“Are ya sure this is gonna work, Scootaloo?” Applebloom asked tentatively as she surveyed the contraption she had helped build. Well, built while the others handed her tools and such, while clamoring over how awesome it was going to be. Scootaloo had gotten the idea to try and get a cutiemark in trick flying, just like Rainbow Dash, but there was the problem that she wasn’t that strong a flyer just yet. So, the natural solution to this problem was to build a catapult to launch her into the air and have her do the required trick flying with the momentum from being an equine cannonball.

“Aww, come on, Applebloom! It’s going to be so awesome! Do you think if I’ll do a sonic rainboom like Rainbow Dash? Oh wait, I’d need to have a mane like hers… Do you think it would work if I dyed my mane the same as her? Applebloom, do you have any paint with you?” Scootaloo machine-gunned out and it took a moment for Applebloom to catch what her pegasus friend said as she was checking over her latest work. Maybe she could get a catapult making cutiemark? That would be cool…

“Huh, what?” Scootaloo was invading her personal space to her right with an excited gleam in her eyes. “Oh, uhm, no, Ah didn’t think of painting this thing just yet.” Applebloom said and smiled sheepishly. Scootaloo deflated and turned back towards where the Apple farm was.

“Aww… but that’s like, far…” Two seconds of contemplation later she perked up again. “Okay, let’s test this puppy out!” Scootaloo shouted as she jumped into the catapults basket. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom shared a glance and both saw the worry in the other’s eyes.

“Umm, are you going to be alright, Scootaloo. I mean, it’s an really big drop if this thing works –“ Sweetie Belle chimed in, showing a healthy amount of worry about the concept of launching her friend into the sky, Pegasus or not.

“Of course it will work, Ah built it!” Applebloom interjected, forgetting the worry for Scootaloo’s wellbeing over the pride in her work.

“We helped!” Sweetie Belle shot back and Applebloom fell silent as this fact sunk in. They had helped her build this thing and thinking back to the piece of contemporary art the three of them had turned a table into… She really should check the whole thing before they -

“Let’s do this! LEEEERROOOOY WIIIINGIIINSS!” Scootaloo hollered out as she pulled the lever to launch herself and rocketed off into the sky. Applebloom muttered a curse Applejack would scold her for even knowing and started running after the still ascending form of Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle tried to keep up with her, but after falling on her face for the first time decided to follow behind, occasionally yelling for Applebloom to slow down.

Applebloom watched as Scootaloo plummeted towards the ground. They had planned her to land in a pond, just in case, but Applebloom couldn’t hear a splash and had the common sense to be worried for her friend. Applebloom jumped over and Sweetie Belle stumbled through the bushes separating them from the clearing Scootaloo seemed to have landed in. They both gasped as they saw the orange pegasus lying on top of a big rock. There was no way she intended to land on a rock, so –

“That was so awesome!” Scootaloo squealed out as both of her friends’ jaws unhinged at the sight of the seemingly unharmed Pegasus. She landed on a rock, you don’t just shake that off! Scootaloo proceeded to jump in place on top of the rock she had landed on and babble on about how and why her technically first flight had been the most super-duper-spectacularly-awesome-amazing thing ever, after a certain rainbow-maned pony. It took her a solid minute to calm down enough to notice the way her two friends were looking at her. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

As soon as Scootaloo asked the question the “rock” she had landed on jerked and Scootaloo stumbled to the ground. The Cutiemark Crusaders watched in awe and building terror as what they had thought to be a big rock unfurled its tail, gathered its paws under it and turned its snout towards the three terrified fillies. The large wolf with rough grey fur towered over the three fillies and they felt frozen in place as they stared into the wolf’s yellow eyes.

That was until the predator let out a strange snarling howl and bared its fangs. That’s when they all started galloping towards the Apple farm as fast as they could, screaming in a high enough pitch to shatter glass. The huge wolf continued its strange howl as it stumbled after the three fillies without any particular hurry. The three young fillies ran with all their might towards the Apple farm and didn’t dare look back, all three of them sure the wolf was right behind them. The wolf wasn’t chasing the girls, instead the carnivorous predator simply followed the sound of the three fillies screaming and stumbling through the patch of forest at the edge of the Apple family’s grounds.

