-Another Leg to Stand On-

Coalback was … cold. A feeling he had often ignored, but now it seemed different. It seeped into every bone of his body, freezing his core. He didn’t even have to breath, which was kind of nice. He had already tried and it had just hurt, so he didn’t. He didn’t really mind, but it was strange in the fact that what could only be described as death, that he felt anything at all.

He had died before, three days that had felt like four years. It had turned out that death didn’t have the finality that he had expected, there was a hell. And it had been … different than this.

It was in that reminiscence that he felt another sensation, something tickling on the numb skin of his face. But at the same time, the side of his body felt warm. He opened his eyes for the first time, a surprisingly easy task considering how heavy his eyelids felt. But he didn’t like what he saw.

He was lying in a river, half in and half out. His legs were hanging outside of the water onto the rocky shore, warmed by the sun. He was on his side, half his body warmed by the sun and half submerged in the cold, black water. The cold water splashed up again, tickling his face.

But that serene scene haunted him, a memory that he shouldn’t have. One from a time when he was so young his eyes hadn’t even opened yet. When he was born, like the rest of his family that shared the wolf’s blood, his eyes had been closed, like a pup’s. But he knew where he was.

‘You were born on the shores of a black river ...’ A deep, scratchy basso echoed over the water, describing the scene before him. ‘This is where your name comes from …’ His grandfather echoed again, the voice shaking him to his core with guilt. He remembered when he had been told this, three days after his first change, while he was bedridden. ‘It was your mother who saw your second name, and saw the man you would become ...’ He still didn’t understand that, but he knew what his name was then, the name they had given him.

He wouldn’t think it, it was too painful now to think of his past name. But he remembered what it had meant, an ominous meaning that he hadn’t understood at the time. It came down to a black river, one that supersedes. The two names put together by his father and mother, whom he had never known.

As suddenly as he had heard his grandfather’s harrowing voice, others began to echo out over the water. I can’t stay here, I can’t hear their voices again! He thought, pushing out desperately with his arms, trying to push himself to his feet. But they flailed around in the water and did little to move him, his legs exploding in pain but never moving.

It was like trying to swim in oil, he never made any progress.

The gentle sounds of the rippling waters quickly changed, the roaring of rapids replacing it. A huge tree suddenly uprooted near him, falling over with a crash as its branches crushed his chest and its trunk landed over his legs. He cried out as his ribs exploded again in pain, a desperate plea for the pain to stop.

The water boiled around him, the voices growing in intensity as he struggled. The pain in his legs only doubled as he continued to struggle. He didn’t want to hear those voices again, he couldn’t handle seeing the memories they brought.

“ … oalback! -op!” A voice echoed.

“No! Don’t make me hear them! Don’t make me hear them scream again!” Coalback begged, yelling to the skies and whatever horrible being forced him to relive those voices.

“I can’t -derstand you!” The same voice cried. “I’m -ight here …lback!” The voice cried again.

He struggled harder, pushing at the branches weakly as he tried to pull himself away. But his legs were trapped under the unrelenting weight of the tree. The water steamed around him, obscuring his view of the rapidly flowing water and the dead brambles of the tree atop him. It carried the black of the water with it, quickly turning from a spray, to smoke.

The smoke burned his lungs, the pain piling atop the the others that smothered him. He coughed as the smoke burned his lungs with ash, his forced breathing stirring the smoke. Quickly, the roar changed to a crackle, and the smoke drifted away from his eyes.

He wasn’t in the river anymore, and the water soaking him had turned red and thick. Blood, it was everywhere. Covering him head to toe, and soaking into the ground under him. The weight on his legs grew, the tree turning into a fallen crossbeam. All around him, bodies decorated the ground like horrifying rugs on the marble floor. Their dead eyes stared up at nothing … if they still had eyes.

He wasn’t in the river anymore, he was in his family’s manor.

“No! No!” He yelled out, choking on the smoke as it grated against his vocal cords. But his cries went unheard, his eyes forced to look at the dead bodies of his family. The memories of their gruesome deaths flashed in front of his eyes as he looked at them, he remembered every death in extreme clarity.

He remembered, because he had been the one who killed them.

