//------------------------------// // Not All Dogs Go to Heaven // Story: The Bounty Catching, Freedom Dreaming, Winged Wolf Phenomenon // by Cloud_Surfer //------------------------------// The Bounty Catching, Freedom Dreaming, Winged Wolf Phenomenon Chapter 3 ~{WWP}~ “What in the sweet name of Celestia are you?” Octavia was shrieking at me, eyes wide and pupils shrunk. My guess was that killing five timberwolves at once, alone, without breaking a sweat is a rare event here. Oh well, guess I can do an epic intro now. Bitches love epic intros. Jumping forward towards the still cowering mares, I flare my wings out and lifted my head up haughtily with a half confident-half smug smirk. “Allow me to properly introduce myself, I am the great winged wolf Zeta!” I boasted proudly with a stupid grin, waiting for a response. After a few moments of holding the epic pose, I allowed my wings to drop down and muttered “and that’s all I got for now. But I still have some time to make a name for myself. So um, where the hell are we and where are we heading?” I rubbed the back of my head for this one, smiling sheepishly while cleverly hiding my incisors with my top lip. Somewhat awkward to introduce yourself so heroically and have no idea where the hell you are, or for that matter what you were. “What do you mean by ‘we’?” Octavia asked in her standard condescending tone, eyes were still darting around the mess that I made out of the timber wolves, panic clearly showing in them. Vinyl just stood there again with her mouth agape, not even paying attention. For some odd reason when I took a sniff in I could smell it, their fear, quite easily. It wasn’t its own particular odor, it just sparked the idea of fear. “Well, let’s see here. I just saved both of your pretty flanks from a bunch of bloodthirsty timberwolves. It’s also night time and two lovely mares walking down a road could be in danger.” I paused, gauging their reaction. So far, no horrified screaming and in my books that was a relatively good thing. “So here’s the deal; you let me tag along so you don’t have to worry your pretty little heads about getting jumped again. All you have to do is give me some information, and maybe spot me for a few drinks along with a bed in exchange. What say you?” I threw out my paw in a friendly manner to strike the deal. I figured they would’ve jumped at the chance to have a little protection, but the two musical ponies just stared at me like I was crazy. Perhaps I should stop smiling so widely. The earth and unicorn pony then started to discuss amongst themselves what to do. It took them forever. I have to say, nothing is quite as awkward as being left hanging. I let my paw hang there for so long I unwillingly began to hum the Final Jeopardy song. After I finished the song for what seemed like the umpteenth time, Octavia finally extended her hoof hesitantly as if she thought I’d rather naw it off with my molars. Actually, at this point that was rather appealing. “We will gladly accept your offer Mr. Zeta. We just kindly ask you to try not to bring the end of anymore creatures’ lives. That and you bathe the first chance you get.” She fell back into her snobbish tones as she pressed the very tip of her hoof against my outstretched paw, immediately pulling back and wiping it off on Vinyl. That’s how I got my first traveling buddies. Hesitant travel buddies, but still travel buddies. Once they figured out my payment only needed directions and a rented room, they explained that they were heading to a little port town called Tailton for a concert Octavia had to do. Vinyl was just tagging along because she had never seen the ocean before and really wanted to check it out. Octavia dug out a map from her saddle bags and pointed to an inconspicuous looking line near a dot. “We are right about here on this road. There is a tavern about a mile up the road we can stay in for the night, and we should be able to make it into Tailton in two day's time. Any questions mutt?” She explained, staying as far away from me as she could, as if I was diseased with some horrible curse. I knew I probably smelt rather rank, but I was a wolf. Wolves don’t bathe, they hunt! I gestured my paw to let her know I needed to think for a moment, to which she snorted at quietly. I saw that the map showed almost all of Equestria, and it was in the middle of a massive continent that could probably rival Eurasia. To the north had three ragged areas labeled as the Dominion, Gem Fido and Dragon lands respectively. Equestria took up the entire middle portion of the map. To the south were the Black Marshes, Southern Rainforests and the Volcanic Badlands. Nothing else was labeled except a few road systems and cities in Equestria. Tailton was the south westernmost town in the country of Equestria, with a river running into the ocean there. “Just one; why is Equestria the only place with named villages? Any that are labeled outside of the country are obviously pony settlements; what else could they be with names like ‘Wethoof’ and the ‘Alamane.’