Chapter Four.
Boy I should of expected that from the start. When Ruby woke up she freaked out that we had left the village without saying goodbye. She is damn scary when she is angry for a filly. I finally managed to calm her down long enough to say it was because I had found a clue on her mothers whereabouts.
It had been a few hours since I had left the village of Granite Falls, filly in hand. I tried my best to find the road I had been following before I had stumbled on the town. It was not so easy in the dark of night, the tree line was so thick that much of the moonlight wasn't filtering through though the moon was almost full. After a time I came across a small clearing in the forest, it was enough for me to get my bearings or at least I hoped.
As I had mentioned before, back on earth I was a loner. I didn’t care much for people so I took to gaming as well as other more nerdy pastimes. One of which was astrology. I was always fascinated by the night sky and the endless possibilities of what might have been out there. With this hobby I was very knowledgeable in the placement of the stars. Ecstatic that I had stumbled upon this makeshift map I began to scan the clear sky for the north star.
As I scanned the sky a deep feeling of dread began to grow inside me. I had not thought of it before I really don’t know why, but there was no fighting it now, I really was no longer on earth.
The stars resembled nothing I had ever seen before. I had run out of town without any idea of where north was and even worse I now had no idea of the way back either. It didn’t take long for Ruby to catch on that something was wrong and was starting to look rather scared.
“Mr Thud, are we lost?” she asked, tears beginning to form in her eyes, “If we are lost we will never find Mommy and now no one will ever find us. Mr Thud I'm scared.” Now I was feeling like an idiot. I really should learn to plan these things out better but since there was nothing I could do now, I figured I would try and calm Ruby down at least, I didn’t need her panicking as well.
“No, we not lost. I have compass, north this way.” I picked a random direction and hoped to any gods that might be around at the moment to feel sorry for me. After a bit of walking in circles I was getting annoyed, the whole forest looked the same to me. I was glad that at least the sun had started to rise during all of this, at least I could see now. I had to try and find some way to get an idea of where I was and where I should be going. Thankfully Ruby managed to fall back asleep during all of this, I swear that filly could sleep through an earthquake. The only way I was going to know where the hell I was, was to get above the tree line. Oh boy this was not going to be easy.
Ever since my transformation I've been at least double to the size of a normal human in bulk, I had no idea if I was going to be able to even pull myself up the tree to get a good look around but I had to try. Making sure that Ruby was secured to my shoulders I attempt to pull my self up the trunk of the tree. It was no easy task but I managed to get high enough to sit on one of the higher branches of the tree.
Finally I could see something, the area was a sea of green, even the road was hidden by the arboreal clouds. Mountains reached for miles like the spine of the world. I was about to give up hope when I saw a cave towards the mountain side.
Without any idea where to go next I began to plot the easiest path to the cave entrance, I should have been paying more attention and I might of noticed the sound of cracking wood below me. The branch had been finding it more then hard to keep me up for as long as it had, poor thing never stood a chance versus my massive build and I should of known it. The fall was quick at least but I don't think the pain in my butt will leave me for a while. What's funny however is through all of this ruby was still asleep on my shoulder, I was surprised she had not fallen off during that, pony fur must be like glue I thought to my self.
The sun was now high enough to see properly around the forest, I poked Ruby a few times to wake her up.
“Do I have to go to school today?” So cute I could hug her till she stops breathing, damn these ponies far to adorable for their own good. Another prod and she was finally coming around, “Oh good morning Mr Thud,” she said with a yawn, “Did you find out where we are yet?”
“Found some place, going now.” with that I rummaged through my pouch giving her some of the food I had acquired from the town. One of the best things I had ever made, finding a bag for a troll was never going to be easy, I'm just glad they didn’t need the sack I took. We were almost there now, I let Ruby finish her breakfast before climbing the trail that led up to the cave that I had seen before hand.
Finally I had managed to get to the cavernous maw of the mountain, the cave entrance was huge. It made me feel like a dwarf and that was quite a feat considering my new body. The area outside looked frequented, it was like something had been placed outside the cave entrance many times digging away at the earth leaving indentations in the soil and grit. Cart tracks headed inside the cave mouth and given the trail I had just climbed the owners must have been desperate to take this route. Either that or extremely stupid.
Looking into the dark cavern I saw old lanterns illuminating the stone work, shadows dancing around the cave walls. This place was not inviting in the slightest but it looked well used and I remembered that diamond dogs often lived underground, my brain was screaming at me not to go in but I felt drawn to the place. With few other clues I had little choice, I began to take my first tentative steps into the unknown.
“Mr Thud, are you sure this is safe, it looks scary.” I put my hand over the filly in an attempt to calm her and nodding quickly to convince her that I was sure that this was what we needed to do at the time. She seemed to accept that but I knew she was still scared.
