Virtue and Vice: Equestria

by enigmaMystere

Equus Tactics #43

The mines of Appleloosa are in a state of turmoil. The diamond dogs there, once slavers, are now at war with both their former slaves and their own kin.

Amidst the noise, two canines try to make a dash for the surface, both terrified at the thought of being victim to the victor. The lankier of the two stops in the middle of the empty tunnel, turning back to the shorter, and heavier, dog. “Why you stopping? We almost out!”

“You faster than me! Slow down!” the other dog yells back, struggling to catch up.

“You want to be caught by ponies? Caught by Alpha?” He gestures to the ascending section of the slope. “This way to safety! Sooner we there, sooner we leave!”

Nodding, the bulkier dog clambers along, getting side-by-side with the lankier one as they get closer to the top of the slope.

“Besides,” the first one continues, “we know Alpha win in end. Why fight ponies if it end same?”

With literal tunnel vision, the dogs pass by one of the side alcoves of the tunnel, ever heading upward in their haste. As they get out of sight, two forms emerge from the darkness, looking where the dogs had run to, then to each other.

Hydro comments matter-of-factly. “Not sure they believed themselves if they’re running away that fast from a fight they’ll supposedly win.”

“I think they’re more scared of the others.” Vinyl snickers, shaking her head. “Man, if one of those dogs made G upset…”

As they start heading back down the tunnel, opposite the dogs’ direction, the stallion counters. “I don’t know… a griffon is one thing, but I think Dior has her beat if she really gets going.”

“Fair enough.” She glances down the path. “Your wife - is that right? - can be scary as Tartarus, when she wants to be.” She gestures further down with a hoof. “Best make sure she’s not making a rug outta one of them.”

“True. This is why I usually tell her she doesn’t get to keep souvenirs from enemies.” They start moving faster. “Think Flick can handle those few? It was his job to keep them from running off.”

“I think he could handle ten times that many.” She looks at him, concerned. “Dior wouldn’t really make a rug out of them, would she?”

“No, not unless one of them was particularly stupid and got her really pissed off… but she probably doesn’t have time anyway.” He shrugs as best one can when running. “There are dozens more she has to deal with after all, she’ll probably mellow out after about fifteen.”

“Then I pity those fifteen.” She glances back, her mind wandering to the changeling outside.

---

“Look, up ahead!” The ashen diamond dog slows down, pointing at a patch of blue. “Exit!”

“Go faster!” The other dog speeds up rather than slowing down, determined to reach the exit and freedom as quickly as possible. Within seconds, the two of them burst out of the mine into broad daylight...

...and nearly barrel straight into a goldenrod drone. He stares at the two of them, surprised, before smirking. “Well, I certainly didn’t expect anyone to show up this soon.” He holds out a hoof, chuckling brightly. “The name’s Flick. Pleasure to meet you.”

The two dogs look confused, skeptical, and even a little scared. Neither one of them shakes the changeling’s hoof, but they do pause and look at him expectantly, wondering what he has to say.

“What? Not friendlies?”

The dogs look at each other. The larger of the two speaks. “Er...friendlies?”

“You know, on my side?” He rolls a hoof. “Trying to help free the ponies what got kidnapped?”

The shorter dog frowns. “We no help ponies. But we no help Alpha either. We run, not fight.”

“Oh, really?” Flick quirks an eyebrow at them. “Care to elaborate on that?”

The lankier one growls. “No business of yours. We leave pack, we go somewhere else now. Let us leave.”

“Why leave your pack?” He moves onto his hindlegs and leans back, appearing to sit in mid-air. “You’re going to have a better Alpha in a few minutes, from what I hear. After all, Fluffy seems like a nice enough dog for the job.”

“No business of yours!” the lanky dog repeats, swinging a large paw at the drone.

He holds up a hoof, stopping the paw without even touching it. “That’s not very nice. I’m trying to be all neighborly, and you swing at me like that?” The changeling clicks his tongue and raises his hoof, the two dogs following suit. “You bad dogs. Go to time out.”

He sends them further into the air, keeping them aloft with cushions of wind. “Stay up there until you realize what you did wrong.”