The wolf stopped at the edge of the apple orchard to give the three fillies enough time to grow the distance between them enough for them to not see it, but for it to be still able to track the sounds they made. After the wolf was sure there were enough apple trees between it and the three fillies it continued walking towards the sounds the three fillies made. It took them mere minutes to reach the farm and run into the barn, but the wolf took the time to circle around to the side of the barn, to not be seen following the fillies.

“Girls, calm down n’ tell me what got ya’ll so fired up!” Applejack’s southern drawl reached the wolf’s sensitive ears and they perked up and swiveled towards the voice. The wolf jumped from paw to paw in obvious excitement for a moment, before realizing the amount of noise it was making and stopping. It kept making its way around to the door of the barn as the Cutiemark Crusaders all tried to talk at the same time.

“We were out in the forest near the clubhouse –“

“We built a catapult!”

“I built a catapult, Sweetie Belle helped.”

“I helped too!”

“Nah ya didn’t!” The wolf snickered at how Applebloom’s accent thickened when she got agitated. The grey wolf couldn’t remember if he had seen it happen on the show. It was already at the door to the barn, wondering which way each pony was facing inside.

“Did too!”

“Did not!”

“Girls!” Applejack interjected before the fillies went completely off topic. The wolf let out a sigh of relief as well. As cute as it was, their bickering was downright annoying, especially with as acute hearing it had. It sounded like Applejack was closer to the door than the Crusaders. “What’s this about a catapult?”

“Uh, yeah, we built a catapult and we were testing it out when Scootaloo landed on a rock, but it really wasn’t a rock and it –“

“Whoa nelly! What was that last part? Applebloom, tell me ya didn’t launch yer friend with a catapult!”

The three little ponies were quiet and the wolf peeked in through the door to see that Applejack had her tail to it and the three fillies were looking at the ground. The grey predator started sneaking towards the orange earth pony with a smirk. The three fillies only looked up as the wolf’s shadow was already looming over Applejack and it was stretching its head towards Applejack. Applejack whirled around as the wolf tried to nudge her hat off of her head with its snout. The look of sheer terror on Applejack’s face made the wolf take a step back. This hadn’t been the reaction it had expected out of the orange earth pony at all and Applejack whispering for her sister and her friends to stay behind her made the wolf come to a rather obvious realization.

He was a carnivorous predator, they were herbivorous equines; they ate plants, he ate things that ate plants. It was natural for them to be afraid of him. He pedaled back a few steps and then moved deeper into the barn to give them a clear shot for the door. Applejack kept herself between the wolf and the foals she was protecting. The wolf tried not to seem aggressive, but it only seemed like he was circling them for a meal. Applejack saw the chance and told the three fillies to run for the door and tell Big Macintosh, before charging the huge carnivore to give them the time to actually get to the door.

The wolf froze in place, both surprised and in awe of the selfless act one of the ponies he’d come to idolize was committing. He had no ill will towards the ponies, but it wasn’t like they knew it, so he fought back the instinct to simply bite down on the hooves bucking his jaw. His brain felt rattled from the first buck that the farm pony hit him with. He didn’t know if he could take another one without losing control, so the wolf snapped his head towards the pony and grabbed her tail in his jaw. Lifting the pony by the tail didn’t stop her from kicking him, but at least the mare couldn’t get much power into her bucks. Now he could just toss Applejack out of -

“Le’ mah sistah go!” a teary voice squealed out and the wolf felt a barely noticeable nudge on his forepaw. It was Applebloom bucking his paw with all of her meager power and also the most heartbreaking thing the wolf had ever seen. The carnivore froze for a second before gingerly setting Applejack down and letting go of her tail. Applejack promptly grabbed Applebloom and rushed out of the barn. A moment later the doors were slammed shut and she was no doubt barricading him in, but the wolf was haunted by the image of a teary-eyed Applebloom, that he could only stare at the ground in front of him.

