//------------------------------// // Black Dog // Story: Painted Mirror // by Lord of Turtles //------------------------------// There was no fanfare for their appearance this time, instead all the dogs were waiting for them. The wagon creaked through a valley of the beasts. Some leered or growled, some of the more courageous ones barking aggression at them. Caramel shied away from their attentions as best as the yoke he was attached to would allow. The others sneered contempt at the display. The attentive dogs noticed the bindings on Raj's wrists and ankles. Most were confused by them, but a few gave knowing chuckles, already figuring out what such a thing meant. Raj flexed at the ropes tying his hands. Applejack saw it and gave him a poke in the back with the head of her Grandfather's ax. Raj jumped and shot a harsh glare at her. The orange pony tightened her jaw around the haft and tilted her head forward. With a grumbled curse, he resumed trudging. At the end of the gauntlet of dogs sat Ace on a stack of stones near the mouth of a yawning cave. The massive creature did not look pleased. A visible gap was left in his perpetual sneer from the tooth Raj had knocked out, but somehow the change only made the beast even more menacing. Once they got near enough, the Diamond Dog Alpha wasted no time. He said “You bring things?” Applejack answered him “Yeah, we got everything ya asked for. 'N then some.” He scowled “Explain Applehat.” Applejack started to stammer, spewing a word-salad without meaning before her brother stepped in front and answered back “We're offerin' up thissun.” He nudged Raj's leg “As a trade fer Granny, 'longside everything in this here wagon.” Ace cocked his head in confusion “Why you give up not-pony? He fight with you, he one of you.” “No he ain't!” Cried Applebloom from the back of the wagon. “He got Granny taken away, he's caused nothing but trouble since he got here. At least we can get our real family back for him.” Ace grinned wide and raised a paw. “Enough pony-pup. Not-pony, is this true? Are you a trade for old-pony?” he asked, leaning forward in eagerness. Raj threw an acidic glance across the Apples near him and slumped his shoulders. Looking at the ground, he replied “Yeah, yeah I am.” Ace let out a harsh bark that might have been laughter. “Good, good, I like ponies. I like very much.” He slapped the rock he sat on. “Send it over.” Macintosh beckoned for him but Applejack interjected “Wait a second. We ain't sending nothing over to your side without getting Granny out here first.” Ace's smile cracked a bit and his eyes lost their mirth. He raised a paw and let out a short, pitched howl. A second later a pair of dogs emerged from the cave escorting a hobbling figure. Granny Smith was not in good shape. She moved with a distinct limp, even more than her ancient frame normally gave her. Bruises deep enough to stain her coat a near-black spotted her body, and her normally crisply tied bun had come undone, leaving her mane in disheveled coils. A weeping cut hung under her eye and a line of dried purple drew from the corners of her mouth. Her face was lopsided, one part hanging lower than the other. It took Raj a second to figure out the old mare's jaw was broken. A ripple of tension went through the Apples when their grandmother hobbled out of the hole. Applebloom quietly whispered her grandmother's name and vainly tried to hold back tears and was joined a moment later by her cousin Caramel. Big Macintosh snarled and worried his hooves at the ground, actively shaking with rage. His mouth moved for the handle of the ax in his sling but he barely managed to keep himself from drawing it. Applejack just went still as a statue, her breath hitching up in her throat. Ace waited for her to come closer before holding up a paw. One of the dogs at his side went over to Granny Smith and forced her to sit. The old mare struggled a bit but the fight had long since been beaten out of her. The burly dog grabbed her by the neck and held it, his claws pressing into the soft flesh of her throat. All it would take to end the old mare's life was a clench of the dog's paw. Ace barked “You see? Old pony is fine, now send him over.” Applejack nudged Raj lightly in the back. He stayed put and a second later received another, harder push. When he didn't move again Applejack reared up and sank a hoof into his lower back. Raj stumbled forward and took a knee. He shot a hateful look over his shoulder at the orange pony. Applejack said nothing, she simply jerked his head forward and rotated the ax in her mouth. Raj grimaced and rose up, stepping toward the Alpha Dog slowly. Ace grinned wide and let out a breathy chuckle “Is good ponies. Is very good thing you do.” Applejack slurred through the handle in his mouth “Uh, great. Glad you, um, approve. Now give Granny back.” “In a minute Applehat.” Ace knuckle-walked over the Raj. He stopped a few paces away from him and gave him a curious look. He grinned and said “Kneel not-pony.” Raj made not motion to do so until another Diamond Dog darted in and punched him in the back of the leg. He crashed down to one knee and fell over, unable to catch himself with his bound hands. A pair of burly dogs swept in and roughly grabbed him, locking his arms at his sides. Raj struggled a bit in vain and swore under his breath. Ace laughed and walked close. He grabbed Raj by the head-wrap and lifted him up to meet