---

‘I think we’re lost, Win.’ Mercury sighs from his spot on the stallion’s back. ‘We’ve passed that dog you gave a larger belly button four times, now.’

Winter glances back at the fox. “Which one? I haven’t been keeping track.”

‘The one that looks like a blue heeler.’ He nods over his shoulder. ‘The first one?’

Winter looks over. “You know, for a healer, he hasn’t done a good job fixing himself.” The unicorn grins just as he notices a familiar griffon out of the corner of his eye. Barely even slowing down before turning around, almost throwing Mercury from his back, Winter makes a beeline for his feathered teammate. “Gilda! Knife me!”

Her head snaps to him at the voice, one claw raising up and throwing over two small packages she had kept with her. “Catch!”

The unicorn jumps up, catching one package in his mouth as the other gets enveloped in his magical aura. Landing on the ground, he spits out the cloth-wrapped dagger and pulls the blade from its covering, doing the same with his magic behind his back. “Nice throw!”

“Thanks!” She lets out a piercing screech before she dives down, pouncing onto a dog and slashing it repeatedly before springing off onto another one and repeating the process.

Winter turns to look at Mercury with a smirk. “And you think I overdo it.” As he speaks, he spins his five daggers around before launching all five of them forward at once with magic, impaling a particularly large dog in the torso.

‘She’s a natural predator, though.’ He huffs, eyeing the fallen cloths cautiously. ‘I’m just glad she didn’t fling those at us without those covers...’

The daggers pull themselves from the dog, who topples over. “I would’ve caught them either way. I’ve stopped arrows with my magic. Thrown knives are no problem.” He spins Vision around and harshly slams the pommel into the head of a smaller dog currently trying to incapacitate an escaped slave. The dog’s face hits the dirt, and it doesn’t get back up.

Mercury cringes at this, sheepishly waving to the pony. ‘Glad he could help.’ He turns to his friend, slightly nervous. ‘How long has this been going on? Why hasn’t Alpha shown up yet?’

“Probably waiting for these dogs to wear us down rather than getting mixed up in all the chaos!” Winter laughs, bringing the daggers back to him as he searches for another hostile dog.

‘With you hardly lifting a hoof, I doubt that’s gonna be soon.’ His ear twitches and he glances back to see a mud-colored mutt sneaking up. ‘Eight o’clock.’

The unicorn doesn’t turn, but the dagger with the red hilt - Vendetta - does. Before the dog can react to the blade pointing at him, it’s already driven itself into his throat. “Eight o’clock is bedtime.”

‘Yeesh.’ He shakes his head. ‘You know I respect you, right?’

“Your comments occasionally imply otherwise, but in general, yeah. Why?”

‘Because I don’t want you pissed off at me. Ever.’ He shudders before glancing at the entrance to the cave. ‘When are the others going to arrive? It’s not like many are heading above ground, right?’

“They’ll be here soon. Maybe they just got lost on the way-oof!” The unicorn’s sentence ends abruptly when a previously undetected iron club slams into his side, sending him into the wall and disrupting the magic grip on his daggers.

“Unicorn strange.” The tower of a dog stands over him, pressing the end of the club into his horn. “Talk to himself too much.”

The stallion looks up at the large dog, not moving but adopting a smirk despite the pain in his side. “At least unicorn knows how to talk properly.”

“Unicorn also not know when to shut up.” It kicks him in the stomach, the weapon on his horn keeping Winter from being flung again. “Maybe dogs fix that. Cut out tongue.”

“If you did, you’d make things very difficult for my friend over there.” The smirk widens. “I notice you haven’t kept an eye on him...”

The great dane blinks, turning his attention to the fox on his right. “What about fox? It not a threat.” He reaches down, picking up a green-tipped dagger in his paw. “Unicorn wound many dogs with this. Wonder if he like same treatment.” He lowers himself, foot on the cobalt pony’s horn and the tip pressed against his throat. “Guess we-”

He suddenly yelps as Mercury tackles the hulking dog to the floor, grabbing the sinewy arm in his maw and forcefully twisting it behind his back. The sheer pain and surprise causes the diamond dog to lose his grip on both Winter and Viper.