This was not starting well.

Twilight Sparkle was back in study land and nothing less than a natural disaster would get the bookworm back to reality. Spike tidied up as his guardian floated out several books at a time, scribbled something down from them and then either discarded them or set them aside for future referencing. Spike had gotten tired of Twilight snapping at him for putting away books she needed, so he had proposed that she set the ones she would need in a meter or so around herself and the ones she wouldn’t need further away. Taking the messy way Twilight studied this was the only system that even remotely worked and Spike was able to keep the clutter in Twilight’s basement laboratory to a minimum while keeping the library upstairs somewhat occupied.

As fate would have it, he was just carrying a pile of books upstairs as the sound of galloping hoofs reached him. Out of past experience he knew to set the books down at the side of the door to the basement and brace himself for impact. Sure enough, Applejack galloped through the door and barely missed hitting Spike while skidding to a halt in front of him. If he’d been carrying the books, he’d be tumbling down the stairs. Any hint of annoyance he might have had was blown away by the alarmed look in Applejack’s eyes.

“Twilight! Where’s Twilight!?” Applejack asked, shaking Spike as soon as he was within reach, shouting out her question between pants. Then she glanced at the open door and jumped over Spike to rush down the stairs. Spike heard Twilight’s absent-minded protests on being interrupted and then Applejack’s frantic words. “’Ere’s a wolf! Ya’ll gotta do somethin’, Twilight!”

And with that Applejack galloped back up the stairs, practically dragging Twilight by the mane. If there really was a wolf, then her hurry was understandable, but Spike suspected that Twilight hadn’t caught onto what Applejack was saying. There was a flash of purple magic and suddenly Twilight was standing on the library’s second floor.

“Applejack, what was that for? I’m in the middle of some very important tests right now. If I am right, then there is a logical explanation to Pinkie Sense, after all!” Twilight exclaimed, forgetting about Applejack’s assault on her by the end of her sentence. No wonder Twilight had been locked in the basement for days. The Pinkie Sense Incident had shaken the studious mare’s outlook on reality.

“Twilight, ya gotta come with me! There’s a wolf in mah barn! It’s bigger than Big Mac and it nearly ate Applebloom and… and…” Applejack was clearly panicking and had probably run the whole way from Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight sobered enough out of her study induced catatonia to catch the urgency of the situation and told Spike to grab her Collected Catalogue of Crafty Carnivorous Canines and Superior Selection of Splendid Sleeping Spells. As studious as she was, it wasn’t like she could remember which kind of spell should be used to knock out which kind of animal, so she had reference books for just this kind of occasion.

“Lead the way!” Twilight shouted as she followed Applejack out of the door, Spike hardly able to jump on Twilight’s back with the packed saddle bags. Applejack kept up a punishing pace and Twilight was wheezing and limping by the time they reached the farm. Applejack slowed down to a brisk trot when she could see that the barn was still barricaded shut and Big Mac was standing by the door. She was out of breath but not even nearly as much as Twilight.

“So, you’re saying there’s a huge wolf in your barn?” Spike asked, more than a little perplexed. The Everfree forest housed a lot of dangerous animals, but most of them needed the forest’s erratic magic to live and never strayed too far from it, so for there to be an actual wolf on the Apple farm, which didn’t even share a border with the Everfree, was odd to say the least. He might have not been as studious as Twilight Sparkle, but he had an interest in zoology. This wolf would have had to have wandered from somewhere in the mountains beyond the Everfree and Spike couldn’t think of a reason for such a trek for a territorial predator, which hunted in packs. Well, not alone, at least.

“Yeah, it followed Applebloom and her friends back from the forest and damn near took my head off. I ain’t seen a scarier lookin’ critter in all my life… an’ I’ve gone against a manticore and Nightmare Moon!” Applejack explained, with a bit of a wobble in her step. The frightening situation must have been getting to her as things calmed down a bit. Wolves usually moved in packs, but if they hadn’t seen any other ones by now, then Spike saw no reason to worry Applejack by suggesting there could be more around.

