-The Rocky Road, Part II-

It had taken less time than Rainbow had actually given herself to get the other ponies, although it had taken them a minute to catch up to her. The extra time had let her help the wolf move away from the cave.

The sled was actually much more detailed than she had first thought, her chance to examine it coming when the wolf suggested to use it as cover near the rock. The sled’s runners, the long flat blades on the bottom, had a thin line of sharp metal that looked like it was used to keep the sled in its groove. And apparently it still worked off the design that ponies used, if not a little larger now.

In the back, a large box acted as a weight, as well as water storage. Below the box was a metal spike on the end of a flexible bar, a cable that seemed to lead to the front was attached to it as well. The basket had at once been filled with the items that had been scattered around the clearing, and what they consisted of was also surprising to her.

There was more than just supplies that were scattered around, things that resembled what the ponies had brought with them in the evacuation. There were books, torn and soaked with snow. There were portraits lying in the snow, the paints smeared and the canvasses torn, all resulting in them being unrecognisable. And there were toys, children’s toys.

There had been a family pulling this sled.

Cheerilee had, hesitantly, accepted to watch the pup as they had pulled it over. She had taken the little puppy over toward the rock, sitting down and huddling in the cold with Brass Blare and Airheart. Now all they had to do was wait, for the pony reinforcements and, hopefully, Coalback’s successful emergence. At the moment, she and the wolf were standing at attention between the rock and the sled as cover.

“Name’s Rainbow Dash,” Rainbow said, catching the wolf take a fast glance over at her before it returned its icy gaze back to the black entrance of the cave. “I’ve never met a wolf before. What’s your name?” She asked, trying her best to be friendly toward the wolf, even after he had tried to attack her. She didn’t really hold it against him, it looked like he had been scared, and was trying to protect the puppy.

His gaze returned to her for another moment, lingering as he considered her question. “Greyshadow.” He said flatly, turning his eyes back to the cave entrance again. True to his name, he was grey, the tone growing darker closer to his paws. But what really caught her attention had been the strange assortment of tattoos and piercings that he had.

Three white spikes, like Coalback’s, pierced through each of his ears. A small brass ring hung near the very bottom of each ear as well, hugging the small indents at the bottom where they reattached to his head. His cheeks were decorated with black, blocky swirls, highlighting the shape of his narrow muzzle. They extended up the sides of his head, dodging around his eyes in a wide arc to create a blank circle on his forehead.

They all had to mean something, there’s no other reason she could think of for him to have them. Maybe it had to do with some tradition in wolf culture?

“Where’d you come from? Coalback said there had been a lot of you guys, where are they?” Rainbow asked, trying to continue the conversation even though it appeared that he wasn’t so enthusiastic about it.

“Ponies call Macintosh Hills.” Greyshadow said, keeping his eyes on the cave entrance. Although, one of his ears had turned to face her. “Wolf call them, Gaethglud.” He continued, listing off the name. He was talking in a way that reminded her of how Coalback had before he got used to talking in Equestrian, it must not have been his first language. “Empress tell us, great days in future, ancestral home opening its gates. So we gather in greatest pack of all time, and we leave, going North. But my pack get stuck, cords tangled, not good. So they go on, leave us here.” He said, an edge of sadness creeping in on his words.

“They just left you guys like that?” Rainbow asked, unsure of what to think about the fact that the ones they had come out with would just keep going without a second thought. She was sure that if anypony had gotten stuck in the evacuation that they were in, that the entire procession would have come to a halt to wait for them. It just didn’t feel right.

“Yes,” he replied, nodding with a noncommittal shrug. “It is our way. That was when troll came, back from his hunt in woods. He find us, trying to untangle cords. He stomp on us, crush some of the pups, kill Rhian, Moonchaser … All but me, Sharptooth, and Non.” The sadness had turned into an almost full on sob, but he didn’t cry.

“I’m sorry.” Rainbow said, unsure if she could have said anything that would have made him feel better. What were you supposed to say to something like that? She thought to herself, because there really wasn’t an answer.

“Why should Rainbow Dash be sorry? Rainbow Dash is helping Greyshadow now, is honorable thing. And something I am thankful for you doing.” He said, another shrug rolling the sadness off of himself. “Non may still live, troll not kill her yet.” He said with a nod toward the cave.