 His ears rang with cries and metal clashing. His body shook from the echoes of fights long past. Sidheag, once his closest cousin, he saw her face as he ripped apart her torso with the jagged edges of a broken bar. Artair, his half-brother, he felt his head crush under the huge metal dumpster, saw as the jagged edges of his skull ripped through his scalp. He tasted the blood of his father as he ate the heart that had once kept him alive. Brighde, his aunt who had snuck him food from the kitchens occasionally, he felt the tug on his claws as her thick hide resisted his assault.

“I can’t see it again! Please!” He begged, flinching at every horrid memory of his family’s death. “Please, stop!” He cried, sobs breaking through as he choked on the thick smoke. The smoldering crossbeam shifted, putting a twisting pressure on his right leg and drawing a wretched yelp from him. “Knight! Please! Protect me! What have I done to lose your protection!” He begged, writhing under the horrid weight of the crossbeam.

He remembered the weeks under the crossbeam that he had suffered through. No fluids save for the blood around him. No food but his family’s meat. And that painful change that had come with the full moon.

He had only been saved when the school district had noticed his absence, only to be arrested for the murder of his family.

“... -ut this in his -outh!” An unfamiliar voice echoed, interrupted by the crackling of flame and the sounds of collapsing wood. He felt the crossbeam shift again, drawing his attention back to the horrid pain in his leg and away from the deaths playing like movie reels in front of his eyes.

“GAH!” He yelled out, feeling the bone breaking and sliding against itself.

A single blue-purple flower sprung into his vision, the smell hitting him like the side of a mountain. And the scene before him sprung away, shimmering out of existence as if the flower warped the air with heat. And as he watched the flower grew, tens more blooms spiralling out from its single stem. And in an instant, he was within a new memory, all his pain gone in a single moment.

He was in a field, blossoming with thousands of the beautiful flowers. The smell was wonderful, incredibly sweet and even bitter, but not overpowering. And it calmed him like nothing else in the world. Nothing compared to it. It was sweeter than any honey. Warmer than a woman’s touch. And it was a greater feeling than sex.

It was wolfsbane.

Not many know what real wolfsbane does to werewolves. Some think that it hurts them, others think it keeps them away. Some even think that it creates them. But few know that it attracts them like a siren’s song, and calms them like cannabis does for humans only more so. It makes them almost docile, peaceful in a way that no living being knows without the aid of a godlike spirit.

He reached forward eagerly with his muzzle, the light breeze playing on his fur as he took the flower in his mouth. He chewed it eagerly, the bitter taste of flower’s petals a meager price to pay for the feeling of ecstasy that the flower created. The fear and horror and guilt simply … washed away. The pain and the tears slowly faded into the back of his mind, barely a buzz at the edge of his perception.

His senses melted away, blending together into a beautiful mural of colors and smells. His mind closed, like falling asleep. And he was free of even his thoughts. Even if the feeling of the flower’s influence was fantastic, it was also fleeting. He swallowed the flower in his mouth, but when he moved toward another, it faded from existence. He eagerly attempted to bite down on more of the blissful flowers, to be met with only air. The scene slowly fell away, revealing the reality around him.

---

Greyshadow howled, loudly and with cheer. A victory call that he sang for Coalback, even as the man’s leg finally snapped from under him and he tumbled to the ground. Rainbow didn’t wait a single breath when she saw him fall, rushing to him in a blur and landing just next to him.

She pushed him over onto his side, relieving the pressure on his broken leg. She nearly  retched as she saw the injury. His leg was folded in two places above his knee, the flesh stained black and purple where it bruised and stretched. The right side of his torso had turned red with scrapes and bruises, and his breathing was soft and barely there.

Greyshadow growled as soon as he had finished his howl, a vicious snarl that tore her gaze away from Coalback. The wolf jumped forward, springing onto the bulging stomach of the troll. His claws tore into it with a spray of stinking gore that covered him entirely as he ripped into its abdomen. Greyshadow practically dived into the still steaming guts of the disgusting troll, digging through the gore and stinking fluids.

“Bleh!” Rainbow recoiled, the smell of sewage intensifying now that its organs were open to the air.

The wolf stopped suddenly, his tail waving high in the air as he slowly backed out from the troll’s guts. And clutched in his mouth was a tiny, goop covered ball of fur. As she watched the stinking ball of fur twitched, a mouth suddenly spraying away the disgusting goop in a stringy spray and taking a deep breath of the air. She watched as the wolf gingerly stepped down from the troll’s stomach, its loose hide sliding under his paws and making the descent difficult.

