“Iron Will was just minding his own business, having a quiet little picnic in the park...” The minotaur glanced aside with briefly rosy cheeks. “...because Iron Will likes that...” He nevertheless cleared his throat and snorted menacingly against the wooden bars. “...when suddenly Iron Will heard a bunch of shrieks off in the distance. Iron Will ran gallantly over the hillside to check, and what did he see?! Why, a bunch of roody-poo candy-tail'd dogs trying to get the drop on a bunch of innocent reindeer! Well, if there's one thing Iron Will doesn't like, it's cowardly flea-ridden heels trying to give baby-faced elks a bad time! It was too gorgeous of a day for curb-stomping random civilians! Why... they needed a lesson in how to be assertive and protect themselves! Iron Will teaches seminars on that, y'know!”
“Uhhhhhhh—” Rainbow Dash gawked.
“So what does Iron Will do?! He rushes over to lay the smackdown on these neutered hounds! I'm telling you—nopony's ever heard the air so ripe with high-pitched yipping! Hah! Iron Will had the bandit leader stuck in the cross-face! But before he could tap out, this mangy coward... grrrggghhh!” The minotaur began pumping his arms on the wooden bars, causing the entire cage to shake. His fellow prisoners trembled nervously in the corner. “This two-timin' Top Dog comes up from behind Iron Will with a foreign object! Wham! Before Iron Will passes out on the ground, he sees Top Dog and what the mutt has in his hands! Some kind of a thick gray slab—resembling a giant turkey leg! 'What kind of a weapon is that?!' thinks Iron Will. 'I bet this Top Dog jabroni would love having it stuck ten feet up his furry—'”
“Uhm...” Rainbow leaned forward. “And just who are you again?!”
”IRON WILL!!!” The minotaur snarled against the cage. “Ooooooh—You'd better recognize, ya fuzzy paint bucket! I'm a big name in every house hold! I've performed before Princess Celestia! I've filled stadiums in Marentreal!”
“He's... uhm...” Autumn Rush fidgeted from beside the cage. “He's one of the less agreeable slaves.”
“Jee... can ya tell?” Rainbow grunted.
“Top Dog and his clan only tried to make him work the quarry once—”
“Hah!” Iron Will snorted, grinning from ear to ear. “As if Iron Will would ever job for these punks! They handed Iron Will a shovel in one hand and a pick-axe in the other! 'Dig for jewels!' they barked. 'Oh, Iron Will will dig for you, alright! Dig you an early grave! Wham! Pow! Clang! REST IN PEAAAACE!' Ha ha ha... ahem. But seriously, though, that last part is trademarked to Iron Will of Iron Will Motivational Seminars.” He blinked. “Would you like an autograph of Iron Will's?”
“Uhm... no...” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “But I would like to know more about... erm...” She glanced back at the saddlebag, then towards him again “...th-this 'granite turkey leg' that Top Dog hit you with.”
“The mutts speak about it all the time,” Iron Will muttered in a low voice, squinting back and forth between Rainbow Dash and Autumn Rush. “It's more than just a cheap chunk of rock. It has straaaaaaaaaaaange and magicalllllll properties. Top Dog only got the thing recently, and he was out and about, testing it on the newest slaves he captured—and then he tested it on Iron Will. Ooooooh—there's going to be a score to settle, brotha. Top Dog has howled to his last blood red moon...”
“It's likely the same rock that's powering up Top Dog's machine,” Autumn Rush said. “From what we've all heard, it must be very powerful.”
“Of course it has to be!” the minotaur sputtered. “It caned Iron Will with one shot!”
“This is all well and good, but where could the darn thing be?” Rainbow Dash shrugged with her wings. “I imagine Top Dog would be keeping it close to the chest.”
“Iron Will knows!”
“You d-do?”
The minotaur nodded. “Iron Will saw it while Top Dog's mutts were royally rumbling all over Iron Will's skull and spine! Hah! It took Top Dog's entire clique to wrestle Iron Will to the floor and drag him back here! And along the way, I saw where he keeps the turkey leg locked up!”
“Well, coolie crispies!” Rainbow Dash hovered on fluttering wings as she smirked. “Then the next best thing is to snatch that shard and rid Top Dog of his edge!”
“But... th-that sounds so dangerous!” Autumn Rush exclaimed. “Who knows how many dogs could be guarding it!”
“I didn't say that you would have to be in danger,” Rainbow Dash said. She tapped her chin, then glanced dully at the many-many cages. “In fact, I think you guys had best lay low here for a while.”
“Here...?”
“I-I'll come back and get you!” Rainbow said. “But... y'know... springing an escape right here and now isn't exactly a good idea—not so long as Top Dog has this stone thingy in his paws. Without it, though, I'm sure his defenses will be weak enough for us to attempt a legit escape. Does that make sense?”
“Yes...” Autumn Rush nodded, then smiled weakly. “I'm just glad that somepony—anypony—is going this far to save us.” She then gulped. “Still... it doesn't seem right that you should go alone.”
“Well, I work best when I'm alone...” Rainbow slowly glanced aside. “...unless there was somepony who really, really had a score to settle...”
Iron Will smiled wide. “Iron Will thought you'd never ask!” CRKKK! In one swift motion, he tore the wooden cage off its foundation, stepped out, and slammed the bars back down behind him. THUD! “Iron Will would never miss the main event!” He cracked his knuckles with hauntingly loud reverberations and hissed through his teeth. “And if you're not down with that—”
“Yeah, uh huh...” Rainbow turned towards Autumn Rush. “You just wait right here. Hide outside of plain view for in case more guards show up.”
“Or if th-these guards wake up?” Autumn asked. She then winced from the sound of loud, meaty impacts.
”Hah! Not so tough now, are you, mutts?!” Iron Will continued elbow-dropping and leg-dropping the groaning, semi-unconscious canines in the corner. “To be the minotaur, you have to beat the minotaur! If you smell what Iron Will is—”
“I... d-don't think they'll be a problem to you,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile. She then winced from another violent smashing sound, and exhaled. “Or to anyone. Ever again.”
“Hah! Hey, check it, pint-sized! This one squeaks when Iron Will elbows its chest!”
“Hey! Who're you calling pint-sized?!” Rainbow Dash blinked, then sighed. She leaned in and patted Autumn's shoulder. “I'll be back.” She then turned towards the cages as she flew off. “I mean it! I'll be back for each and every one of you! I've just got a boss battle to get through!”
“Be careful...” Autumn Rush waved a cloven hoof. “Okay?”
“Yeah. Sure.” Rainbow Dash tugged at Iron Will's horn. “Show me the way, big guy.”
“Huh? Oh, right. Ahem.” Thud-Thud-Thud! The minotaur rushed up a granite set of carved steps. “Time for the showstopper to rain on the puppy parade! Don't you fret none about these hallways, pint-size. Iron Will knows his way around a labyrinth. It's in his blood...”
“Uh huh...”
As the two disappeared beyond view, Autumn Rush leaned back against a cage and sighed. “I think they're in it deeper than we are.”
Several of the caged creatures nodded in one accord. “Mmmm-hmmmm...”