“Right,” Rainbow said, donning a determined scowl as she stared into the cave, mirroring his stance. They hadn’t heard anything for a while, almost four minutes.

There was a long pause of silence, the distant sounds of hooves in snow starting to grow louder as they waited. “Too quiet …” Greyshadow mumbled, his ear flicking back over to her for just a moment. “Lord is loud fighter, not good for quiet. Maybe we go in too …” He mumbled, a tentative step pulling him forward.

“Nuh-uh,” Rainbow said quickly, stopping him from starting toward the cave. “If Coalback wanted us to come in, he would have told us so.” She said, knowing full well that they’d only get in the way, no matter how fast or how sharp their claws were.

Greyshadow stopped, fully turning his head to look at her. He scowled at her for a moment, but it softened quickly. He nodded in consent, probably realizing her thought process as he considered what she had said. He turned his head back toward the cave, and backed up to his previous spot beside her.

“Rainbow Dash is Lord Coalback’s?” He asked after another moment, his ears flicking back to the growing sound of hooves.

“His what?” She asked, unsure what he meant. It felt like his question had only been half asked, like he had cut himself off, but he hadn’t.

“You belong to him, his gwas.” He tried to explain, turning his eye to look at her from the corners of them. “Servant, yes?” He asked, raising his eyebrows to try and punctuate the question with seriousness.

“What? No!” Rainbow said, donning a scowl of her own. How could he even think that Coalback would have a servant, let alone that it would be her?

“My apologies.” Greyshadow said quickly, shrinking away slightly. “The reason I think this is because of mark, and because you are not wolf or Lord.” He explained, but it had little effect in chasing away her anger.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” She asked. The wolf cringed again, perhaps she had put a little more edge to her words than she had intended.

“Again, my apologies.” He said, lowering his head in something resembling a bow, or cowering. “Omegas, outsiders, only wear wolf marks as sign of ownership. You see?” He explained, although that didn’t help get her any less angry.

“I am one of the alphas in this pack, alright.” She hissed, taking a step in his direction. At this point she didn’t care if she scared him. That was how wolves established dominance after all, right? “That’s what this means,” she pointed at the tattoo on her chest, making it clear what she meant. “Don’t mix that up again, got it?” She said, watching as his eyes grew wide and he stopped cowering.

“My most humble apologies!” He said quickly, his entire body twisting to the side as he bowed. “I beg of your forgiveness, Blaidd-ffrind! I should not have assumed so much, I should have recognised the scents!” He said, actual fear wilting his voice.

This almost brought Rainbow to pause, but she kept it up. “That’s right,” she said, even though she was starting to feel bad for making him so afraid of her. “Relax, I’ll let it go this time. Now, get ready. And don’t freak out when the other ponies get here, just stay with me and they’ll be cool with you.” She said, watching him bow even lower in a wordless thanks. He stood again, a determined look donning his wolven features. Maybe he was trying to make up for his previous mistake, or maybe the mistake meant more to him than she thought.

She didn’t turn to look at the ponies as they shuffled to a stop near them, keeping her eyes on the cave. The familiar presence of her friends warmed her side, comforting in the way that familiarity creates. The sounds of the reinforcements’ heavy breathing fouling the once pristine silence, but their presences welcome nonetheless.

“How long s’it been?” Applejack asked, her voice low, just below a whisper.

“Too long, and it’s been too quiet.” Rainbow whispered in return, remaining where she stood stoically.

“An’ tha wolf?” Applejack asked, the suspicion in her voice more than obvious. It felt more like she had been trying to make the wolf hear it, but Rainbow knew she had to let it slide.

Rainbow paused for a moment, making sure that she knew what she wanted to say. “He’s cool, wants to help.” Rainbow replied, feeling Applejack give another nod in affirmative.

But even after they had arrived, they didn’t have to wait much longer. The moments before felt like they stretched out. Rainbow heard every breath, having enough time to actually count out how many ponies there were. Twenty seven bodies stirring the air with their breath, twenty ponies that had come to help, her friends, the wolves, and what was left of the scouting party.

Twenty seven bodies that stiffened at the sounds that suddenly broke the silence.