Time felt slower in the depths of the earth, but oddly I felt at home. Something about the stone and the earth made me feel safe. I felt almost calm down here like nothing could stop me but I didn’t know why. I could feel gems pulsating in the walls, singing to me, calling to me. I could of stayed in this very hallway for the rest of my life. But there was more important things to do right now. The deeper into the tunnel I went the more alive I felt, it was almost like I could sense what was around me, like the earth its self was talking to me.
“You are troll, son of the stone and true ruler of these lands.” a strange voice echoed through the cave system.
“Who talk?” I screamed into the darkness. Ruby looked totally confused at me, “Who are you talking to Mr Thud.” I looked at her, “you not hear voice?” I asked. She just shook her head at me. Now I was stating to get a bit worried if I was hearing voices, it was almost like that dream I had back in granite falls.
“Foolish young-ling, of course she can not hear me for she is pony and lesser then us. Now listen well, drop your pointless quest. I have more important work for one such as you, deep in these caves are the bastard race of the earth, the diamond dogs. They defile the stone and take what is not theirs. Crush them, crush them all.” my vision was slowly beginning to fade to red as I felt anger rage within me, how dare the lesser races take what is not theirs. I was about to rush into the darkness rage flaring when Ruby began to talk to me.
“Mr Thud why have we stopped, shouldn’t we keep looking for Mommy?” At this I shook my self back to my senses wondering what I had been thinking about all this time, I was unable to remember the most of it. The strange voice began to ring through the chamber again, “Young-ling do not try my patience, your pet pony wont be with you forever and when she is gone you will embrace your birthright.” Once again the halls were quiet.
The small cavern halls began to widen after a time opening up into a great chamber deep within the mountain. Quickly I managed to find a hiding place behind a stack of boxes and began to get an idea of the rooms lay out. The caverns roof stretched for miles, I was unable to see the top. The hall was full of life, but it was by no means a pleasant place. Cages lined the walls full of creatures of all shapes and sizes, I was able to make out ponies of all races as well as some breeds of timber wolf. In the higher alcoves of the caves more large bird creatures were chained to the walls, to my knowledge it was both griffins and other birds of prey. There was even what looked like a bipedal cat in there but it may have been a trick of the light.
Dogs shuffled around the room moving cages from place to place, loading some of them up on carts. Large scaffolding lined the cave walls allowing the dogs a way to get from point A to point B with shoddily made ladders and lifts. It would have been awe inspiring if the cries of the enslaved didn’t echo through the halls. Bodies of dead slaves had been piled into a pit in the corner, the smell in the cave was vile I was surprised the dogs could just keep walking around in this. Ruby trough all of this was just quiet through shock if nothing else. I think she just realised how close she was to being here herself.
I looked around the room to see if there was anything I could do at all for the poor souls trapped in this small piece of hell. I should of watched where I was going, in my haste to move from one pile of boxes to another I had managed to knock over a bunch of crates. The whole cave knew I was here now, this was not going to end well at all.
Panicking I took my club off my back and readied my self into a battle stance. At least ten diamond dogs had seen me and were rushing to circle me. “Who are you beast,” one of the dogs shouted at me, “He is ugly, what should we do with him,” another one responded. I was in trouble and I knew it. I was backed into a wall. I didn’t want to provoke them any more then I had done, my eyes shot around the room desperate for an escape route.
“Give me back my Mommy you mean dogs,” I was shocked, Ruby had jumped off my shoulders and was trying to confront the diamond dogs herself, what was she thinking she was going to get herself killed.
“Or what little pony. Perhaps we should take you instead.” one of the dogs lunged for her but before he could I smashed his head in with my club, well so much for not provoking them I thought.
“I will kill you for that beast,” a dog shouted, Ruby just grinned at him in a way a child would at a funny joke.
“Oh I wouldn’t do that meanies, you will make him angry and you wouldn’t like him when he's angry.” now Ruby was trying to provoke them even more, I don’t know what she was thinking but I felt like I had no choice. Steeling my self I charged in at the dogs taking out at least three with one swing of my club. The others were quicker arming spears in my direction, they charged.
The battle was going in my favour for a long time, dogs ran in only to be turned into mush at the hands of my club. Others were faster using more short ranged swords, they cut into my skin only to have it reknit in seconds. Archers began firing a volley of arrows in my direction. Some almost hit Ruby but I was able to scoop her up in time to stop her being hit by a stray shot. The hits were starting to hurt more then the ones before and my wounds were healing slower, my regeneration wasn't going to last much longer at this rate.
With one more reckless swing I managed to take out almost every dog attacking me, I never even saw it coming. As I was catching my breath a small glass vial smashed on the ground next to me, the smell was a sickly sweet as it bellowed up from the broken glass.
I tried my best to keep my eyes open and keep fighting but it was no use, falling to the ground I let sleep over take my body hoping with all my being that we would be alright.