The Day of Reckoning

At the vast field on the outskirts of Ponyville, the group melted together as they enjoyed the warm sunlight. Twilight sat on the picnic blanket, levitating a brown book in front of her. Applejack threw a thin stick with her tail through the fields, causing Winona to chase after it. Rainbow Dash laid on the grass with her black shades on. Pinkie Pie bit and chewed on some cake. Rarity looked in the mirror, trying to apply lipstick. Fluttershy rocked her pet bunny, Angel, to sleep. And Spike and Starlight were out on the side, practicing magic together.

"What a great idea, calling all of us together for a picnic, Twilight," said Fluttershy.

"I know, right?" Rainbow Dash chimed. "I've never had this much time to chillax since after that fight with Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy."

"Yeah..." Applejack added, getting ready to throw the stick over Winona again. "Let's not ruin it by temptin' fate, okay?" She then threw it away while Winona ran after it.

"I'm just saying that I think we've deserved a break after that," Rainbow Dash shrugged.

"I'm with Rainbow Dash on that one," A familiar voice said.

The group then turned their heads towards a nearby tree. Discord was on top of that tree, lying on a curved branch like a bed while using knitting needles to make an infinite scarf with no fabric.

"Discord? What are you doing here?" Twilight asked.

"What? Is it wrong for a draconequus like me to just sit down and relax with his best pals?"

"Well, no, but–" Twilight replied.

"Besides, after what happened a few days ago, I can't just let my bestest pal, Fluttershy, go through something like that again, right?" Discord blinked his eyes in a girly fashion as eyelashes appeared on them.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the sight of the draconequus' face. "Fine! You can join!"

"Thank you," In a flash of white light, Discord teleported and laid on the field with the others before poofing up and putting on huge sunglasses with a small neon sign that said '20% cooler than Rainbow Dash'

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, pointing her hoof at Discord. Discord chuckled like the sly trickster that he is. Rainbow Dash simply groaned and put her shades back on, already regretting her decision.

Unfortunately, as the group was relaxing, a familiar silhouette peeked out of another tree from far away. He glared at the group with white, blank, narrowed eyes and grit teeth. "I finally found you... evil monsters!" The silhouette then clenched his fist before leaping through the tree, leaving some falling leaves behind.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie's eyes jerked open as she felt her entire body shaking rapidly. She tried to hold it together, but to no avail. The others took notice of Pinkie's shuddering as it got faster and faster.

"What's wrong, Pinkie?" Rarity asked, turning away from her mirror in concern.

"Is your Pinkie Sense actin' up again?" Applejack chimed. Starlight and Spike walked towards the rest of the group, staring at Pinkie's shuddering.

"I don't know!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed through her struggle. She rolled back and forth around the ground, hoping that it would stop her shuddering from getting faster. Unfortunately, it shook even faster until it reached its peak. "Maybe there's something really bad from close by that's causing it!"

The entire group glowered at Discord. "What? It wasn't me, this time!" He then placed his eagle claw on his heart and raised up his lion's paw. "Honest!"

"Then if it's not you that's causing the shuddering, then who is?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, it can't be Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, or Cozy Glow, since they were turned to stone and placed at the Canterlot Garden," Twilight replied. Her thinking was interrupted as the sound of a rustling tree hit both her and the rest of the group's ears.

The leaves started vibrating little by little as the group walked towards it. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy held onto each other's hooves while Discord watched with curiosity. Rainbow Dash and Spike held their hooves and claws out while Applejack tipped off her hat. Rarity stood on her hind legs and curled her hooves, acting as fists. And Twilight and Starlight's horns glowed as they kneel down. Most with flared nostrils and narrowed eyes. Whoever was in there was about to get the biggest beatdown of their life.

However, the group only saw a small squirrel climb down the tree. The group stopped their battle postures in disappointment.

"It's about time we met face to face, Twilight Sparkle and group," The group's eyes widened at the sight of the wolf behind their backs. The wolf growled as he went into a fight stance of his own.

"Who are you?" Twilight asked. "And how do you know who we are?"

"All you need to know is that I'm going to make you evil jerks pay for the wrong you've done!" The wolf growled.

"What? What are you talking about?" Starlight asked. This only infuriated the wolf even more.

"You know what you did! And now, I'm going to make you all pay for it! Starting. With. You!"

With a fresh roar, The wolf lunged at Twilight, wild as the wolves he seemed to be uplifted from. Rainbow Dash didn't understand his fury, but her loyalty drove her to match his lunge with one of her own. Tackling him away from Twilight, she rolled and kicked him aside.

Yet, whatever fury drove him, refused to let a mere throw break him. He smoothly rolled back to his paws and re-engaged, this time towards Applejack. The cow mare tried to send him flying with a kick, but he proved far more versatile, sliding under her kick and sweeping her off her legs.

Feeling his ears twitch again, the wolf glanced over his shoulder. Pinkie Pie aimed her Party Cannon at his back, smiling like the devilish trickster she was. "Surprise!" She soon got the surprise herself when the wolf backflipped over her, causing her to miss her shot. He then jumped off of her head, making her fall forward.

Having enough of this uncivilized ruffian, Rarity bucked him away in the face as he dropped. He swiftly sprung back onto his feet and growled at Rarity. "Oh, it. Is. On!" The wolf then charged at her with his fist, ready to hit her back. A green fireball went past the two, causing the wolf to flinch back. "Huh?"

"Nobody hurts Rarity!" Spike breathed out a couple more fireballs at the wolf. The wolf, struggling to hold back his fear, evaded them all and closed in on Spike. Spike holds his fists up, ready to fight him in close quarters combat. The wolf then slid under his flight and bounded away from him, much to his confusion.