He carried the sputtering ball of fur away from the troll, moving beside the dogsled and setting it down gently. “How did you know …?” Rainbow started to say, stunned by the sudden action of the wolf.

Greyshadow spat a glob of the gore out of his mouth, leaning down and using his tongue to wipe away the goop covering the newly revealed pup. He spat out several more globs, cleaning it away from the puppy’s head before answering her. “Lyall,” he gurgled, more of the disgusting goop making him gag as he freed the rest of it from his throat. “Saw troll swallow her, thought was lost until the Lord killed the troll.” He finished, a tired and thankful smile quickly gracing his wolf face.

“How did you know that she would still be alive?” Rainbow asked, starting to turn back to Coalback.

“Trolls have gizzard, no stomach!” The wolf said as explanation, turning to continue cleaning the puppy and ignoring his own stink. He completely tuned her out, dropping the conversation so he could see to his pup. He continued a pattern of licking, and then spitting out the disgusting flavor to the side.

“We need a doctor! And be quick ‘bout it!” Applejack suddenly yelled, startling Rainbow into looking up at her. She had walked up just behind her, her hat still slightly askew from Greyshadow’s sudden use of her ropes.

“What do we do, AJ? I don’t know how to fix a broken leg!” Rainbow pleaded to her, panic starting to set in. She started to move forward toward Coalback, reaching forward to hold him again.

“Calm down, sugarcube!” Applejack said quickly, pulling Rainbow forcefully away from Coalback. “Ah’ve seen a few broken legs on tha farm. We just gotta keep ‘im still ‘till we can get a doctor ta look at it. But it’s lookin’ real bad, so we better not move ‘im.” Applejack explained, turning her head away to bellow out at the other ponies recovering from their tumble at the trolls claws. “What’re yah idjits waitin’ on?! We need a doctor yest’rday!” She yelled out, watching as a few of the pegasi darted off.

Coalback wasn’t moving, it grated on Rainbow that she couldn’t do anything for him either. But maybe there was. Her mind darted back to the cave, where Coalback had insisted that she grab hold of the gem. Where she had somehow performed a healing spell on him.

She wriggled out of Applejack’s arms, fumbling forward to Coalback’s neck. She gingerly removed the soiled and torn mount of the gem, fumbling to remove it with her hooves. But when she revealed it, there was no blinding light like before. It was dark, perfectly transparent. And its touch didn’t even bring a hum of the knowledge she had had before. Whatever had been there before, spirit, or power, or something else, was gone now.

Applejack quickly recovered, pulling Rainbow away before she could collapse on top of Coalback again. “Don’t move ‘im, Rainbow!” Applejack growled, pulling against Rainbow as she resisted every step away. “We gotta wait fer a doctor, or we could make it worse!” She grunted, pulling Rainbow off her hooves and holding her wings down, forcing her to lay on the ground.

They struggled for a few moments on the ground, both fighting for control. But a soft sound of leathery wings cut through the air to them, a small scroll dropping to the ground in front of their noses. They both paused, staring incredulously at the tiny scroll.

The sound of the wings fluttered again, and a huge flying fox landed behind the letter. Its face resembled closely to its namesake, a small fox-like head, nothing like the small bats that flew out of the forests occasionally. Its rear legs grabbed into the branch of a nearby bush, bending the thin extrusion and being forced to support itself with its wings. Around its neck was a dark blue sash, its large dark eyes stared at them intently.

“What in tarnation?” Applejack said with surprise, taking a closer look and seeing the deep blue sash around its neck and the crescent moon printed on it.

“Did Princess Luna send you?” Rainbow asked, seeing the same insignia marked on the bats scarf. It replied hastily with an enthusiastic nod that shook its entire body and the thin branch it clung to. One of its wings lifted from the ground and tapped the scroll twice before rolling it closer to them.

It didn’t wait for them to ask any more questions, pushing the front of its body up with its wings. It spread them quickly, cupping the air with a few leathery flaps before letting go of the branch it clung to. A scraping screech followed it as it quickly departed, heading back toward Canterlot.

“Well?” Rainbow said angrily after a moment. “Are you gonna get off me and read the freaking letter, or are you just gonna sit there and look at it like it’s on fire?!” She yelled furiously, pushing up against Applejack’s much heavier body. She had never been able to quite beat the farm mare at hoof to hoof wrestling, but she did come close every time.