his gaze. He rumbled, fetid rot thick on his breath “Your suffering will be legendary not-pony.” “Oh my god.” Raj blanched and pulled away “You somehow smell worse than you look.” Ace growled something unintelligible and gave him a cuff across the cheek. Raj let out a bark of pain and sprawled on the ground unmoving. Ace huffed and spat on him. The rest of the assembled dogs laughed at their leader's display of violence and voiced their approval. The two dogs holding Raj dragged him toward the cave, forcing him semi-upright. The big alpha turned his attention back the gathered Apples. “Good ponies, good thing for Ace you do. Bad for ponies though.” Applejack cocked her head “What?” “Giving up fighter, letting go of strong thing to get old, sick pony. Not make sense, but deal is deal." Ace sneered and gave a low chuckle "Un-hitch brown-pony, and you get old pony back.” Applejack lingered on Raj's limp form and replied “Uh, yeah, sure. Just give us a second.” She turned back to her cousin and gave him a nod. Caramel frittered anxiously and stammered back “Uh, A-applejack, aren't we supposed to, uh...” “Jess get out of the harness Caramel, everything'll be fine.” He was nervous and scared, but listened all the same. As he slid out of the harness, Raj's eyes cracked open and he scanned around. A few dozen dogs were lounging around, waiting for the order to pounce on the Apples. Ace's back was to him and even the dogs directly attending him weren't paying close attention. He turned while making it look like his head was lolling mindlessly. It took him a bit of trying but he eventually saw Granny Smith. She was still being held with claws at her neck. He guessed that he could close the distance between them in three strides. It wasn't going to get any better than that, he figured. With a smooth motion, he snapped the rope binding his hands and brought his arms up, popping his captors in the chin with his elbows. They let out sharp whimpers of pain and staggered back. Raj was up in a flash, the rope binding his legs disintegrating as he ran. The dog holding Granny heard the cries of its packmates and didn't even look. Raj saw the tension travel down the thing's arm as it started to clench its claw into the old mare's neck. It was by a margin of less than a second he reached the beast. His black fist struck it in the back of head with enough force he felt bone crack. The Diamond Dog felt a momentary wave of numbness spread from the impact and it went limp without a sound. It collapsed onto Granny who made a wheezing cry under its weight and rolled to the side, flopping to the dirt next to the creature. Raj moved to stand over her, scanning around. The initial surprise was wearing off and the dogs at the periphery of the meet were starting to move. Most were focused on the wagon and the ponies around it, but a few turned their beady eyes on him. “Rajrishi!” shouted Applejack and his gaze snapped to her “Catch!” She dug her head into the wagon and came up with something in her mouth. She looped her neck around and hurled it his way. The throw was good and Raj was able to easily grab his airborne ironoak staff. He settled it into his hands and swept it around, warding away the nearby dogs in an effort to keep Granny Smith safe. The Apple family did not stand idle. Macintosh pulled his Grandfather's ax from its sling and bellowed wordlessly. He stepped forward and slashed at the nearest dog, tearing a messy wound along its flank. The creature yowled and ran as fast as it was able, tail tucked down and leaking urine in terror. “Caramel, watch out!” squeaked Applebloom from her perch in the wagon. He whipped his head around to see a big gray beast barreling towards him. The brown pony shrieked in terror and scrabbled back, standing upright with his back against the wall of the wagon. Caramel grimaced and covered his eyes with a faint whimper. A pair of red apples flew over Caramel's head, one of them striking the big Diamond Dog in the face and covering him in splatter. The charging beast stumbled and ducked his head, striking the yoke of the wagon with the crown of his skull hard enough to roll the entire wagon back and knock the beast out cold. His backrest now gone, Caramel staggered for a second and flopped onto his back. Applebloom spared her cousin a disappointed look before getting back to hurling apples at the charging dogs, blinding them with spattered pulp. Applejack swept her ax wide, warding away the dogs that pressed on her front. She hunkered down, keeping her center low and her legs coiled. “C'mon you varmints, come get some!” One of the dogs did just that and promptly had his bell rung when the flat of an ax struck him in the side of the head. The dog stumbled drunkenly for a moment before he was launched into his packmates by a savage buck to his rear. She shouted around her weapon “Get Granny over here!” “In a minute.” He yelled back as he jabbed his staff into a dog's gut. The thing skittered away and circled around, looking for another avenue of attack. Rajrishi wanted to go after it, but he had to keep his vanguard over the slowly recovering Granny Smith. He kept his movements close and controlled, but an edge of dread hovered over him. As soon as the fight had started, Ace had disappeared and he'd not shown himself again. He didn't want to take any risks while the black dog was unaccounted for. “We don't got a minute!” Applejack leaped