Quickly, Winter reaches out with his magic and grabs Viper, turning it and driving it into the dog’s leg. While the wound itself isn’t very deep, as soon as the green tip enters the limb, the dog begins to feel weaker and sicker as the poison takes effect. Finally, the unicorn yanks the knife out, turns it around, and hits the dog’s head with the hilt to knock it out.

The fox lets go as soon as he’s unconscious, panting softly. ‘Win… as much as I hate to admit it…’ He looks up at him, frowning deeply. ‘That one deserved it.’

“In my eyes? They all do.” The stallion starts trying to stand, only to hiss and collapse again. “Oookay...that’s a cracked rib...or two.”

‘Not good.’ Mercury rushes over, looking around in concern. ‘Where’s the cavalry when you need it?’

Winter groans. “Yeah, even I’m getting impatient...” He sighs. “Grab Vitality for me, will you?”

The fox quickly gets the longest of the knives, bringing it over to his friend. Grabbing the dog, he drags him closer to the stallion, as well, moving off to the side as soon as he’s close enough.

“Thanks. Now, you might not want to watch.” Lifting the blade with his magic, Winter suddenly stabs it into the downed dog’s chest, pulls it out, and repeats. “This might take a while...”

---

Hydro and Vinyl skid to a halt as they enter a large cavern. The scene before them is easily one of chaos. Ponies, dogs, and even a few other species all fight in a flurry of activity, clashing weapons, and shouts of both pain and victory.

One particular grey dog spots them, and they ready themselves for combat as he makes a beeline towards them. However, he skids to a halt and smiles at them. “You friends of ponies?”

“You’re ‘Fluffy’, I take it?” Hydro counters.

The grey diamond dog nods. “Stone lady say you come. Good to see you.” He points to one of many exits out of the large room; this one, unlike the others, looks hastily dug. “Safe room that way. Guards need help.”

Vinyl tilts her head to one side, trying to peek around the large canine. “I guess the safe room’s not so safe, anymore?” She shifts her saddlebags, her gaze flicking back to the grey dog.

Fluffy shakes his head. “Alpha’s dogs found it. Trying to get in, take slaves back. We try to keep them out. But more of them than us.”

“Let’s see if we can even those odds then.” Hydro quickly starts heading toward the tunnel, the mare hurrying after him soon after. The grey dog waves after them, then turns back to the fray.

The duo head down the freshly carved hole, hopping over a few of the rougher spots that have yet to be worn down. After a few minutes, a voice calls to them from a little further down. “Come on ya’ll, get in here before more pups show up!” They close in and see the mare the voice belongs to.

The white unicorn calls down the path, hoping the other mare could hear. “Don’t worry, Applejack! We’re on our way!”

At her behest, the two quickly enter the cavern. Inside, certain sections of the cave are being used for different things: one part is where they are keeping all those injured or unable to fight, another where they keep piling up the unconscious dogs that had tried to come in and failed. Finally, a small barricade of stones stands directly facing the doorway, able but scruffy-looking ponies behind it.

Applejack takes another peek out into the tunnel. “Go ahead and get where ya need to get. No telling how much time we got.”

The disk jockey nods, quickly rushing forward and leaping over the barricade. She pulls off her bag, glancing at the crimson stallion with a nervous smirk. “It’ll take a bit to set up. You can handle a few dogs, right?”

“Easy.” Forgoing the barricade entirely, Hydro just stands defiantly in front of the tunnel entrance. “You might want to back up when they show, Applejack.”

“Never seen you fight, but if it’s anything like some of the others of your team, I’ll take yer word for it.” She comes back in, setting herself up behind the barricade with the rest.

Vinyl pulls a number of neon parts out of her bags, glancing at the farm mare out of the corner of her eye. She reaches a bit further in and comes up with a small jar of gel, tossing it to the earth pony. “You might want to use that. Courtesy of Flick.”

As she catches it, one of the ponies further back in the cave calls out. “Stand clear, got more rocks coming in!” Everypony in the cave back away from the hole in the back as a mini-avalanche of stones comes rolling out. As Soon as they settle, the ponies are on them, bringing them over to the barricade and shoring it up even more.