Applejack donned a sheepish smile, laughing nervously as she jumped off of Rainbow and grabbed the letter. She broke the seal quickly, taking charge again as she read over it. But she only looked even more confused. “Rainbow, come look at this. I can’t make hide nor hair o’ this.” She said incredulously, turning the letter to Rainbow as she leaned over Applejack’s shoulder.

Equivocation

Three days before the fortnight, it is difficult having to deal with this mixed-up grandeur without you. Canterlot is your next destination, yes? Double down, find place with an octopus. The sun rises with more mixed-up grandeur without you. Five, nine, six, ten. I hope this letter helps you as it arrives, too.

“I don’t know either.” She said, more as a question than anything. “It looks weird though. Does Luna always write like this? And what’s that?” She asked, pointing at the swirling symbol.

“I don’ know, Dash.” Applejack said, looking back at Coalback. “But maybe we should wait ‘till we’ve got Coalback settled. If’n he don’t get the attention he needs, it could real bad for ‘im.” Applejack said, tucking the scroll under her hat to keep it safe. “We’ll look at it later.”

“Doctors! Comin’ through!” A pegasus yelled out, a white pony clutched in his hooves as he landed carefully. His cry drew their attention, A few other pegasi dropping off their own charges.

“That’s … creative.” Rainbow said distantly, snapping herself into action and running toward the nurse as she recovered from her impromptu arrival. “Nurse Redheart!” She called, recognising the nurse mare from her various visits to the Ponyville hospital. “Can you fix a broken bone?” Rainbow asked desperately, grabbing the other mare’s hoof and dragging her toward the unconscious Coalback.

The white coated earth pony resisted for a moment, her head still spinning from the less than comfortable flight. But when her attention came to the fallen man, she instantly recovered. She darted forward, the emergency kit hanging from her sides as she slid to a stop next to him. “Help me move him onto his back, GENTLY!” She ordered, jumping as Rainbow’s surged toward him.

Rainbow gave a huff of annoyance, but complied. How many ponies are gonna tell me that tonight? She thought irritably as she helped the nurse gently guide Coalback onto his back. Redheart leaned down, putting her ear close to Coalback’s mouth and nose. She stayed like that for a few moments, listening intently.

“He’s breathing,” she announced after a few moments, jumping back up and looking over him again. She dropped the bag on her back as she listed off her observations. “Large bruising on the ribs and abdomen, might be some internal bleeding,” her hoof moved forward and pressed against his ribs for a moment, drawing away quickly. “Definitely a few broken ribs, leg fractured in two places above the knee, they look like clean breaks but we’re not going to take any chances.” She finished, reaching into her bag and retrieving several long, straight bracing pads. They were bright orange and covered with a soft padding that wouldn’t scrape against his skin.

The nurse looked up at Rainbow Dash, offering her the four pads as she spoke. “I need you to help me, Rainbow. We shouldn’t let his leg sit like that for long, there’s probably already a lot of damage to his ligaments. Press them against the sides of his leg for me, don’t worry about being gentle, we have to move the bone pieces back into place.” She said quickly, guiding Rainbow’s hooves to the pads forcefully. The nurse turned away for a moment, a large roll of beige gauze coming into view as she turned back.

She guided Rainbow’s hooves, showing her how to hold the pads against his leg. Rainbow placed the pads to either side of his leg, wincing as the bone slid back into place. She watched the nurse roll out a long length of the gauze, sliding it under the small arc that Coalback’s knee created and wrapping it tightly around the makeshift brace. She wrapped it several times, keeping it tight as she did. After she had finished with those braces she motioned for Rainbow to grab the other two.

“This part isn’t actually really needed, but I really don’t want to have to deal with his leg slipping out of the brace. So we’re gonna put another set on the top and bottom of his leg. Okay, Rainbow?” Nurse Redheart explained, motioning for her to do as she told. The nurse lifted Coalback’s leg slightly, propping it up on her own flank as she started to wrap the second set of braces onto his leg. When she was done, she braided the gauze through a few other wraps and tied a knot in it, pulling it tightly and securely. Redheart gently placed Coalback’s leg back on the ground, shoveling some snow onto his leg as she did.

“What are you doing? Aren’t we supposed to keep him warm?” Rainbow asked, shrinking slightly as Redheart gave her a dark glare.