forward and hacked at a dog that was grasping after Applebloom who shrieked and kicked at his reaching paw. Off the side of the wagon, Macintosh leaped and bucked to shake the dog that had latched onto his back. Another dog tried to get close and hold one of the big pony's legs, but caught a hoof to the chin instead. Caramel cowered beneath the wagon, too scared to do anything. Raj took all this in with a sidelong glance. Spitting a curse, he tucked his staff under an arm and grabbed the fallen mare at his feet with both hands. She let out a cry of agony as he was forced to twist her battered body but ignored it as best he could. He made a beeline for the wagon with dogs hot on his heels. He shouted out, warning Applejack and her siblings. She saw him coming and bucked a hole in the line of dogs between them. Raj skipped over the fallen creatures, something that drew a fresh croon of agony from Granny Smith, and lowered her into the wagon. Applebloom immediately set on her with a hug and a coiled blanket, murmuring comforts to her. Back the way Raj came, the line of dogs were closing fast. His face set in a harsh glare, he reached deeper into the wagon and grabbed at a large crate, his fingers sinking into the wood. “Applejack, duck.” The orange mare obliged without a word and dropped to her fetlocks. The nearby Diamond Dogs bounded in at her, intent on taking advantage of the momentary weakness. A crunch of wood sounded from the wagon followed by a cry that was momentarily the loudest thing in the whole of the Flats. With a spinning loop, Raj lifted the heavy crate from the wagon and hurled it at the line of Diamond Dogs that followed after him. It passed over Applejack's head by scant inches and crashed into the dogs, scattering them like a flock of crows before bouncing along the hard ground and bursting into an explosion of fruit against a rock some fifty yards distant. Applejack gaped at the display of strength for a moment before Raj's shadow passed over her. Screaming madly, he waded into the scattered remnants of the pack. He struck with howling, wild swings that sent multiple dogs flying with every blow. Every Diamond Dog that was mobile scrambled to get away, crawling over each other when needed to escape his wrath. When he earned a moment's respite, he shot a glance at the orange pony and yelled “Help your brother.” She scrambled to do just that and clocked the dog that had been hounding her brother. The dog's grip loosened and he went flying on Big Mac's next buck. He mumbled a quick thanks and turned back to the fight, sending a larger dog flying with a flat side wallop from his ax. “Caramel, harness, now!” She shouted at her cousin. Caramel jumped from his hiding place and practically dove into the yoke of the wagon. He strained the thing forward, gathering momentum and turning the vehicle. Slowly he did an about-face and started heading for home, the junior and senior Apple in tow. All of them heard a howl of incoherent rage rumble from beneath them. The ground under the back of the wagon exploded upward and the form of a massive black dog slammed into the underside. The whole back-half of the wagon heaved upwards and Applebloom shrieked as she held onto her bleary Grandmother. Boxes and jars leaped up and crashed against the wall of the wagon or bounced out and shattered on the stones below. Caramel scrambled to avoid being crushed underneath it. The vehicle hit the ground with an almighty crash, the shocks audibly splintering. Ace loomed over it at his full height, bloody froth leaking from the hole in his face and nothing but mad fury in his black eyes. He slammed his thick forearms down on the back-wall of the wagon, fully shattering it and shouted “NOPONY LEAVES! EVERYPONY DIES!” His legs twitched and he went airborne, descending on the paralyzed form of Applebloom clutching her unconscious Grandmother. Applejack sprang off a rock and hit the black dog in midair, fouling his aim and sent the both of them into a wild roll along the stones. She hit the ground hard and the side of her face slid along the rough surface, held down by one of Ace's scabrous paws. He snarled in rage and rained a series of quick, harsh punches against her ribs. Applejack squirmed in his grip, hooves flailing at him, but she had no leverage. She yowled in pain and twisted her face and neck. She managed to snag the end of one of his claws in her mouth and she bit down hard. A coppery taste completely unfamiliar to her tastebuds flooded her mouth. Ace's laughter turned to a trill of agony and he pulled back, stepping off of the prone pony. As she rose up he threw an off-hand swipe at her, catching the side of her face with a claw and left three small cuts under her ear. Applejack went sprawling and took a roll in the dirt. “ACE!” shouted Big Macintosh at the big dog abusing his sister. He stomped his hooves hard enough to crack the stone and snorted out twin blasts of steam. The big pony took off like a rocket at the Alpha Dog. To his credit, Ace did not balk at the challenge. He howled back and charged at him, loping along the ground and frothing at the mouth. As they neared, Ace swung a paw low and scraped it along the ground. He brought a fistful of grit up and hurled it into the charging pony's face. Suddenly blind, Big Mac put on the brakes, hooves scraping along the stone. Robbed of his momentum and his senses, he couldn't keep Ace's fist from