry of agony.

“Careful with that!” Daring Do demanded, using a whip to hook a pitcher of what looked like grape soda, and tossing its contents at the ring. Logan caught some of the drops with his burned paw, sighing in relief before catching the cooled ring.

“So amazing!” Rainbow Dash cooed.

Logan flashed her all of his fangs. One of the minions got too close, and Logan booted him hard enough to knock him out of the window.

“STOP FAN-GIRLING AND GET IN HERE!” Logan bellowed, before another earth pony jumped him. Daring Do lunged to help, only for the second minion to catch her as well.

“Daring Do!” Rainbow Dash yelped, leaping in to help… only for the third minion to grab her tail. Twilight tried to blast him with a pulse of magic, only for him to knock her back with a buck to the face. Twilight landed, clutching at her snout.

“My snout!” she cried.

“Are you kidding me?!” Logan demanded, knocking his foe off him.

Dash’s foe released her, causing her to fly right into Daring Do, and as the pegasi collapsed in a heap, the three earth ponies bore down on Logan. Logan growled and waved the ring at them, slowly backing towards the front door. Then he heard it open.

He acted on instinct, driving his elbow back into whoever had entered and smacking them back outside. Yet even as he did, the three minions moved to catch him… only for Daring Do and Rainbow Dash to grab two of them by the tails. This gave Logan some leeway, and he spun to the last minion, who sadly didn’t realize his back up was gone until it was too late.

Catching the minion’s throat, Logan forced him to his back, his claws digging into the stallion’s throat and making him gasp in both pain and fear. Watching the door, the fourth stallion had collapsed through, Logan dragged his captive to a corner, while Dash and Daring struggled with their foes. Logan just managed to get to the corner when…

“Don’t try it!” a brutish voice growled.

Logan looked up with a snarl, only to find Rainbow Dash collapsed in a heap of books, while the other two stallions held Daring Do down.

“Let our guy go,” one of them said. “And we’ll let her go!”

“Oh, and don’t forget the ring!” the other one said. “We want the ring too.”

“Oh. Right,” his companion said. “Uh, yeah, the ring for your mare friend!”

“Are you serious?!” the captive demanded.” The blue one’s right there! Just trade her and Daring Do for the ring and me!”

Logan gasped, his eyes flicked to Rainbow Dash again. The poor mare had a black eye and looked completely out of it. Daring Do tried to struggle – keeping the stallions from grabbing the cyan mare – but then the fourth stallion entered, rubbing his chest where Logan had struck him, and sauntered over to where Dash lay. Logan recognized him as the ash-mouthed stallion from his adventure with the sphinxes.

“It’s a fair offer, is it not?” he asked, striding into the room and resting his hoof on Dash’s head. “Be careful what you choose, dog; I’m willing to give quite a bit for that treasure.”

Daring Do growled. “Don’t give him anything, Lone Wolf,” she growled.

Logan nodded, but the stallion just laughed. Rainbow Dash looked up, her eyes spinning, only to widen in shock.

“C-Caballeron?” she stammered. She choked as his hoof pressed down on her neck.

“That’s Doctor Caballeron to you,” he warned.

Logan rolled his eyes. “You ponies and your titles,” he growled, before hearing Twilight come in after him.

“Doctor Caballeron?” she asked. “From Daring Do and the Razor of Dreams?” She gasped in glee. “I remember you; you tried to partner with Daring Do on her adventures, but she refused.” She chuckled. “Oh, I can’t believe it; the real…”

“Will you quit it!” Logan demanded, wishing he could throw something at her head.

“Indeed,” Caballeron growled, his hoof pressing harder down on Dash’s neck. “Now, I’m not going to repeat myself, mutt! The ring and my minion for your friends! Now!”

Daring Do tried to protest, but Logan just let his magic glow.

“You want the ring?!” he demanded.

“Yes, I would very much like the ring,” Caballeron replied.

“Boss, this thing’s claws are really sharp!” the captive minion whimpered. “Please don’t make him mad!”