Twilight and Starlight both looked at each other with confusion until the wolf kicked the latter away. He then tried to swing his fist at Twilight, but she ducked and blasted a magic beam at him. Even though it only made him stumble, he still felt a bit of blood on his lips, much to Twilight's horror. "Oh sweet Celestia, I didn't mean to–!"

"Yeah, right! You evil pony!" The wolf took out his staff and rushed towards her. She blasted a few magic beams, trying to defend herself. Even if she knew why the wolf was so angry, she couldn't hold back the hurt she felt from his words. In quick succession, the wolf spun his staff at the beams, negating every single one of them as he drew in closer. Twilight's eyes jerked open. How could such a simple staff negate her magic like that? She then teleported away from the wolf's swing of the staff.

He then turned his attention to Discord, who merely yawned in a cocky manner. "Let's do this!" The wolf then sprinted at the draconequus, spinning his staff like a propeller. However, Discord would not let that bother him. He smirked as he snapped his fingers. In a flash, a massive bubble surrounded him, causing the wolf to bump into it and fall back.

"Oh, please. Do you even know who I am?" The wolf then got up from the ground and smirked, too. "Actually, yes, I do." He poked his staff at the bubble, completely popping it, much to Discord's surprise. "But that won't stop me!" He then unleashed a series of swings at the trickster, but Discord quickly detached and reattached his body parts.

The wolf panted as he continued, but then an idea just popped up in his head. He swept under Discord's legs, who detached and reattached them as well. But he then thought fast and swung at Discord's torso, causing him to fall to the side. Before the wolf could deal one more blow, Fluttershy rushed in to block him. He then noticed Fluttershy's quivering look as his staff swung downwards towards her.

Seeing Fluttershy flinch at his attack, the wolf immediately halted before his staff could actually hit her. He then backed away from her with a guilty frown. No matter how much fury and hatred he had, he just couldn't bring himself to harm a defenseless being. He averted his eyes and growled under his breath.

Unexpectedly for him, Another magic blast, this time bigger than before, launched him into a nearby tree with a hard grunt. "Get away from her!" Twilight and Rainbow Dash demanded. The wolf quickly grabbed his staff and got up from the ground. Wiping the last bit of slobber and blood off his mouth and chest, he charged at them with the staff again.

Suddenly, a white flash of light teleported him away from Twilight and Rainbow Dash, leaving the staff behind. The wolf reappeared in the sky. He shrieked as he started falling and landed in a tree. His body slammed into each branch with a few grunts before crashing into a bush. "And that's for almost hurting Fluttershy!" Discord shouted. While covered in scratches and bruises, the wolf simply coughed some leaves out of his throat.

"Huh?" He spotted his staff on the ground, but Fluttershy picked it up. "Hey! Give that back!"

"No!" Fluttershy yelled. "Now listen here, you! Just because you're angry at us doesn't mean you get to be a bully!"

That caused the wolf to flinch backwards, enlarging his eyes to the size of saucers. Gazing away from the group, with a shameful frown running down his face, he suddenly felt a slight tightness on his chest where his heart should be. A bully? Is that... really what he's become? "I–"

"Yeah!" Spike chimed. "You may think we're evil, but if you think that you have the right to try and hurt us for no reason, you're the real evil one around here!"

Those exact words alone were enough to cause his heart to pump in his chest even faster. Hyperventilating, his head started pounding into his temple as if the world was spinning around him. He then rubbed on both his heart and head. Evil?! He can't be the one who's evil, can he?! If so, then what is wrong with him?! And is he really in the wrong? How could he be sure?!

Eventually, all the group's eyes widened as they took in what was happening. From the way the wolf held onto his chest and head to his painful groaning, they quickly got what they were doing to him and sauntered towards him.

"Huh?" The wolf let go of his head and chest as Twilight placed her hoof on his shoulder.

"Look... We may not know who you are, or why you think we're evil, but attacking us isn't the way to go. Two wrongs don't make a right, you know."

This is strange. Why would these evil monsters care about whatever happens to others like him? Could it be that he was... wrong about them...? Could it be that he really is the one who's evil...? No, that can't be true, right?! They've got to be faking it, right?! But no matter what he thought, it still wasn't enough to shake off the terrible feeling he had from both inside and out.

"So... Now, will you tell us who you are and why you're doing this?" Fluttershy asked.

When the wolf couldn't find a clear answer to the question, he was left with no choice but to dash away without speaking.

"Hey, get back here right now!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

All the wolf did was glanced at them from behind before bolting off. This, however, only made Rainbow's patience wear thin. "I said--!" Rainbow was about to rile back her flight and chase after him, only for Applejack to stretch her hoof out in front of her before she could.

"That's enough now, Rainbow Dash," Applejack said, letting down her hoof. "We'll deal with him later."

Twilight sighed. "Applejack's right," Fluttershy then gave her the staff. "Besides, without this, he can't do much harm magically. Now, is everyone else alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Starlight replied, rubbing on her cheek.

"I just can't believe that no good wolf just came out of nowhere and attacked us for no reason." Rarity added as she and the others walked towards the rest.

"And called us evil," Pinkie Pie said, drooping her ears and deflating her mane and tail a bit. "That really hurt my feelings."

"Maybe we must've done something really bad to him that made him so mad," Spike said. "But what...?"

"Maybe if we find out what this staff is, and it's history, we'll be able to find the answer," Twilight replied.

"And how do we do that?" Discord asked.

Twilight rubbed her chin for a bit before a light bulb appeared out of her head. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna! Maybe they know something about this staff. C'mon, guys! Let's go figure out what's going on."