“We have to stop the swelling, or he’s only going one of two places.” She said, finished her shoveling and starting to gather her supplies. “The hospital, or the morgue.” She finished, her dark glare dropping to something that resembled a tired sadness, one that can only be bred from seeing the situation before. “Just keep an eye on him, I have to go help the others.” She didn’t dwell long though, trotting a few steps to join the other doctors with the ponies that had received injuries from the troll.

Rainbow watched her as she left, staring blankly and without thought as the nurse continued. The nurse quickly found herself near a pony that had been walking with strain, offering her assistance. Rainbow’s gaze drifted, rolling over the other few nurses that showed up. Her eyes continued over toward the makeshift shelter she had created with the wolf, her eyes lingering on Greyshadow and the puppy as they tried to scrub out the last of the troll’s blood from their coats. And then her eyes landed on the shakily standing Twilight only a few meters away.

“Twilight!” Rainbow called, noticing her friends distress with worry. Last she had seen her, Twilight had been performing a spell. Maybe she had overextended herself? She darted over on still buzzing hooves, the blood flow starting to tingle as if they had fallen asleep. She was able to get to her just in time to catch the exhausted mage before she nearly fell again. “What happened, Twilight? You don’t look very good either.” She asked, noting the haggard appearance of her friend now that she was closer.

Twilight’s mane was a total mess, like the days when she got so wrapped up in her studies that she forgot to brush it. Her eyes seemed glazed over, staring at everything and nothing at the same time. Twilight quickly shook herself out of it, though. “I’m fine. Really.” She said, taking a deep breath and reaching a hoof up to press against the base of her horn. Rainbow didn’t think Twilight was being totally honest, the pained look on the unicorn’s face being evidence of that.

“What happened, Twilight?” Rainbow asked again, putting a bit more emphasis in the words.

Twilight sighed in defeat, leaning a bit more on Rainbow as another wave of dizziness caught her off guard. “Coalback- uhm … Well, I’m not sure exactly what he did,” she started, following Rainbow as she was led over to the other ponies. “I was trying to perform a healing spell, but he stopped me. And then he asked me if he could borrow something.” She said, looking up at Rainbow. “He didn’t even wait for me to ask what he wanted before he grabbed onto my horn.” She said irritably, rubbing near the long appendage again.

“He grabbed your horn?” Rainbow asked, not sure what to think of the action. She might have put a small amount of an accusation into her words, just a little.

“It wasn’t like that, I swear!” Twilight said quickly, wincing as she turned her head just a little too fast for comfort. “And it really hurt when he channeled out my magic.” She said with another wince.

“What did he do?” Rainbow asked, concern for her friend returning quickly. Coalback might not have been trying to hurt Twilight, but he could easily have done so without knowing it.

“I think that he took the magic I was gathering up for the healing spell, and a little more too, I think.” Twilight replied, continuing to swim in the headache from the event. “I don’t know how he did it, but rather than healing his leg, he must have used it to get just enough support for his leg to work.” Twilight continued, taking a couple more deep breaths to try and alleviate some of the pressure on her skull. “Never really seen magic work like that, actually. Although, it was really sloppy, I’m not sure how he kept it up as long as he did. Ow …” Twilight paused, a particularly painful throb interrupting her train of thought in time with her heartbeat.

“So … He used your magic, to make a ... crutch?” Rainbow asked, trying to draw the lines. Rainbow actually didn’t know much about magic, but she knew a little bit from having spent time with Rarity and Twilight often enough.

“I think so,” Twilight sighed, coming to a stop with Rainbow once they had gotten nearer to the ponies. Twilight sat shakily, laying down and pressing her temple to a small mound of snow. She sighed happily as the cold numbed away some of the headache before continuing. “I don’t understand, though, He was able to use much more complicated spells in situations like these, so why didn’t he use a healing spell like I was?” She wondered, directing the question slightly at Rainbow.

In the distance, an individual glow from a couple of carts that had detached from the main group lazily wobbled over the hill, they must have thought to bring them to carry the injured. Rainbow’s gaze drifted over to the unnaturally still Coalback, knowing full well that she had to keep away from him to prevent moving him, but wanting to go to him anyway.

“I think I’m starting to know why. But you should wait to ask him.” Rainbow finally said as a response, another thought occurred to her as her mind wandered. “Hey, Twi? A bat came and dropped off this weird note from Luna, do you wanna take a look at it?” Rainbow asked, already flagging down Applejack from across the clearing.