?” I enquired, raising an eyebrow as I rescanned the entire map. She grumbled something about me being an uneducated cretin before sighing heavily. “Those areas are unexplored or to dangerous to go into for most ponies. The small towns that have popped up on the borders for example, are plagued by various problems. I hear hydras have been attacking Wethoof for a couple of weeks now. But with Discord out and about, no guard ponies can get down there to assist the village,” Octavia answered snidely, as if to ask such a question was foolish and childish. I really hate snobby people with the burning passion of a thousand suns. The rest of our hour long walk to the tavern was rather uneventful. I attempted to fly a couple more times, with about as much success as Scootaloo would have, amounting to some sore new limbs and a bunch of dirt ground into my coat. This elicited some laughter from the white DJ, but the grey earth pony just kept walking with her nose in the air. I would have been worried she’d trip over a rock if I didn’t want to see that happen so badly. As we approached the ragged looking bar, I noticed two Diamond Dogs standing outside of the door. Oh, and they smelt like crap. Stupid wolf sense of smell. How do you turn it off? As we approached they quickly blocked the entrance by stepping towards one another, growling threateningly with their jowls pulled back. Again my instincts told me something new, saying that they were poor fighters and very cowardly. “No pets allowed,” the larger, and by far the more putrid smelling, one grunted. I lifted my lip and growled lowly at the Diamond Dog in response without realising it. Octavia simply walked past them as if nothing was amiss, even going as far as knocking into one slightly with her shoulder. Did I ever mention she was a snob? I take that back now; she’s a huge bitch of a snob. If I ever got the chance, she was going to feel a large deal of pain. Vinyl on the other hand stayed outside for a moment before facing the D-dogs. “You do realize he’s intelligent right? He isn’t our pet,” she deadpanned with a confident if small smile. As she was talking I heard something break with a glass-like shatter and a dull thump inside the tavern. Judging by how the Diamond Dogs ears swiveled towards the sound too. Guess a pony’s hearing is worse than ours. The two Diamond Dogs leaned together and spoke for a moment, then turned to address the two of us, waving his tail a few times in obvious agitation yet his expression held firm. “Unicorn can go in. I go talk to boss. He will decide if you go in,” the big one told us. Vinyl looked at me, gave a shrug and walked on in. The big one followed, and once the door was closed I heard something break and another dull thump. Must be some rowdy patrons in the tavern, cracking glasses over another jackass’s head. Plopping down on my haunches, I got a sudden itch behind my ear. I reacted without thinking and leant my head down, lifting up my right rear leg and started scratching like mad. Sweet broiling angels did that feel good. The D-dog just looked at me funny as my tail began to flop around happily, but fuck him, this just felt too damn good to be ruined by the awkward pose. With the itch gone, I laid back down on the deck, while keeping a relaxed eye on the guard. After about twenty minutes of staring down the standing canine, another D-dog came out from the darkened interior. He was about the same size as the bigger bouncer, but had miscellaneous vials strapped to his shirt. “So this is wolf bird that wishes entry?” he grunted out, sneering uncaringly at my gaze. “Hey, I prefer winged wolf. Wolf bird is degrading,” I snapped snarkily, emphasizing it with a loud, dry, snap of my sharp teeth. The boss D-Dog jumped back at this, eyes wide and ears pinned back defensively. I chuckled at his reaction, musing silently that these D-Dogs who stand twice my height are afraid of the big bad winged talking wolf. Come to think of it, I would be too. “I apologize winged wolf. Diamond Dogs respect all ancestors of our race. You will get free drink and stay here,” the D-dog boss managed to get out through his sputtering, though I noticed his tail was in between his legs, as was the smaller guards. Oh how I simply love this new body. “Also, what matter do you have traveling with ponies?” he asked moving towards the door with me tailing him. “Well, they were travel companions, or more like my charges. They’re paying me to make sure they get to Tailton safely by paying for my drinks and room. Why do you ask?” I realized I didn’t need an answer once we got inside. Bound and gagged in front of me were Vinyl and Octavia, tears streaking down their faces as Diamond Dogs surrounded them. Once they noticed I was inside their eyes lit up with hope that they would be freed. “Oh, well that would be why you asked. So what are you going to do with them?” I asked the boss dog coolly as if my two new friends were not bondagefied on the floor.. “If you want, they go with you Ancestor Winged Wolf. If not then we send them underground to work in mines for our Alpha,” the boss explained, rolling his shaking paw as if to quicken the conversation. Wow, looks like being a wolf has its perks. Diamond Dogs thought I was god, almost. I looked back at my former charges, and saw them both crying their eyes out pleading with me with muffled cries through their gags. I honestly had their lives resting in my hands(paws?), Whatever it is I have now. I already had an idea what I was going to do, but I wanted to find something out first. “Can you take out the gags? I want to ask them some questions real quick,” I stated bluntly, casually leaning from side to side. The Diamond Dogs did so as soon as I uttered the words, somewhat frothingly following my orders to the letter. The air quickly was filled with Octavia’s mad raving. As expected. Strike out. “What are you waiting for!? Have these fleabags untie us this INSTANT! I will not be disrespected so-” Without hesitating, I slapped her good and hard across her face with a backhand, quickly place my paw under me again to avoid being unbalanced. Casting a quick glance over at the white unicorn, I found she had seemed to have slipped into a catatonic state. Poor girl. The grey one on the other hand... As a