"Zecora, aren't you going to stop him?" Simmons asked quickly as Delta began to study the wolf.
"Delta is right in the case that he cannot simply walk away. It is either fight him head on, or turn his back and become prey," Zecora said regretfully.
"What about Grif?" he asked.
"What about me?" Grif retorted, glaring at Simmons. "Delta is alright with me, but I'm not gonna fight that thing for him..."
"I'm not saying you fight him, I'm saying you reason with it. Can't you talk them out of it?"
"Hey, they might be able to sort of understand me, but what the hell makes you think they'll listen to me?" Grif asked. "Besides, can't Delta not really die?"
"While there may not be any EMPs in Equestria-" Delta began.
"Emps," Grif murmured.
"I believe I can still be incapacitated by other means," Delta finished. "Magic seems to be this world's science, so there may be some ways to destroy me. The worst the wolf could do, however, is simply cripple me by breaking my legs, breaking off my horn and turning me into a tree with its saliva. In which case, the virus would quite possibly prevent me from bleeding out, and instead, I would only be trapped in a bark prison, which I imagine would be much like when the Alpha was trapped in the stone prison."
"You say that as if the worst is nothing," Simmons grunted, glancing towards the larger timberwolf. "Oh shit, it's coming closer!"
"Best not to anger it more, I suppose," Delta said, stepping forward. Looking back at the others, he bowed his head slightly. "If I may make a suggestion, may you move closer to the wolves that are circling us? I do not want any of you to get injured during this ordeal."
"Good point," Simmons said hastily, pushing Grif ahead of him, not wanting them to single him out if Grif wasn't with him. "Good luck with the fight!"
Zecora hesitated, then nodded at him once, then joined the two stallions to watch the fight.
"Don't worry about him," Grif said nonchalantly to Zecora. "He fought and beat that wolf last time he was with you, right? If he can do it once, he can probably do it again."
"I believe last time Delta faced the wolf, it was merely testing him. Since delta fended it off, he may not be so hesitant to be grim. Now it has much more to lose from this than its previous attack. Instead of losing its pride, it will lose the power over its pack," she said cautiously, watching as the wolf began to circle Delta. "That may encourage it to be more careful and use its senses, especially now that it is prepared for Delta's defenses."
"I appreciate your concern, but I believe silence would help me to focus," Delta said quietly, keeping his eyes on the zebra.
Zecora gave him another nod, then fell silent with the others. As Delta turned his attention back to the timberwolf, it lowered to the ground and quickly began running towards him. Just as the wolf was about to reach him, Delta jumped in the air to go over him. But the wolf expected this, then jumped upwards at Delta, smashing its wooden head into Delta's chin. With a firm, unexpected grunt, Delta began tumbling in the air, just barely managing to land on his hooves. He slowly began to rub his jaw, looking straight at the wolf which appeared to be smirking.
"That was rather unexpected," Delta murmured, looking up at the light thoughtfully. "Perhaps I did not give its intelligence enough credit."
"Delta, watch out!" Simmons yelped.
Delta glanced down to see the wolf was already lunging towards him. His horn instinctively flared into action, his magic throwing the timberwolf to the side. The timberwolf rolled along the ground and to its feet, then turned to Delta and bounded towards him in one swift motion. Delta's horn glowed a vivid green once again, and the timberwolf became surrounded by a green shield, being held in place by his magic. The wolf glared at Delta, but he simply stared at it, knowing there was nothing it could do. Then it took one step forward. Delta quickly focused more on the shield, putting more power into it.
"Strange," Delta said as he felt the wolf struggling inside his magical field. "I did not expect it to be able to move."
"It lives its life surrounded by magical beings in coexistence. As such, the timberwolves have evolved to have some magical resistance," Zecora warned him. "Defending yourself against its attacks is not something you can just wing. You will not be able to rely on your horn to get through everything."
"Somebody should probably tell Tucker that," Grif remarked.
The wolf then let out a sharp howl, shattering the shield around it. Delta quickly snapped to attention as the alpha male began running towards him. Delta attempted to jump out of the way, but the wolf slammed the side of its head into Delta's, causing him to fall to the ground. The timberwolf then backed off from Delta and began to circle him once again, making sure he was staying down. Delta, unsure of the consequences of losing, got back up on all fours and let out a heavy breath, having been winded. He was not used to physical exhaustion, and it was having more of an effect on him than he thought it would.
"Perhaps a new strategy is in order," Delta said, taking a shaky step forward.
Lowering his head, Delta began to charge towards the timberwolf. Surprised at Delta's offense, the timberwolf attempted to do what he did and roll out of the way, but Delta quickly threw him to the ground with his magic. Before the wolf could get up, Delta was standing above it, horn placed in front of it. Instead of retaliating, the alpha male simply stared at Delta. Delta glanced around at the other wolves which seemed to be regarding him seriously. If he were to win this fight, he would become the alpha male, and he was not sure the timberwolves would simply let him walk away from that.
Looking back down with a seemingly shocked expression, the alpha male's front paw glowed green and struck Delta in the stomach. The timberwolf watched as Delta crashed into the cave's floor, unsure of what just happened. Realizing that it still had a chance, it rolled onto its paws and darted towards Delta. Once it was beside him, Delta simply closed his eyes and put a small shield around himself. The wolf then clasped his neck with its teeth. After a breif moment, it relented and began walking towards the circle of wolves, satisfied that it had won. Delta slowly got back up, shaking slightly now from exerting himself.
"It's over? Just like that?" Simmons asked as he and the others joined Delta, watching as the other wolves returned to their business. "I thought that the fight was to the death or something."
"To be quite honest with you, I was not convinced it wasn't," Delta murmured tiredly as the alpha male disappeared. "But it got the best of me, and I suppose that was enough for it."
"Then that means we can go, right? I don't want to be around if these things get hungry," Simmons grunted, walking towards the exit impatiently.
"Speaking of hungry, I have a certain bone to pick with you..." Grif grunted.