“Huh? Wh- yes! Yes, let me see it.” Twilight said, recovering from her headache slightly now that she had had a chance to lay down.

“AJ, give Twilight that letter.” Rainbow said to Applejack as she arrived, whom complied quickly.

It didn’t take Applejack more than a few seconds to pull it out, flinching slightly as a purple aura snatched it out of her hoof. “And you said a bat brought it?” Twilight asked as she whisked open the scroll with the sharp sound of paper sliding on paper.

“Yep, fox headed thang. Real big, too.” Applejack replied, joining Rainbow as they watched Twilight don the same confused look that they had had.

“Wait a second,” Twilight grumbled, staring harder at the script for a second. “Equivocation … That’s interesting,” the unicorn mused, skimming over the rest of the short note for a moment. “Oh. Oh! Equivocation! I see!” Twilight said suddenly, her eyes popping open with interest.

“Equivo- what now?” Applejack asked, joining Rainbow with a confused look.

“Equivocation!” Twilight said in what almost sounded like excitement. “To call by the same name. It’s misdirection, use of words with double meaning. I think Luna sent us a coded message!” Twilight said excitedly, but her face fell suddenly as another thought dawned to her. “But why would Luna need to send a coded message?” Twilight grumbled under her breath, staring harder at the letter as she read over it a few times.

“So can you decode it?” Rainbow asked, walking up and looking over the paper for herself.

“I think so …” Twilight mumbled, bringing the page closer to her face and looking over it intently. “Okay. So … These first two sentences look like they’re trying to give us the first part. A fortnight is fourteen days, but take away three days and you have eleven days. And the eleventh word in the second sentence is ‘grandeur.’ But if we take out the ‘u’ and mix up the lettering, it can spell ‘danger.’” Twilight said, a spark of fear jumping into her voice as she came upon the conclusion.

“Danger? What kinda danger are we talkin’ ‘bout here, Twi?” Applejack asked, joining her friend in her fear.

“Not sure yet, gimme a second.” Twilight muttered, moving on in the letter. “The next part appears to be ‘Canterlot,’” Twilight said, continuing to examine the letter eagerly. “The next part is confusing, I think she’s asking us to look at the second and eighth word in the next sentence. That comes down to ‘sun’ and ‘danger’ again.” Twilight said, an incredulous look donning her face. “Is Luna saying that the sun is in danger, that Celestia’s in danger?!” Twilight said with surprise, her eyes shooting open again. “The next part is like that one too, if a bit more complex. I think it’s saying that help is coming to us.” Twilight said, looking over the note to try and derive something else. When nothing else seemed to appear out of the scratched script, she sighed in defeat.

“What about that swirly thing at the bottom.” Rainbow said, trying to see if Twilight had missed something.

“That’s nothing,” Twilight said with defeat, shaking her head. “It’s Luna’s mark, from before ponies had a written language. Luna was actually one of the first ponies that made progress on the written word, and this was the mark she used to sign everything back then.” Twilight explained, rolling up the scroll with another defeated sigh. After a moment she donned another thoughtful expression. “But if Luna thinks that Celestia is in danger, then why would she contact us with something so cryptic?”

“Because she is afraid that she is being watched, of course!” A warbly voice suddenly cut from across her shoulder.

They all snapped their heads to the side, catching sight instantly of the large raven perched on Twilight’s back. “Aaah!” Twilight screamed, jumping up and throwing the raven off of her back. It replied in kind with a series of startled squawks, flying in panicked circles above them.

“Where did that come from?!” Rainbow asked with surprise, jumping back to dodge away from the the black bird as it swooped low, still squawking like mad.

“Merletta!” Another voice called out from behind the rock, a hooded unicorn walking out from behind it. His voice seemed familiar somehow, but it was hard to recognise it as his voice crackled with the yelling that he was aiming toward the raven. “Stop scaring the elements before somepony gets blasted! I said stop that insistent squawking!” The stallion yelled, tracking the raven as it circled around to land on his back.

“Who tha hay are you?!” Applejack yelled out, already getting into an offensive stance. The sudden appearance of the stranger seemed to have thrown her off, and after all this, neither of them were willing to take chances.

“Ah. You’ll have to forgive the hood, Luna insisted.” The stallion said, lowering the hood to reveal the pale green unicorn and the obnoxious shock of red hair on top of his head. “And please forgive Merletta, she so loves her mischief. And knows far too much for her own good!” The stallion said, turning to reprimand the raven loudly.