rule of morals, I avoided striking women of any kind under any circumstance, except for two reason; if they are actively trying to harm me, or this. Sometimes they deserved to be seen on the same level of hostility of men, no biases of forced nicety. “Damn that felt good. Now listen here Tavi,” I spat her nickname out harshly, fangs bared. She cringed instantly when the shock of the slap wore off, the sheer weight of what she had done finally dawning on her if her expression was of any indication. Point me. “Our deal ended the moment you went into this building without me and when the boss here gave me a better deal. Besides, I already got all the information I needed from you. The only reason I offered to help you was because I don’t have any money and needed some generosity to help me recover. Maybe if you weren’t being an entitled racist bitch then I’d be a little more willing to let you go. But you were one, even when you could’ve been freed if you kept your mouth shut. Now having you around would just waste my time and be a hindrance; not to mention god awfully annoying. So have fun working in the mines; give my regards to the Alpha if you see him. Tell him Zeta said ‘hi’.” I finished darkly, giving her a sarcastic grin. The Diamond Dogs didn’t give her a chance to respond to me as they tossed her through a hidden trap door. I didn’t react in the slightest when I heard the panicked screaming or the muffled crashes of stone against flesh. Ok, so maybe that was a little mean, and I should have saved her. But she was just such a snobby bitch. I mean, a little respect for the people holding you hostage goes a long way, and when the first thing you do is call them fleabags your prospects of getting out of the shit you’re in drops. Shifting my gaze towards the disk jockey, I could easily detect the fear in her eyes and her scent. “Let her go though.” I stated dryly as if merely stating the weather. The Diamond Dogs cut her loose and tossed her over to me roughly, eliciting a groan in pain from her. They also passed the saddlebags the ponies had on earlier over towards me as well. I knocked Vinyl’s over to her as I started to rummage through Octavia’s. I tossed out the entire musical she had in there, along with a few other knick knacks until all that was left was the map and a bag of bits. “So, how about one of those drinks?” I ask the boss D-Dog with a grin on my face. The rest of the pack in the room howled in response as they started passing out mugs full to the brim with ale. I hastily grabbed one and downed it in one swing. Ah sweet Celestia, I had beer again. As the Diamond Dog refilled my mug again, I glanced at Vinyl. She was just sitting in a nearby booth crying to herself over Octavia’s fate. I guess that’s technically my fault, but I don’t care. Octavia acted like she deserved everything in the world had to fit the mold she had for it. I thought grimly, silently glaring at the space Octavia had gone through before looking for Vinyl. It reminded me why I hated home so much. Too many people like her. Well fuck those people. I'm free now. Just as I got up to go get another round, the doors got kicked open and five griffins jumped through, attempting to crash the party. Probably. Didn't last to long though. Before they could finish their team-rocket styled entrance, the boss dog threw three corked vials at once that shattered on contact, emitting a green gas that dissipated around the heads of all five. The griffins dropped to the ground and had a net thrown over them to make hauling them underground easier. Suddenly, the smallest one, who avoided the gas and the net, got up and tried to run out the door, only to have the bouncers grab hold of her. “N-no! Please let me go!” The obviously young griffin girl cried. I’m going to be honest; a little girl crying gets to me. I always wanted to be a dad, so I got a pretty good paternal instinct to protect children. Unless they are snobbish entitled demon spawn children, then they get what’s coming to them. This girl on the other hand, seemed to be as far from that as possible. That was crossing the line in my book. “Put the kid down,” I said in a very cold tone from the bar area, making sure to keep my tone so the threat was all the worse for it. All the dogs went quiet, and I started to chuckle darkly as the revelation came to mind. They really are afraid of me. I wonder why. I noticed that the guard dog holding the trembling griffin hadn’t released her yet. “In case you didn’t hear me, I said put the kid down,” I growled, curling my lip to show I wasn’t going to let this one drop, be it with words or teeth. Most of the Diamond Dogs got out of my way by any means possible as I slowly stalked towards the guard holding the child. That’s when I heard someone trying to sneak up on me from behind. I rolled to the right and popped back up on my feet, using my wings to flip over faster. I really needed to figure out how to use them to fly. Oh well, combat now. It was the smaller of the guards who took a dive at me from behind; backing up his compatriot. I could hear the boss dog giving orders not to attack and the grunts of acceptance from all but the two in front of me. I bared my teeth harder and formed a sentence to attempt to talk them out of it one last time. “Let her go, or I’ll kill you both and simply take her. She’s nothing more than a child.” I snarled to show off my rage. Enslavement? Necessary for survival. Abusing children? Absolutely unacceptable. No exceptions. The small guard took this as his moment to attack me, frothing slightly as he lunged across the pile of unconscious griffins, pulling back his fist to deliver what