AJ chuckles as she gives the gash on her side a coating of the gel. “Guess Maud’s making good progress with our escape tunnel.”

“Escape tunnel… good idea.” She taps her chin and turns to the back of the cavern, concerned. “I wonder if Dior passed out those earbuds…” As she says this, a series of barks comes from the entrance, making the unicorn refocus on the parts before her, sorting them out as fast as possible.

Soon, the tunnel fills with diamond dogs, all wielding iron clubs or baring jagged claws. They skid to a halt, however, when they realize the way to the cavern is blocked. The group stares warily at the lone pony, unsure what to think, and the one nearest the front steps forward, holding up a paw and flexing it threateningly. “Move, pony, or get moved!”

Hydro puts a hoof to his chin. “Hmm… no.” He goes back to his casually prepared stance.

“You ask for it!” He growls, leaping and swinging with one fluid motion.

Or rather, leaping and missing as the stallion simply sidesteps and counters with a swift blow with a forehoof. It connects perfectly with the dog’s face, sending him a short distance away.

The dog stands, staggering slightly, and rubs the spot where he was struck, glaring at him. “Pony fast, but pony not that strong.” He sneers, grabbing up a rock and chucking it at him.

Deflecting the rock with another hoof punch, Hydro sneers. “That, or I was seeing how soft your head was.”

“Pony think he funny.” He cackles, lowering his stance. “But pony not that smart.”

From the side, a second dog lunges forward, paw curled up in a fist to connect with the side of Hydro’s face.

However, this only results in another miss as the earth pony shows remarkable reflexes as he steps back to avoid the blow, the dog’s fist instead colliding with the stone wall. “Two on one? Well, at least you’re being nice and giving me more targets. Let’s see…” Squaring his shoulder and crouching down, a small hexagonal medallion on the stallion’s chain necklace begins to glow. As onlookers from both sides gasp, the amulet flashes brightly, causing them all to cover their eyes. When they look back at the pony, he has a bit extra to him now.

He now sports a sort of chrome-like smooth helmet attached to what appears to be an almost spine-like metallic extension lying along his actual spine. Arching above him off this new addition are two metal segmented tendrils, each topped with what appear to be spiked mace heads. One of the balls actually splits open like an orange, half-thrusting at one of the dogs in a manner not unlike that of a snake before it closes to once again be a blunt weapon.

The stallion smirks at his foes. “Bring it.” He clangs his new weapons together loudly.

The dogs stare at him blankly, taking a moment to gauge how big a threat he is. Then one canine, a medium-sized black lab, bravely rushes forward, club back and ready to swing at Hydro.

A resounding ‘clang’ echoes as one of the mace heads impacts with his face, tossing him back into his comrades without the stallion having moved one hoof. The tendril rears back next to its brother, still at the ready.

Instantly upon seeing this, the rest of the dogs whip around and run back in the direction they came from, tails literally between their legs. While it likely wouldn’t be their last attempt to breach the room’s defenses, it would certainly be the last time these particular dogs underestimated them.

“Good job, Hydro.” Vinyl smirks from where she sits, nearly finished assembling a small tower-shaped device. “That should keep them back a while longer.” She picks up a small speaker, glancing at the mare next to her. “So, thoughts on HP’s little friends, AJ?”

The farmer looks between the unicorn mare and the now partially-metal stallion. “Do Ah even want to know how he suddenly has two extra legs?”

“Not sure. It’s not a permanent thing, if that’s what you’re worried about.” She places the speaker on top of the mechanism, linking the cables together as she continues. “If you want to know more, I think it’d be better to ask him, or the pony he got it from. That stuff is not my forte.”

“Maybe…” AJ looks once more to the stallion. “But, who in Equestria would make something like that?”

“Ruby.” She links the last piece, smiling widely. “There we go. Now all I need to do is calibrate it, and we’ll be good to go.” She starts turning a few dials, muttering to herself. “Wish I’d done this, last night…”

“That little filly made that?” The orange mare lets out a low whistle. “Youngins these days… hope her dad’s keepin’ an eye on her when she does stuff like this.”

“I think he actually helped her...” She narrows her eyes, focusing completely on the dials before her.