It squawked, raising her wings defensively. “I simply answered Her Majesty's question!” The raven defended, looking toward Twilight. Merletta managed to don a confused look for a moment as she examined Twilight for a moment. “Oh, wait. This is the wrong one, my apologies.” The raven said, nodding in an imitation of a bow toward Twilight.

“Wait a second, Clean Cut?” Rainbow asked, finally recognising the goofy doctor.

“Oh, good! You do recognise me!” Clean Cut said with a smile, but it quickly dropped as he continued. “I would say that it’s good to see you again, however considering the current predicament we find ourselves in, that might not be appropriate.” He said starting to walk past them. “Come on boys, examine the scene!” He called back into the woods.

As if his words had pulled away a curtain, ten darkly armored, bat-winged ponies walked out from the woods behind him. Their cat’s eyes glowed in the darkness, the tall tufts of fur on their ears swayed slightly in the breeze as they walked. Twilight gasped as one passed by her, looking over the grey furred ponies.

“Thestrals,” she mumbled, catching the slitted eye of the night guard that passed her.

The guards quickly spread over the clearing, examining the area as Clean Cut waited next to Twilight and the other’s. Rainbow turned to Twilight, a question poised on her tongue. “Twilight. What’s a thestral?” She hissed to the still stunned unicorn, it was just enough to snap her out of her daze.

“Thestrals are Luna’s dedicated guards, more dedicated to her than dogs to their masters. But they have an incredible cultural history, I looked into them after Luna returned. Fascinating.” She said distantly, watching the thestrals with rapt interest as they worked. Although, her explanation did little to help Rainbow.

Rainbow turned away with a defeated scoff, returning to the doctor. She stifled a groan, she wasn’t exactly looking forward to another interaction with the strange doctor. “So what are you doing here?” She asked incredulously, waiting for Clean Cut’s reply with unfamiliar patience.

“Why, we’re Coalback’s personal physicians, of course!” He said proudly, the raven on his back cawing in agreement.

“Physician? I think he might not be as excited about that as you are.” She said, looking over toward Coalback. “And shouldn’t you be doing something about that?” She asked, starting to become irritated with the doctor’s nonchalance.

Clean Cut scoffed, taking a fleeting glance over at Coalback. “The nurses have done all we can at the moment, for now we just have to keep him from moving his leg when he wakes up. Besides, its the ones in the cave I’m more worried about.” He finished, his jovial expression dropping as he looked past Coalback and at the cave where two of the thestrals were looking in.

One of them turned, as if keying in on the conversation, despite the distance. “Eight inside, only two hearts beating, though.” It yelled out, catching the attention of six of the other thestrals. They rushed over, leaving whatever they had been examining to join their companions. They rushed into the cave as one, disappearing into its blackness almost as quickly as they had appeared.

“They’re here for extra security, although they won’t be sticking around for sunrise. Sensitive little fellows.” Clean Cut said, shrugging his shoulders with a sheepish smile as one of the remaining thestrals gave him a glare.

“So Luna did send us help. Good timing on the raven’s part though, it was actually pretty funny.” Rainbow said, chuckling as the raven preened at the compliment, not literally though.

“Don’t encourage her.” The doctor said, rolling his eyes.

“And what exactly do you know about Coalback that any other doctor wouldn’t?” Rainbow continued with the previous topic, eying the doctor incredulously. “He said that he wasn’t exactly a fan of doctor’s.” She finished suspiciously.

“But I know of him,” the raven cooed, twitching her head to the side in one of those twitchy movements. “You’d be surprised what birds know that most do not.” Merletta said with a sing song voice, hopping from one leg to another on Clean Cut’s back.

“That saying doesn’t just come from nothing, after all.” Clean Cut agreed, a knowing smirk donning his features as one of his ears flicked toward the cave. “They’ll be out soon,” he sighed with a defeated look. “It’s not good news. I would control your new friend when they come out.” He said, nodding toward Greyshadow, who was rolling in the snow to try and scrub out the troll stink still clinging to him. The doctor trotted off, moving over toward Coalback.

She trotted over toward the wolf, keeping her eyes on the cave as she did. Greyshadow stopped his determined rolling in the snow to look at her, flipping over onto his stomach before speaking. “Greetings, Blaidd-ffrind Rainbow Dash. New arrivals, who are they?” He asked, lifting a paw to let one of the pups scramble up under his chin. It stared up at Rainbow, that distinctive little shake of its ears persistent in the warm embrace of the other wolf.