“Has it tried to get out, Big Mac?” Applejack asked her big brother as she galloped ahead. Twilight was still catching her breath and caught up to the stetson wearing pony as Big Mac answered with a curt “Nope.”

“Okay, Applejack, do you think you could identify the wolf if you saw a drawing of it? I want to know what I’ll be dealing with before we even think about opening that door. Do you think Applebloom and her friends are up to taking a look as well?” Twilight was concentrated on taking charge and the two Apple siblings were listening to her intently, so only Spike caught the door rattling a little, like something had tried to bash it open. Spike kept his eyes on the door for a moment, but it didn’t happen again, so Spike decided not to mention it.

“Grightth Grawrmlle!” The wolf barked out as it jumped down from the gangway of the barn and scared the living daylights out of the three gathered ponies and the young dragon. The thing was larger than any wolf Spike had ever seen or heard of and even bigger than most of the bears in Everfree. The wolf snarled as its great, big, yellow eyes turned towards Spike. “Gran Spike!”

Wait, did it just say my name? The wolf was standing a few pony lengths away from them at the door of the barn and looking at them with widened eyes as its ears swiveled about. It looked like it was ready to jump at them any time, but still Spike had the sneaking suspicion that there was something going on. How could Applebloom and her friends outrun this huge thing if it was well enough to jump onto the gangway and down? The possibility that Spike had heard his name uttered made him even more certain there was something going on everypony else was missing.

Big Mac stepped in front of Applejack and Twilight and Applejack stepped in front of Twilight, but Spike was more concerned about the fact that the wolf wasn’t attacking or running away, just staring at them with that snarl stuck on its face.

“Have you tried talking to it?” Spike asked aloud, but none of the ponies around him paid him any attention. Walking up to the predator would be a little too daring, dragon or not, but if it could understand their language and knew of him…

“Hey, if you can understand me, raise your right paw!” The wolf’s attention snapped back to Spike, as did the ponies’ present. The wolf’s ears lowered a bit, it sat down on its haunches, raised its right front paw off the ground and offered it toward them. Twilight’s jaw dropped and Applejack looked confused. Big Macintosh moved his straw of wheat to the other side of his mouth and gave a low grunt as the only signs of his amazement. “Seriously, you didn’t even try to talk to it?”

“Spike, how did you know? You know what this thing is? Why didn’t you tell us in the first place?!” Twilight was losing her temper and Applejack still glanced at the wolf warily, not quite sure what was going on. Spike didn’t know either, but it had just seemed weird that diplomacy hadn’t even been considered.

“I don’t, but it seems to understand us and I think it said my name just now.” Spike glanced at the wolf and saw it nodding its head up and down vigorously. Seemingly, what they’d seen as a snarl could also be a smile. Was the wolf excited about meeting them, or… oh hey, we have an insanely talented unicorn!

“Twilight, can’t you just cast a translation spell, so it can speak for itself?” Spike asked and from the look in Twilight’s face, the thought hadn’t crossed her mind yet. In spite of the sudden turn of events Twilight Sparkle was already digging her memory for a translation spell that could work. Spike had been around Twilight long enough to know that she had at least skimmed the subject at some point and cast some kind of translation spell routinely on books.

“I… think there’s something that might work, but… We don’t know if it has its own language, or if it’s just unable to talk, or if it’s just parroting us. If I cast a spell on it now, then it could attack us!” Twilight frantically reasoned with Spike. Like the prize pupil she was Twilight was looking at the situation based on the facts and casting an intricate spell that would immobilize her in front of a predator more than five times her size didn’t sound that tempting.

“Spike, are you saying that thing’s smart?” Applejack cut in just as Spike was about to launch his counter argument.

“Yes, and I’m also saying that it’s not out to eat anypony. Any predator out for food would have caught three fillies easily and gotten out of the barn while only Big Mac was out here, but this one only came out as Twilight and I arrived. And it said my name just now, I think.” Spike explained and Applejack only looked more confused. The orange farm pony turned to Twilight, probably to have her make sense of the situation, when Big Mac spoke up.

