Zecora slowly walked ahead of Delta and Simmons, guiding them through the cave. Even though it was as clear as a cloudless, sunny morning, it was still easy to get lost in the stone twists and turns. For a few minutes, they walked through the caves with no sign of Grif or the wolves. The only sign of life at all was an odd bat that would occasionally be seen flying near the three intruders to their home.
"There's no way Grif is still alive. He'd rather be dead than deal with bats," Simmons said, just after having jumped backwards from a bat that came to close.
"The hoofprints outside lead me to believe that he came inside intentionally," Delta remarked. "Since he could not see, he most likely did not see the bats."
Zecora came to an abrupt stop and lifter her left hoof, silencing and stopping the unicorns. Zecora slowly peeked ahead and looked around a turn, noticing a long hall towards an opening. She waved her hoof forward, then began going down the long tunnel, remaining as silent as possible. Simmons instinctively pulled his flammable potions closer and followed after Delta who did the same, but more as a sign of preparation than fear. As they neared the cave, Zecora saw a few, brown, four-leged creatures and went against the wall, lowering herself down to observe. Biting her bottom lip, she stepped a few paces back and tilted her head towards where she looked. Simmons and Delta slowly peeked into the cave to see the dozens of timberwolves remaining idle.
"This is... unexpected," Delta said, looking among the legion of timberwolves that gazed indifferently at them. "When I had my encounter with timberwolves with Zecora, I thought they perhaps worked in packs, but I never thought there would be this many together..."
"Delta, there is much about our world you have yet to learn," Zecora whispered. "But for now, that is information for which you must yearn."
"I see him," Simmons hissed, pointing towards the living pegasus at the other end of the cavern. "I'm surprised he isn't dead yet. What with everything he's eaten, he'd probably be the most flavorful thing they've ever eaten."
"They do not look as if they are wanting a meal out of them," Delta said.
"They're vicious, dangerous, feral animals. They'll eat him the second they get hungry," Simmons mumbled. "Maybe they won't eat him because there's too much to eat."
"I do not believe they will not eat him because he isn ot boney. I think they are letting him be, for they do not see him as a pony," Zecora said slowly. "When he was bit, their blood went into his bones. Perhaps now they see him as one of their own."
"So he was accepted into their pack, just as I thought," Delta said with a nod.
"Well, what do we do now?" Simmons asked. "I'm not exactly seeing any way to save him. He's surrounded by hundreds of them, and even if they won't attack him, they'll probably attack us. The only other one bit by the wolves was Sarge, and I don't think he'll want to come all the way here to save Grif, especially if Grif doesn't even need saving."
"Perhaps we can-" Delta began, but jumped to the side when he heard something jump from behind him.
A timberwolf clambered to the ground, then quickly rolled to its feet and let out a loud howl. Turning around, the trio saw six timberwolves approaching from the tunnel. As they backed into the cavern, the timberwolves snapped to attention, looking straight at the three newcomers. Seeing it wasn't one of their own, they began to get up, snarling viciously. Their blazing eyes froze Simmons in place. He quickly mustered up the strength to do something, so he lightly tossed one of the potions at the wolves, but it merely bounced along the ground, making sharp pinging noises. The potion landed in front of one of the timberwolves. It sniffed it curiously, then looked back to Simmons.
"Run away!" Simmons screeched, turning around, only to see the wolves were guarding their exit.
"That does not seem like a possibility at this point in time," Delta noted, surveying the area, trying to come up with a quick plan.
"Hey, calm down, wolf guys. They're with me," Grif said, walking between the crowd of wolves until he was standing next to the others.
The wolves glanced towards the large alpha male, seemingly awaiting a command. The large wolf squinted at Delta, but relented and gave a small bark, putting the other wolves at ease.
"You can command the wolves?" Simmons asked, dumbfounded.
"Nah, they just seem to want to be my friend for some reason," Grif said with a limp shrug.
"We believe it is your blood. Since the antidote did not completely cure you, some of their venom still lies within your system. They must be able to sense it, thus they see you as one of them," Delta explained.
"That's pretty neat," the pegasus said, not particularly caring what the reason was. "I'm just glad they're not trying to kill me."
"You and me both," Simmons said, still looking around to make sure none of the timberwolves wanted to feast on him. "If they weren't attacking you, then why didn't you come back?"
"I thought if I tried to run, then they would attack me. I went to leave after I saw they didn't really want to kill me, but a bat flew by, so I stayed around," Grif muttered, shivering at the thought. Shaking his head, he raised a brow at them. "So how did you guys find me?"
"Zecora kind of tracked you down," Simmons said, pointing to the zebra that was standing next to a timberwolf pup, lightly petting it.
"It was not particularly hard when the one being tracked is as heavy of hoof as Grif," she chuckled as the young pup rolled on the ground playfully. "Even without your tracks, I could have followed your scent, for it is very easy to catch a whiff."
"Hey, it's not that bad, is it?" Grif asked, glancing to Simmons.
"You're on the brink of becoming unbearable," Simmons muttered.
"How come you haven't complained before?"
"Because you always smell bad," he replied, rolling his eyes. "I'm pretty sure you've never had a bath since you got here, Or even when we were in Blood Gulch, for that matter."
"If it's that bad, maybe I should just live here. The wolves don't seem to mind my odor," Grif said. He then glanced to the wolf that brought him here, and even the wolf shook his head, glancing towards the water. "You wanted me to get rid of the smell?"
The wolf gave a hesitant nod.
"I think I'm going to adopt Church's mantra of just hating everything," Grif grumbled, kicking the glass bottle by his feet, only to jump back when it slammed against the wall of the cave, causing a ball of fire to erupt from nowhere. Grif shielded his eyes as the wolves closest to the flames quickly dove out of the way. "What the hell was that?"
"That was in case we needed to make an escape," Delta said quietly. "It seems that now we no longer need to worry."
The largest wolf then let out a loud howl, then stepped forward, glaring at Delta.
"What's wrong with the big guy?" Simmons asked nervously, taking a step away from the hulking predator.
"I believe he wishes to assert his dominance over me. I did not think he would take to kindly to me outwitting him," Delta remarked, taking a step towards him. "It's alpha male instinct. In nature, when ones overpowers the alpha male, they become the alpha male. It seems he wishes to regain his title."
"Then why are you going towards him?" Simmons inquired.
"To accept his challenge," Delta said simply.
"You're going to fight that thing? I thought you didn't like confrontation!"
"If I try to leave, he will pounce on me when my back is turned. Besides, it is best not to upset the balance of nature," Delta said simply, then turned to the large wolf and bowed his head. "Do not worry, Zecora, I will try not to harm him too much."