“Princess Luna sent us some help, their pulling some … bodies out of the cave now.” Rainbow said, trying to sound calm and keep the wolf from freaking out on her. His ears perked up, aiming at the cave, but he kept his eyes on her.

“That is … very good news. Thank you, Blaidd-ffrind. I have much to think about.” Greyshadow said quietly, laying his head down around the little puppy. “Is it within my right to ask you to take care of Lyall and Sharptooth?” He asked, looking up at her. She couldn’t help but notice the sadness in his yellowish green eyes, and the wetness gathering on the edges in the corners.

“Of course, I-I’ll uh- look after ‘em for a bit.” She replied, she couldn’t in good conscious deny his request. And who knows, maybe wolf puppies are better behaved than a certain group of fillies she knew.

The puppy disentangled itself from Greyshadow’s paws, they fell away from her weakly. He must have been taking it harder now that the danger was over, he had lost a lot. The puppy gave a small goodbye lick to Greyshadow’s muzzle, spitting out the still stinking taste of troll that clung to him. The puppy turned away from Greyshadow and gave a two short, high pitched barks.

The other puppy, still sitting nervously beside the other ponies, jumped up. It ran in its short legs to, nearly tripping over its paws a few times along the way. The two puppies quickly greeted each other, the running puppy knocking the other over in a playful tackle. She watched the puppies exchange their playful greeting for a moment, happy to see at least the puppies being happy.

“Hi guys,” Rainbow greeted, leaning down so that she wouldn’t stand over them so much. The puppies stopped their playing, looking up at her from their pile. “I’m Rainbow Dash, what are your names?” She asked, looking at them with a kind smile. Or at least she hoped that’s what it was.

The puppies stared at her, a confused tilt to their heads. One of them jumped, disentangling itself from the other and rolling onto its back, the other followed suit. They stared up at her with an expression she couldn’t quite place, something between nervousness and fear. She donned her own expression of confusion, she couldn’t quite place what they were doing.

“Hey, you guys don’t have to do that …” She whispered nervously, she didn’t really want anypony seeing a couple of kids scared of her. “How about you guys just tell me your names.” She offered, motioning for them to stand up.

The puppies tilted their heads in confusion again, rolling over and trading glances. One of them shrugged before turning back to her. “Lyall,” she said, her voice distinctly female, like a filly’s voice. She had a dark coloring, small flecks of lighter brown following the direction of her fur. One of her ears was a lighter brown than any of her other colorings, giving the impression of a permanently tilted ear.

“Sharptooth,” the other said, his voice sounding like a young colt’s. He was slightly smaller than Lyall, his ears not nearly as high as Lyall’s. His fur was more distinctly patterned, black and white like a zebra’s more than anything. The pattern ran from his tail up to his head, wrapping around his neck and onto his face. It was lighter there, the lines thinner than along the rest of his body. They wrapped around in an intricate pattern, tracing around his eyes and forming a similar pattern to the one tattooed onto Greyshadow’s head.

“We’re supposed to show submission to elders.” Lyall whispered, moving into a low stance, like she was trying to hide from somepony.

“Yeah, especially to Blaidd-ffrind.” Sharptooth agreed, joining Lyall in her low stance.

“Don’t worry about that, it’s not really how ponies do things. So I don’t mind.” Rainbow said, patting Lyall on her head. “You know, you guys speak really good Equestrian. A lot better than Greyshadow, when did you learn that?” She asked, trying to make the pups a little more comfortable by switching the topic back to them.

“Non taught us!” Sharptooth announced happily, wagging his tail in appreciation of the praise.

“Yeah, Non knows everything!” Lyall agreed, wagging her tail and raising from the ground slightly.

“Look, there she is!” Sharptooth said, hopping up and pointing toward the cave with his paw. Lyall jumped up as well, wagging her tail excitedly.

Rainbow turned her head to follow their gaze, her eyes landed on the entrance to the cave. She turned her gaze in time to see the line of thestrals marching out of the cave, the limp forms of wolves draped over their backs. Her breath caught in her throat as she spotted the last two limp forms in the group, a passed out turquoise pegasus stallion, and an injured, alert wolf.

The other wolves were in worse shape, most wrapped in large tarps that hid their forms. But all of them were more than surely dead.