“Miss Twilight, can ya make it so this here fella can talk? I agree with Spike about this being mighty strange behavior fer a wild animal.” The big workpony drawled out in his slow southern drawl, snapping Twilight out of her mental stupor. Big Macintosh was the kind of pony that didn’t talk if he wasn’t sure his words mattered, so if he was convinced, then it should be good enough to at least make an attempt. Applejack sighed and sat down on her haunches, mentally and physically exhausted by all that had happened that day.

Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes in concentration as she tried to recall the spell she had studied as a passing interest, but true to her meticulous nature she had memorized it and made sure she could successfully cast it before moving on. Still, that had been years ago and Spike hadn’t seen her practicing it since then. Twilight Sparkle had a good memory, but Spike wasn’t sure if she referenced books because she couldn’t remember the details, or if she was just being her meticulous self. Would the wolf attack if Twilight made a mistake with the spell and hurt it?

There was a great big flash of purple and everyone present stumbled back, blinking their eyes because of the bright flash of magic assaulting their eyes. Spike blinked rapidly to see what the spell had done to the wolf and if it was attacking. He might have been the one that suggested the diplomatic route, but those teeth were huge nonetheless. The wolf was wiping its head with paw, like a cat cleaning its fur, and was also shaking its head side to head as if to clear it.

“Magic itches… Really didn’t expect that.” The wolf growled out. Its voice was more growling than anything, but at least now it was making comprehensible sentences. Twilight looked at the giant wolf in surprise. Spike wasn’t sure if it was because her spell worked, or because the wolf was actually talking. “Thank you, Purple Magic Pony.”

“My name is Twilight Sparkle…” There was an awkward pause as Twilight tried to think of anything to say as the wolf stared at her expectantly. “Hi?” The wolf made all of them flinch back when it threw its head back and let out a fit of barking laughter.

“Yes! Hello, Purple Magic Pony!” The wolf looked each of them in the eye and then sighed while settling down on the ground. “I do not eat ponies, relax.”

“Mind telling us yer name, big fella?” Applejack asked and the wolf turned his yellow eyes toward her. Now that they all knew he could talk and didn’t eat ponies, the snarl and the twitchy mannerisms could be seen as excitement. The intensity of the look he gave Applejack still made both Applejack and Twilight flinch.

“Yes… Names should be exchanged, shouldn’t they, Orange Awesome Hat Pony?” The wolf then fell silent and kept staring at Applejack.

“Ah reckon yer the one that should go first, yer tha one trespassing on mah family’s property!” The wolf's snarl wavered for a moment and Spike noticed his muscles tensing under his fur fo just a moment, before the unnerving, but still companionable snarl was back on his snout.

“Yes… Trespassing, on your family's land.” The wolf slowly said and glanced over to the farm house behind them. “Tell the fillies I am not a threat, they smell extremely worried for you.”

Everypony turned their eyes to the porch of the farmhouse, but Spike kept his eyes on the wolf. Why was he stalling with such a basic question? Was it a culture thing? Maybe his name didn’t translate to Equestrian and he was trying to think of a substitute they could pronounce… Actually, that made so much sense that it must have been it. Spike jumped off of Twilight’s back and walked over to the wolf. He was again reminded on how small he was and how huge the wolf was as his gargantuan form towered over him. His eyes held no malice, when looking at them this close, so Spike wasn’t worried.

“Could we pronounce your real name?” Spike asked and the wolf’s snarl widened just a bit at his question. He leaned down closer to Spike and opened his mouth to say something.

“Spike!” Twilight shouted in alarm before teleporting next to the dragon, horn at the ready and pointed towards the still-unnamed wolf. As big as the grey behemoth of a canine was, the sudden burst of light made him flinch back and let out an authentic snarl at the “Purple Magic Pony”, as he had called Twilight. To Twilight’s credit though, she caught onto the misunderstanding immediately after seeing the look Spike was giving her.