"Too late!" Logan howled in rage… letting his pack link flare to life. Tendrils wrapped around Daring Do and Rainbow Dash, blasting out shields of lightning that forced the stallions back. As Caballeron reeled backward, Logan hurled the ring like a discus. It slammed into one minion before flipping into the air. Daring Do saw Logan’s plan through his link and kicked the ring, using it to knock out the second minion. And as the plan reached Dash, she jumped up and stylishly bucked the ring for Caballeron… only for the doctor stallion to catch the ring and tumble back out the door.

The wolf and mare’s jaws dropped in horror

“NO! That’s not what I meant to do!” Rainbow Dash bemoaned, while Daring and Logan raced back to the door. Caballeron was already racing into the forest, the ring around his neck. Before Logan could take a step outside, he was gone from view.

“Curses!” Daring Do snarled, stamping the ground. “We have to get that ring back!”

Yet as Logan followed after her, he noticed the human tracks. He cursed. “What’s he planning to do with that ring?” he asked, hoping that it wasn’t something that would detract from his current objective.

Daring Do turned back around. “Have you read any of my books?” she asked.

“Do I look like a guy who reads to you?” he demanded right back.

Daring Do face-hoofed before sighing. “That fool is dooming this valley; one of my foes Ahuizotl…”

“Was foretold by prophecy that if he received the rings of Scorchero,” Twilight recited. “It will complete the dark tower and give him control of the Tenochtitlan Basin, dooming this valley to eight centuries of unrelenting heat,” Twilight got out in a single breath. Logan gaped at her and even Daring Do fixed her with a partially appraising look.

“Big fan,” Twilight added with a sheepish grin.

Logan’s ears flattened. “So… kinda bad if he succeeds,” Logan growled.

Very bad if he succeeds!” Daring Do said. She gave him a disappointed look, and a much more irritated look as Rainbow Dash staggered out of the house. “Look, I don’t have the patience to babysit two fans and a wolf who doesn’t know what’s going on. Just stay out of my way; I handle my business myself!” And without even a chance to check over the bruises she got during the fight, Daring Do pitched off into the forest, chasing after the mad doctor.

Despite her words, Rainbow Dash shook off her dizziness and tried to follow.

“We gotta help her!” Rainbow Dash insisted.

“But you heard her,” Twilight refuted. “She said she works alone!”

“Besides,” Logan added, indicating the tracks. “I need to find this human.”

“How can either of you stand by and do nothing?” Rainbow Dash demanded. “Twilight; you at least know what’s at stake here! Ahuizotl has sought control of the Tenochtitlan Basin since book three.”

Before Twilight could add in some other trivia from the books, Logan barked.

“Yes!” he snapped. “I get that it’s very important she wins. But let me ask you this…” he pointed at the doorway, noting with dismay that the three minions had already left. “How do you intend to help her when you can’t even hold your own against three goons?!”

Dash fumed. “I would’ve held my own if they hadn’t distracted me.”

“With what?” Logan demanded. “Your own raging fan-girl?” He mimicked her tone; “Oh, Daring Do! I can’t believe you’re real! Let me make your meals and wash your pith helmet!” He spat.

Twilight sighed. “Logan’s right, Rainbow Dash,” she started to say, only for Logan to cut her off.

“Oh, you do not get to take the high road, Sparkles,” he growled. “You got taken out by a freaking bop on the snoot!”

“First off, don’t call it that,” Twilight insisted, rubbing her nose.

“Yeah,” Dash agreed. “You have a rep to maintain, and ‘bop the snoot’ does not match it.”

“Whatever, I do what I want,” Logan snapped back.

“Second,” Twilight continued. “Me agreeing with you does not make you wrong; we are in something way-way-way-way over our heads. And if we’re going to help Daring Do out and find this human, we need a carefully thought out plan…”

But before she was even done, Dash rolled her eyes and zipped off into the forest.

“I’m coming, Daring Do!” echoed off the trees.

“That’s not a plan!” followed as Twilight raced after her.

Logan gave the human tracks one more worried look, before groaning and racing after his allies.

“You idiots!” joined in the echoes off the trees, all while Logan hoped that whatever the human was up to… it wasn’t as bad as whatever these Daring Do villains had in mind.

Author's Note:

Hello again.

I know in the original episode, the whole Mane Six went along with Dash, but I felt that it made more sense to just have Twilight with Dash, since both of them like the series a bit more than the others, and would have more of a reason to go.

Besides, this'll give Logan some time to do what he does best.