“If you’re sure…” The Element of Honesty turns her attention to the unicorn. “So, what’s this doohickey ya got here?”

“It’s a high-frequency emitter.” She moves onto the next inner wheel, sticking her tongue out as she concentrates. “It lets loose sounds outside our range of hearing… but diamond dogs supposedly have a better range of hearing than us.”

Applejack nods slowly. “Right… but how’s that gonna help us?”

Vinyl stops, turning to face the other mare. “Think of it this way: you know those dog whistles? The ones ponies occasionally use to punish out-of-control canines?”

She tilts her head. “Ah thought those were just for callin’ dogs.”

“That’s one use for them, if used for a short period.” She taps the side of the device, nodding to herself. “But if the pitch gets high enough, and goes on long enough, it can debilitate. I just hope this is set up right; I’ve never had to use this type of setting before…”

“Well, if it can do all that, Ah hope it works too.” She looks over at the wounded ponies. “Best we get out of here as soon as possible.”

“Agreed.” The unicorn looks at the tunnel past the collected ponies, curious. “How long has Maud been at that, by the way?”

“Pretty much since she and the dogs dug out this room for us.” She gestures around them. “Also said somethin’ about how dirt would slow her down, but still, she’s a one-pony tunnel machine.”

“Heh, I see.” Vinyl shrugs, turning to the stallion before her. “You can come rest, now. It’s ready.”

He turns to her regretfully. “You sure? I only got to smash one, I was hoping for a bit more.”

“You could stay, but it wouldn’t be much fun with the dogs on the ground.” She shrugs. “If you really don’t want to stop, maybe you should go help in the main cavern… wherever that is.”

“Sounds good, if you’re sure you got things covered here.” He starts walking out the entrance, his metal arms still activated. “I’ll send any other ponies here if they need a place to hide out.”

"Good luck, dude!" She waves as he leaves before tapping the side of the machine a few more times. The unicorn sighs, slumping slightly. "Of course... it needs to charge for that strong a wave..."

Applejack stares at her for that comment. “... you have got to be pullin’ mah leg.”

"Sadly, no." She shrugs, smirking wryly. "But now that it's set up... we only need a few minutes, at most, before it fires." Vinyl reaches back, pulling sheath and sword away to hold by her side. "I can hold them back for five times that long... in my sleep."

Raising her eyebrow at the DJ, the farmer comments. “Winter don’t just hire based on ego, does he?”

"If he did, then a certain showmare would be on the team..." She trails off as she hurtles the barricade, eyes narrowed at the entrance. "Still wonder if G was a better choice..."

Taking the comment as directed towards her, Applejack responds with a shrug. “Well, Ah ain’t that griffon’s biggest fan, but RD sure was happy when she heard she was doing something good with her life.”

"Good to know." The disk jockey tenses, the sound of paws pounding the ground slowly growing. "Make sure they don't get near that, okay? They might try to be sneaky..."

With a tip of her hat, the farmer nods. “On it.”

The noise rises to a thunderous din, nearly covering any other words that the unicorn might've said. She slowly unsheathes her weapon, readying herself for what may come.

From the cave’s mouth burst at least ten dogs, their pads pounding the ground as they run in one or two at a time due to size constraints. While from all different breeds, each seems to have the same goal in mind: get the slaves back!

Vinyl chuckles at this, standing up straight and running a hoof along her mane, getting it back to its stylish spikiness. "You know, I was expecting a bit more of a challenge." Her sword rises, floating horizontally before her. "At least you'll lessen my boredom for the moment, mutts."

A couple of pure-breeds snarl at her before leaping at her, claws outstretched and ready to tear.

She promptly leaps into action, kicking one dog through a wall. Behind her back, the sheath smacks the other on the nose, as if chastising a puppy for peeing on a carpet. "No. Bad dog. You wanna join your..." She trails off before glancing at the sheepdog half-buried in the stone. "...sister, I guess? Hard to tell through all that fur..."

“Stupid pony, no peeking!” Another dog goes low, aiming to chomp her legs with his gnashing teeth.

For his efforts, he receives the hilt of her sword right between the eyes. "Forgive me if I can't tell your genders at a glance. That's no excuse to interrupt my train of thought."