“I’m really sorry about that, Mister Wolf, but it’s just that my number one assistant here decided to wander off and then I saw him over here and… uh…”

“I understand, Purple Magic Pony. My mouth is full of rather sharp and pointy teeth. If seeing them so close to your dear assistant didn’t startle you, you wouldn’t be Princess Celestia’s protégé, now would you?” The wolf said while rubbing his eyes with a paw to clear the spots that must have been running past his eyes. He then blinked a few times and turned his head away from the blushing purple mare. “Ah, the three small ones have arrived.”

Twilight and Spike turned around to see that both Big Mac and Applejack had moved almost as close to the wolf as they were. Spike also noticed a tight group of three fillies peeking at the big wolf from behind Big Macintosh. Spike turned back to the wolf and was relieved to see that the amused looking snarl back on the toothy jaw.

“Now that you’re all here, let me introduce myself. My name is Fenrir and I am not here to eat you ponies, especially not the Cutie Mark Crusaders over there.” Fenrir said and let out a growling snarl that could have been a chuckle. The way he acted while doing so suggested that, but Spike could see the shared shiver running down everypony’s backs at the sight of Fenrir revealing more fangs than they were comfortable with. “I am from a faraway land and have come here to learn anything and everything about you ponies. It is unfortunate we had to meet in such… unpleasant circumstances.”

“You are a scholar? I’m sorry if I’m treading on a taboo here, but you don’t exactly seem the type. You’re much too… big.” Twilight Sparkle blurted out and from the look on her face afterwards she regretted saying it so bluntly.

“There are things much larger than me in the forest not too far from here. I could also argue that you are too frail and small to protect the knowledge you gather… but I assume that is not how you ponies think, is it?” Fenrir crossed his paws and rested his head on them. His eyes were in level with Twilight and Applejack when he was lying down like this. If the sheer size of Fenrir had not sunken in yet, then it sure did at that moment.

“But why are you in Ponyville? The Everfree forest is large, but it does not reach the border of Equestria, so you should have come across some other village before coming here.” Twilight Sparkle asked, this time not feeling bad for her questions since it was a perfectly valid one. Spike had a feeling he knew what Fenrir’s answer would be, though.

“I am here because Twilight Sparkle is best pony. You have been taught by the sovereign ruler of –“ A trail of light in all the colors of the rainbow collided with Fenrir’s face and the impact snapped his head back before he could finish. Spike and the gathered ponies gasped and took a step back as they knew who had just assaulted Fenrir and didn’t know how the wolf would react.

“Ha! ‘Tis but a scratch!” Fenrir roared and jumped up, already scanning the skies. He was knocked back down by the same streak of multicolored light hitting him in the head three times from the sides.

“What are you ponies doing? RUN!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she halted her violent assault just long enough to do so. Then she went ahead and hit Fenrir in the face as he was getting up. Twilight Sparkle and the gathered ponies were too dumbfounded to do anything, but Spike was just reveling on Rainbow Dash’s aerial maneuvers. It might have been because he was a dragon that his eyes could keep up with what Rainbow Dash was doing, but seeing her use the tricks she used to bounce around clouds to kick off of Fenrir’s head without losing momentum was impressive.

“This rainbow that is dashing around is most annoying.” Fenrir calmly growled out after he managed to keep his eyes on Rainbow Dash’s retreating form. From the way his eyes moved Rainbow Dash was trying to confuse the wolf by fast aerial maneuvers. Just as Spike caught the sight of Rainbow Dash charging towards the gray wolf, Fenrir reared up on his hind legs and Rainbow Dash crashed into the furry wall that was Fenrir’s chest rather than bouncing off of his cranium. Rainbow Dash fell to the ground and Fenrir set one paw on top her back to keep her still. “Aha, rushing me repeatedly in a straight line; a brilliant strategy!”

“Why aren’t you ponies running?! It’s going to eat you!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she uselessly fought against Fenrir’s paw holding her down. By the contemplative look on Fenrir’s eyes he was simply ignoring her.

“Wait… not brilliant. Purple Magic Pony, what is the opposite of brilliant?”