First, there was another one of those horrible hooting howles. Then there was a crack, like two stones falling against each other. There was a snap, like dry twigs breaking, followed quickly by another hoot. And then there was a sound she had been hoping that she would never have to hear again.

It was a desperate, pained yelp. The kind of sound a large, injured animal makes. The sound Coalback had made when he had come back torn to pieces.

There was a crash, something had been smashed, and then something that could only be described as a wet thump echoed out. And as suddenly as the noises had started, Coalback emerged …

… bouncing off one of the walls of the cave and landing to slide across the ground toward them. Blood followed him, the side of what was left of his shirt stained in it. The leg of his pants had been torn open, revealing the bruising flesh, and the disfigured limb. Something had been broken, badly.

The sound of heavy footsteps preceded the emergence of the troll. The very large, three headed troll. Their heavy brows covered the tiny, beady eyes that peaked out. A huge nose extended out from its faces like some sort of warty diving board, dividing the ugly faces with the horrid piece of flesh. Its wide mouth was still stained with blood, turned black from the darkness. The hairless top of its scalp almost brushed the top of the cave, towering more than three times as tall as Coalback was on two legs.

“What in tarnation … ?” Applejack mumbled, staring with wide eyes as the creature flinched from the lanternlight.

It was lanky, especially compared to Coalback. Heavy hide hung off of it like one would expect to see from a bear, making it look like it had been wrapped in a wet blanket that had fused with its skin. Its stomach hung in a huge pot belly that resembled a soiled wool sock more than it did skin. Its three toed feet had to spread as wide as ponyhole covers, the cracked and soiled appendages shaking the ground with each step.

Its shoulders twitched with too long, stringy muscles that hefted a huge club. Its four fingered hand clutching tightly to something that would have been more easily called a tree than a weapon. The center head turned to sniff around at them, a toothless, disgusting grin growing on its face.

“More snackies …” It grumbled in that unnaturally light voice, scratching against the back of her skull. “Wait there snackies, Grumble have to crush doggy-thing first.” It said, lifting one of its gnarled fingers and waving it at them.

“Hey, faggot!” Coalback growled from the ground, lifting himself on a shaky arm. “That all you got?” He asked, spitting to the side. It came out in a red spray.

All three heads turned toward Coalback with an audible snap, a scowl mirrored on each face. The heads to the side opened their toothless mouths and wailed in that same hoot, the club lifting far over its head as it prepared to crush Coalback.

Rainbow didn’t even bother to think about what she was about to do, just acting. She darted forward in a flash, a rainbow trail and a gust of powerful wind being the only thing that marked her exit. She twisted around in the air, closing her wings and turning herself into a missile. When her rear hooves hit the leftmost head, it cracked like stone, bouncing off its brothers’ and causing the troll to lose its grip on the huge club while it was still in its upward ark.

It hung in the air, seemingly longer than it should have. Its momentum building slowly as it fell with a crash onto the rightmost head, crushing it in a gorey splatter. What splashed out wasn’t blood though, more like some sort of grainy slime. In the wake of the horrible smelling splatter the other heads wailed in pain, its hands moving to grasp at the injury.

Rainbow ducked out of the way of the arm, a confident smile springing onto her face. “Oh, yeah! Who’s your - WOAH!” Rainbow yelled, a sudden swipe from the grease and stink covered arm of the troll nearly knocking her out of the air. She dodged a second swipe, looping back far out of reach.

“Me kill stupid flying snack for that!” The troll yelled, slimy spittle flying from the center head’s lips. It stomped forward, another off kilter swipe just barely missed her by a few inches. She had to keep moving now, the sudden switch from offensive to defensive throwing her back on edge.

It was a lot faster that she had expected something like that to be. Its swipes barely missed her no matter how fast she managed to move, pulling hairpin turns in instants as she dodged around each one. And with every swing, it seemed that the troll was able to get even closer with his stinking fingers.

“Give ‘er some slack, fella’s!” Applejack’s voice called out, the words almost knocking Rainbow from her concentrated flapping.

It wasn’t a moment later that a spear flew out, not actually stabbing into the troll but managing to knock its hand away. It snarled, stopping to turn both its functional heads toward the source of the spear throw, and finally letting Rainbow finally get out of its reach.