The rest of them growl. “Stop all thought soon.” As one, they charge, having learned one at a time doesn’t do anything for them.

"Smart." The unicorn smirks, raising her katana. "Yet stupid." She swings it so fast it becomes a blur, a golden wave of electricity escaping the tip. It slams against the majority of the remaining dogs, throwing them back against the walls and pinning them there.

Soon, all that are standing is a couple small canines. She quirks an eyebrow at them before the one with big ears holds up her paws, iron club falling to the ground with a clatter.

"Good." Vinyl turns to the shih tzu, tapping a hoof. "How about you? Gonna be wise and give up?"

A loud but high-pitched growl comes from the small dog as she backs up. “We not done, you see. We come back with even more dogs. We bring great danes. You be sorry.” With her piece said, she quickly scampers off.

"I'm afraid you're the ones who'll be sorry." As soon as she finishes her sentence, the dogs stuck to the walls start to scrabble and writhe, whimpering for a few moments before falling unconscious. The white pony blinks, turning to her device and looking closely. "...huh. I guess it just activated."

Looking over to the now unconscious pile of her comrades, the chihuahua reaches up and pops earplugs out of her sizable lugs. “They not hurt too badly… are they?”

"No, just unconscious." She moves forward, rubbing the canine on her head. "You should put those back in before the next wave hits. Don't want a friend getting knocked out on accident."

“Right… too bad bird outside hearing range.” She puts the earplugs back in, tapping them a few times to make sure they are snug.

"I guess she got to you, huh?" The mare smirks, sheathing her sword for the moment. "Don't worry, she does it to everyone... though mostly those she feels challenged by, if Flick's correct."

“Challenged by, huh?” The small dog grins, rubbing her chin. “I like that… most around here not think that of me. I show them they wrong.” She snickers before heading back towards the door. “I go see if anymore coming and make sure they make plenty noise, okay?”

"I appreciate it." She smiles, nodding respectfully when a thought occurs to her. "Hey, you got a name?"

Turning to look over her shoulder, the canine answers. “They call me… Chichi.”

"Nice." The unicorn chuckles, hefting her blade onto her back. "I'm Vinyl. See you on the outside, then, Chichi."

She nods. “See you there, Vinyl.” With that, she leaves, off to complete her task.

The mare, meanwhile, turns to the earth pony behind her, smirking coyly. "Not just big talk, am I?"

Smiling knowingly, she responds. “Never said you were, just said some of ya’ll are very big talkers. Don’t mean you can’t back it up.” She looks over the pile of dogs being moved to the others. “Another bunch to keep an eye on… we really do need ta find somethin’ else to do with ‘em, but this is the easiest way to keep em out of the fight.”

"I'd say put them in a pit, but they'd dig their way out." She turns to the tunnel as the rumbling begins to build once more. "Sorry to say, but we might have more to add to those, AJ..." Lowering her stance once more, she prepares herself for even more foes to dispose of.

---

Meanwhile, in another cavern, the white marble nymph stands in the middle of a fair number of fallen diamond dogs, rubbing her previously-cracked cheek. “Damn, that itches…” She glances at a groaning hound, rolling her eyes and walking away. “I only kicked your gut. Stop whining, already.”

She leaves the room, rushing down a corridor to the next. Her gaze wanders to the halls to her side, slowing slightly at each so she wouldn’t miss anything important. The changeling eventually slows to a halt, confused. “Strange… I expected there to be more of those brutes…”

As if that’s their cue, from one of the side tunnels comes another handful of large dogs, attempting to pounce her all at once. While most of them are carrying the iron clubs most dogs have taken to using after their pickaxes ‘mysteriously fell apart’, a few are holding what seem to be rusted old shovels. Obviously, there weren’t enough weapons to go around, and they were resorting to using whatever they could find.

She glances at each of them in turn, chuckling in undisguised amusement. “You really think those will do anything, boys?” She holds up a hoof, Verdict slowly sliding out of the end. “Or are you just overcompensating?”

They give no coherent reply. Instead, three of them run ahead and swing their clubs simultaneously, hoping to crush her beneath the combined force. The others stand back, waiting to see if they would be needed.