“Uh… Stupid?” Twilight answered and shook her head to try and make sense of the situation.

“It’s already got me! Avenge me! AVENGE –“

“Oh, hold yer horses, sugarcube! This feller here is Fenrir and he ain’t gonna eat nopony!” Applejack cut in and interrupted Rainbow Dash’s inspiring speech on avenging her.

“Yes, do listen to your marefriend, Blue Violent Pony.” Fenrir said with that frightening smile on his face. Applejack took a few steps back because of the completely random accusation and Rainbow Dash spun around on the ground to meet the great wolf’s eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Rainbow Dash retorted and Fenrir’s snarl only widened.

“I’m saying that I can smell her on you. Care to explain that?”

“Yer lying; we haven’t – uh, I mean, I ain’t that kinda mare!” Applejack glanced at the ponies that were now staring at her before turning back to berating Fenrir. “Shut yer trap, ye cretin!”

“Yes, I apologize… Applebloom, might I have a word?” Fenrir asked in a surprisingly polite tone, taking to consideration the fact that his words were a compilation of growls and grunts. The cream colored filly stepped out after a moment of hesitation and Fenrir rested his head on his forepaws as she approached. He was intimidating by nature, but he was clearly trying not to be, but Applejack and Big Macintosh still stepped closer to Applebloom, as older siblings tend to be protective.

“Yes, Mister Fenrir?” Applebloom said, trying to act tough, but still covering and having a hard time looking into Fenrir’s eyes. “I’m sorry about bucking you…”

“Aww… Aren’t you just the most adorable thing? You actually think you could hurt me, how absolutely precious…” Fenrir’s eyes snapped back into reality from fussing over how cute Applebloom was. He raised one of his paws in front of his mouth and let out a quick growl. The way his mannerisms were exactly like ponies’ mannerisms had started bugging Spike, since his language and society was supposed to be completely different. “Okay, where was I… Yes, I take it you were the one that built the thing that launched your winged friend onto me?”

“Y- Yes, Mister Fenrir.” Applebloom answered and glanced at her older siblings who were both looking at her sternly at this point.

“It was incredibly lucky that she actually landed on me. From the way she barreled into my ribs she would have at least broken her legs, if she was lucky and landed on them. If she had landed next to me, she would have probably rolled and snapped her neck, do you understand?” Fenrir said in what sounded like a calm tone, but with his voice being what it was it was hard to tell for sure.

“I- I didn’t- I –“ Tears were pooling in Applebloom’s eyes as Fenrir’s words sunk in.

“It wasn’t her fault! Stop bullying Applebloom, you big wolf!” Scootaloo shouted as she dashed to Applebloom’s side.

“Yes, let’s ignore the fact you nearly died... So, when do we start, Purple Magic Pony? I am eager to learn anything you or your friends can teach me.” Fenrir exclaimed, seeming to genuinely ignore the point he was making mere seconds ago. Again, Twilight’s jaw worked effortlessly over the illogical nature of this huge wolf acting in the most random way possible.

“Wow, wow! Timeout, seriously!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she zoomed up to hover mere inches away from Fenrir’s snout “What’s this about the squirt dying? There isn’t no way we’re just going to ignore this, right?”

“Why not, Blue Idiotic Pony? Clearly you are not afraid of death and the thought didn’t cross the little ponies minds. I’m sure they will act with this in mind in the future.”

“Rainbow Dash has a point, Fenrir. This needs to be addressed” Twilight Sparkle said and stepped next to Applebloom. Fenrir’s creepy snarl was still on his face and Spike was finding it strange. Was he enjoying this for some reason? Was that snarling really the same as a smile, or was it something more in the lines of contempt?

“Oh, this is rich; ponies talking about the harsh realities of life and whatnot.” Fenrir cooed out and bristled his fur while his snarl widened a little. “I swear, you ponies are just made out of concentrated naiivete…” There was an awkward pause in the conversation and Fenrir used the opportunity to flick his tongue out and give Rainbow Dash a lick that made her spin in the air before crashing on the ground again. He glanced at Applejack before barking out a booming fit of laughter.