The troll hooted again, starting to stomp toward the spiky group of ponies. It didn’t even bother to wait for another spear throw, one of its arms sweeping down and knocking over the entire mob and virtually decimating their backup. Ponies scattered in various directions, drawing Rainbow’s attention.

In her adrenaline flooded mind, she was able to take in the entire scene in only an instant.

She spotted Twilight first, she hadn’t even realized that she was there when they first showed up. But she had a purple shield over Coalback, several books floating beside her as she performed some sort of spell. Applejack had dodged around toward the fortified stones, ending up right next to the wolf. Ponies had scattered in various directions around the troll, impressively still molesting the troll while staying out of its reach.

The wolf darted from its defensive position near the pup and the scout party that was cowering near the rocks. He jumped over Applejack, drawing a startled protest from her as he liberated her of the ropes that she had brought with her. And maybe it was the adrenaline playing with her vision, but she could have sworn, for only a moment, that the rope trailing behind him was glowing a distinctly pale green glow.

“Goleuadau, dawnsio i mi!” Greyshadow yelled out, a wordy battle cry that was enough to distract the troll, stopping the various stomps for a moment.

That moment was enough for the wolf to dart in between its legs, weaving in and out as he tangled the rope around its stinking legs. He darted in and out, like some sort of dangerous dance. The troll reached down tearing at the rope, but for every knot it undid the wolf made three more. It was almost hypnotizing to watch as the wolf seemed to effortlessly dodge every grab, twisting his way up and down and through his own trail of ropes.

She shook herself out of the shocked hover she had donned, her breathing returned from the high lead it had had on her. She gave one final shunt of her wings upwards, dropping her into a quickly accelerating dive. She could already tell what Greyshadow was trying to do, he just needed a little help.

Almost faster than the eye could see, she spun in the air and delivered a devastating buck to the center head of the troll. With all the momentum she had built in that dive, she was able to stun the troll in just the way she had hoped to.

It stumbled, rocking back as it tried to recoil from the blow. But when it tried to move its legs under it to halt the inevitable fall, the ropes wound tight and caught them fast. The wolf darted out from between its legs, pulling hard on the rope with enough force to trip one of its legs out from underneath it all together.

With a groan like a tree falling, it tumbled down toward the ground. Its impact shook even the air, reverberating in a deep bass as its heavy body bounced off the ground. Dust, most likely from the trolls body itself, flew out in every direction. The dust cloud spread out so thickly that the entire clearing had been obstructed, slowly drifting away in a gentle breeze.

“Hey, you little shit.” Coalback’s voice suddenly echoed out from the cloud, his exhaustion evident in his heavy breathing. When the dust had cleared enough, Coalback was standing over the troll’s center head. In his hand was a huge shard of the club that the troll had previously held, the jagged piece of hardened wood pointed at the troll’s beady eyes. It was big enough that it was nearly as tall as Coalback himself, both his hands having to be employed to hold it steady.

But Coalback wasn’t standing very steadily. Even from the distance that she was at, Rainbow could clearly see the purple flesh on his leg quivering violently as it tried to vainly hold the deformed bone in place to support him. How he had even stood with the femur of his leg like that she wasn’t sure, but either way, the troll froze in fear.

“You dropped something.” Coalback said darkly, all the rage of a charging bull setting his words nearly on fire. He lifted the shard in a swift motion, his entire body lifting as he threw himself into the strike. And with a loud crunch, he struck down on the fallen troll, using its own club to sever the center head from its body.

A spray of that horribly stinking blood spread out from the trolls throat, staining the ground with what could only have been referred to as sewage. Coalback leaned heavily on the shard, unmoving from his strike as he tried desperately to hold himself up. He looked back up, his eyes shadowed by his angry brows. His eyes threw back the orange glow of the lanterns, making them literally burn with rage.

“Make no mistake-” Coalback choked out toward the ponies staring at him. “I may look like them- fuck!” His hand slid on the jagged wood, slicing open his palm. “I may even work for them … But I am not, nor ever will be … a motherfucking Angel.” He growled, making an attempt to push himself away from the troll.

He was only half successful, mostly in the fact that he wasn’t standing over the troll anymore. He fell back in almost exactly the way the troll had, his leg actually folding over underneath him in an unnatural angle.

He fell, and didn’t get up again.

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