sinking into his ribs with a meaty sound of impact. The air blown from his lungs, Macintosh went into a roll but managed to come up on his hooves. He brandished his ax and snorted, desperately trying to catch his breath. Raj tried to come up on his behind quietly, hoping to get a solid hit in. He swung his staff at head height. Ace heard it coming and ducked into a spin, swinging the heavy club of his tail at Raj's shin. He took the hit with a wince of pain but kept swinging, trying to keep the dog off-balance. Macintosh found his wind quickly and came at the dog again with fierce ax-swings. Ace either took the blows on his stone-hard forearms or dodged them all together, moving far quicker than anything his size had any right to. And then the pair of them got lucky. Ace swept his claws at Raj's crotch-height, forcing him to step back. His tail swung in a moment later and Raj saw his chance. Quickly he stomped down at it, catching the narrow stem of it under his boot. Ace yelped and jerked to a halt, pinned. Macintosh saw his chance and swung for the black dog's head. Ace tucked his chin and caught it on his scalp instead of his muzzle, losing an ear instead of his life. He howled and lashed out, knocking Macintosh's legs out from under him. It gave Ace the chance the finish off the big pony, but it also gave Raj an opening. Channeling every golf lesson he'd ever had, he brought his staff up over his shoulder and swung it down in a perfect circle arc. He hit broadside along Ace's torso and followed through with it, lifting the dog up and sending him on a low, howling arc back to his cave. He hit the ground some twenty yards away and bounced another fifteen. Raj watched him go, trying not to pay attention to the part of his tail that had de-gloved under his foot. The Diamond Dogs on the surface watched their leader ragdoll across the ground and immediately backed off, looking around uncertainly. Some looked after the distant image of the fleeing wagon and thought about going after it, but were unsure. Raj took the chance and went to Applejack. He helped her to her hooves and said “Applejack?” Applejack shook her head and retrieved her ax. She flicked her eyes to the retreating dust cloud. She rasped “They get out okay?” “Yeah, shook up but fine. You?” “Ah'll live. Ace?” Raj pointed at where he saw the dog slide to a halt, only to find the spot empty. Several of the Diamond Dogs noticed it before him and took that as the sign to flee. Most of them knuckle-ran for the yawning entrance to the cave, some simply burrowing straight down into the ground. No consideration was given to their wounded, who were either left in groaning heaps or unmoving on the ground. They warily watched them go until the last gray shape had fled into the dark tunnel. Raj set the end of his staff against the ground and let out a long breath “Well, that went about as well as I expected.” Applejack raised an eyebrow at him “Really?” Raj shrugged “He fell for it, didn't he? And we were able to fight them off.” “Toldja we shoulda got these axes out from the beginning.” Sounded Big Macintosh “Great Grandpappy Bramley always said they'd be there to protect the family, 'n look what they're doin' now?” He held the weapon up proudly, its gold finish marred by cakes of thick blood. Applejack crinkled her nose at it and rolled her tongue in her mouth, suddenly reminded of Ace's taste. “Let's just get out of here.” The two ponies started to jog when they were halted by a word “No.” Applejack cantered to a halt and turned around “What?” Raj looked at her “No, we can't go yet. We're not done.” She frowned “What're ya talkin' about? This is as far as the plan went. We truss you up so you can get close the Granny, get her in the wagon, Caramel pulls them to town, and we follow after.” “I know the plan Applejack.” “Well it's time to follow after Rajrishi! Now let's go!” She all but shouted at him. “No, okay. We should move in.” She looked at him aghast “Are you crazy?” “Ace is on the backfoot. His dogs are scared and injured and he's hurt. We're never going to be at an advantage like this again. We need to go in and finish things. Now.” “That is insane!” She stepped closer to him “You'll get us all killed!” “And leaving now will get your home destroyed!” He shouted back. A beat passed with Applejack looking at him apprehensively. He continued “What do you think Ace will do when he rallies in the next few hours? Hide? See the error of his ways? No, he's going to go back to the farm with every dog he can still control and burn the whole thing to the ground. Is that what you want? Is that okay with you? Can you honestly tell me you believe for even a second that crazed animal will do anything else? That he could possibly do anything besides that?” Applejack looked around fruitlessly, her mouth working on half-formed words. Macintosh trotted up and put a hoof on her shoulder. “He's right AJ, this is what we need to do.” She took one last look around, hoping to see something that would prove her argument. “Ah.. ah...” her shoulders slumped and she gave in “Okay Rajrishi... what do we do?” “We go in, find Ace, we kill him, and we beat down any dog dumb enough to get in our way. Show these animals that ponies and humans are not to be crossed.” He thumped his staff on the ground “And we do it now.” The two Apples nodded, one less enthusiastically than the other, and they dove into the darkness.