“You… Yer insane!”

“And you are a pony, your point?”

“I’m a dragon.” Spike cut in, feeling like the conversation would turn into Applejack shouting at Fenrir as he snarled, either amused or annoyed, if he didn’t step in. Fenrir’s eyes snapped to Spike and Spike saw a genuine glint of amusement in them, at least he hoped the glint was there because he was amused.

“Touché, Dragon of Ponyville. I apologize for my rudeness, Blue Rainbow Pony.” Fenrir bowed his head slightly toward Rainbow Dash. Spike saw similar looks of confusion on everypony’s faces. Fenrir had acted nothing like they had expected a huge wolf to act like. He was polite one moment and acted as sporadically as Pinkie Pie other times.

“Hmph!” Rainbow Dash harrumphed and turned away from Fenrir while crossing her front hooves across her chest. Spike noted Fenrir’s ears twitching in response to this, but his “friendly” snarl was still in place. The longer that snarl was plastered on the wolf’s maw, the more it bothered him. There was a moment of silence as they didn’t know where to go from there. There was huge wolf scholar sitting in front of them, with a snarl on its face that seemed to have started to unnerve the ponies as well. Spike was now convinced that this canine oddball was getting some kind of strange enjoyment out of making the situation as awkward as possible.

“So…” Twilight started and shuffled her hooves uncomfortably while she tried to think of a plan of action. “Applejack, could Fenrir stay in the barn for now, if he doesn’t have any other lodging? It would be better that he doesn’t chance upon anypony else before we inform everypony in Ponyville.” At Twilight’s words Fenrir let out another growling chuckle that made the ponies flinch back. The gray wolf flattened his ears and lowered his head at the frightened reaction.

“The term “everypony” sounds amusing to me. You ponies are so darn delightful… I can try and help the Farm Ponies with their work for the rest of the day, if that is okay with them.” Fenrir said with his head slightly bowed. The snarl that had made them wary was gone and without it he looked like a big grey dog with intelligent eyes. He seemed sincere and friendly, but the timing was still suspicious to Spike. It might have been his possessive nature as a dragon, but he was more suspicious of this strange wolf than the ponies around him were. He was a carnivorous canine, so why would he want to befriend ponies?

“Well, I’m sure we can find something somepony yer size can help us with…” Applejack tentatively admitted as Fenrir rose up to his full size again. All of them took a collective step back as the predator loomed over them. Big Macintosh started walking towards the orchards with only a nod of his head and Fenrir followed him. The Cutiemark Crusaders had escaped while the adult ponies were preoccupied with Fenrir and Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle were left to stand there and feel confused. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to ask something, but then paused with one hoof raised in the air, before groaning and letting her hooves fall limp.

“Buck this, I’ll see if this makes any sense after a good nap,” She said and flew up to take a nap on a nearby cloud. Twilight Sparkle stared at the streak of rainbow the mare had left behind for a moment before turning her eyes to Big Macintosh showing Fenrir how they bucked the apples out of the trees. Twilight winced as she saw Fenrir try and buck one of the trees, effectively tearing through the tree with his claws. The big grey predator shrunk down with his ears against his head as the tree fell on the ground, broken beyond conventional repair. Big Mac didn’t seem to say much, but Fenrir still acted subjugated as Bic Mac straddled him on the wagon. Someone that big could definitely do that, but Twilight couldn’t help but think that it would seem embarrassing for someone from a society like Fenrir had hinted towards.

“So, do you believe he’s here just to learn about us?” Spike asked right next to Twilight. Despite everything, she still jumped at his voice. She had been scared for her life less than ten minutes ago. The way Fenrir had been able to have Applejack trust him in that short amount of time should have reassured her, but both Spike and Twilight Sparkle found it suspicious. Spike had wondered about the teeth baring smirk the whole time and Twilight Sparkle wondered what someone like Fenrir could learn from unicorn magic, or anypony, for that matter.

“Spike, take a letter.”