equated to a massive haymaker. He apparently was as competent at fighting as Wrecking Ball. So much for having a little fun I bitterly growled inwardly as I leaned outside of the punch. As the dog missed and kept going forward with the strength of the punch, I shot forward and hit him as hard as I could with my claws fully extended towards his throat. The dog flew backwards, giving the room a nice coat of dark red paint from the force of the blow, leaving my claws with a nice crimson shine to them. The surge of adrenaline I got after killing my first sentient creature was amazing. I never felt anything like that before. Everything in my body seemed to just pulse with energy. My heart pounded dutifully against my ears, allowing me to feel every beat through the thin tissue. My senses were sharper than ever; I could hear the Vinyl’s slight whimpers in the background, and smell the ale off of the breath of everybody in the room. Muscles coiled and tightened, ready to spring forward with purpose, but my mind was absent thought except for one; to destroy anything in my way. All the dogs sat in silence as they saw their pack brother choke to death on his own blood. I on the other hand started to slowly walk towards the big guy holding the griffin, cracking my joints with my avian appendages flared for added intimidation. I broke the silence that had sunk over the room with a cold whisper, “I hope you are going to be harder to kill than that meat sack. If you aren’t, then I’m going to really disappointed.” He twitched. I jumped. He threw the griffin to the ground and lifted both hands up to smash me beneath him. Too bad I was much more agile than him. I dove in between just as his ham sized fists shattered the floorboards where I just was. Slashing out his knees from behind caused him to fall forward to the ground. Before he even got a chance to attempt to get up, I was his back with the back of his neck caught in my jaws. He shuddered, not daring to move as I cradled his fragile neck between my teeth. “Good night,” I muttered through my clamped jaws as I shook the Diamond Dog’s head until I heard the nice resounding crack and a twitch through his entire body, signifying I had broken his neck. I glanced around. All of the Diamond Dog’s sat still, frozen in fear over this beast that just killed two of their brothers with ease. Vinyl sat wide eyed in awe with how easily I took out two opponents twice my size. I snorted and lanced over to where the griffin girl had gotten thrown, and saw her crying her eyes out. Well that won’t do, I just saved her life. I’m not going to let her be upset. Going about trying to wipe as much blood off of my muzzle as I could, I set off forward to talk to the visibly distraught griffin to attempt to cheer her up. “Hey there. My name is Zeta, what’s yours?” I asked in my most casual tone I could muster. Truthfully I was still in an adrenaline fueled ‘rip-shit-apart’ mindset, but I couldn’t scare the poor girl more. Scaring children was not cool. “M-maria,” she stammered quietly, stifling a sob. Without warning, she wrapped her claws around me and began crying heavily into my chest. I was slightly taken aback that she would just throw herself at me, but now was not a time to question it. “The, the other griffins said they’d keep me safe. We just wanted to sleep, but they saw the Diamond Dogs and wanted to fight them... and n-now I’m all a-alone again!” she kept sobbing into my arms all the while, shaking with every breath she managed to draw. I was taken aback by this development. The only experience I had with griffins was when Gilda showed up in Ponyville that one time, and she didn’t seem to have this side of her. Though she may’ve been just acting tough. If I ever met her I’ll be sure to ask. In the meantime though, I just focused on trying to calm this girl down. Of course she was bigger than I was, but I guess griffins’ bodies grow faster than they mature, she didn’t seem to be more than 10 in the psychological department. “Shh… it’s ok. No one is going to hurt you now. You’re safe with me. I’m actually going to Tailton with Vinyl here, you’re more than welcome to come,” I quickly reassured her, holding her closely whilst running a paw through her neck feathers in what I hoped was therapeutic for griffins the same way it was for humans. “Hey Boss Dog, get a room set-up for the three of us, and if anyone tries to disturb us again, I’ll rip their throat out, got it?” I barked over to the Diamond Dog boss who was standing at rapt attention. That snapped him out of his stupor as he ordered the rest of his pack to clean up the mess I made and set up our room. Eventually I got Maria to stumble over to Vinyl, and together the three of us went up to the room in silence. After the other two went to bed curled around each other in what I could only describe as communal grieving, I hopped in the shower and thought over everything that has happened in my first day in Equestria. I had been thrown out of an airship, discovered ponies are somewhat racist, ripped apart a pack of timber wolves, doomed Octavia and the griffins to be eternal slaves, tasted my first Equestrian ale, killed two Diamond Dogs, and finally saved a young griffin named Maria. A pretty damn good list if I say so myself, compared to what I usually did back home. Sure today proved Equestria wasn’t perfect, but at least they weren’t forcing anything onto me. Or maybe it was they didn’t have a mold for me, since I am apparently one of a kind? Whatever the case maybe, I only had two things I needed to do now; first was learn to fly, second was get Maria and Vinyl to Tailton. Then the real fun can begin… ~{WWP}~