Dior pulls her forelegs from the ground, blade and hoof stopping two of the clubs. As the third nears her head, she stomps on the ground, a wave of earth slamming into the other dog’s gut and sending him flying. She pushes the clubs away, shaking her head in disappointment. “Surely that’s not the best you can do?”

Two more rush forward, both carrying the apparently useless shovels. One goes for a direct swing, while the other fakes a similar move only to suddenly tunnel underground instead, out of sight.

She punches the shovel, warping the imperfection-filled weapon with ease. She leaps onto the dog, gripping its arms in her magic and bending them painfully behind his back as she forces his face into the ground. The nymph looks around cautiously and, waiting for the second one to appear, sees the rest have vanished, opting to hide her concern with snarkiness. “Come on, doggies… momma’s got something for you…”

For a long and tense moment, the dogs remain hidden, not even making any noise to disclose their location. Then, ever so quietly, she hears a scratching right underneath the ground she stands on before the dirt suddenly gives way.

Surprised, she and the dog she perched on fall down into the sinkhole. Thankfully, he breaks her fall with his body, so she is unharmed. She grimaces, stroking his head apologetically. “Sorry, puppy. Didn’t mean to hurt you like that… hopefully, you can survive with some broken bones…” Dior carefully gets off him, looking around the darkness cautiously. “Where are you…”

From the shadows, one of the smaller dogs suddenly leaps at her, club swinging quickly at her face. Behind her, she can hear another dog trying something similar, but aiming for her back instead.

She ducks the first, letting the dog fly over her and into the other. She blocks the second with a hoof, slamming the club into the ground hard enough to embed it in the stone. She turns to the two of them, bemused. “I’m glad you know how to work as a team, but how about doing something constructive with it? Right now, you’re just flailing around like a fish on land.”

Their response is to just pounce her again, not even bothering with weapons. Dior rolls her eyes and smacks one with the back of a hoof, knocking him into the other dog once more. “Seriously, this is starting to get silly. And weren’t there more of you?”

As if to answer her question, a large pile of dirt and rock suddenly falls down into the chamber from the hole above, quickly being followed by more and more of the same. The two dogs grin and, once they’ve recovered from the hit, dig into the wall and away from the nymph. The hole they leave gets blocked by thick layers of earth almost instantly. By this point, the small dark room is getting even smaller and darker.

The nymph looks at the incoming debris, then at the unconscious dog beside her. With a groan, she decides what needs to be done.

The hole finishes filling, and there is no sign of the marble changeling to be seen. As the dogs congratulate themselves, they notice a small tremor in the earth beneath them. Right before their eyes, a shape begins to rise from where the chamber had been, the dirt slowly sliding off its form.

Pure white eyes glare at them as she slides the diamond dog off her back. She takes a step forward, spikes jutting out around the dogs to trap them in that spot. She takes another, and they extend further, thickening and giving the canines little room to even wiggle. “Who. The fuck. Does that to their friend?” She raises a hoof, eyes narrowing in anger. “No one that deserves to live, that’s who.”

The dogs all let out whimpering noises as they struggle against the spikes keeping them in place, desperate to get away. She huffs, pulling out the knife and pressing it against the largest dog’s neck. “You can’t escape karma. This is what you deserve, you bastards.”

Suddenly, out of one of the tunnels runs Hydro, having heard the commotion. Seeing what she is about to do, he narrows his eyes and yells out sharply in a commanding tone. “Diorite!”

She flinches, nicking the retriever’s pelt as she spins around to face him. “H-Hydro?” She blinks, glancing from him to the captive canines and back before nervously smiling. “Um… I can explain?”

The specially-armored stallion walks up to her quickly. One of his dark red hoofs goes to the one she has the dagger embedded in. “We do not execute.” As the dogs breathe a sigh of relief, the two metal maces protruding from his back conk them on the heads, knocking them out, leaving them hanging limply on the wall.

She whimpers softly, her ears pinned back against her head. “I’m sorry, love. I just… I couldn’t stand the thought of them senselessly killing their own… and not even caring…”

Feeling his own fur bristle at the thought, Hydro nuzzles her. “I understand… but you know we don’t kill unless we have no other choice. We’re completely within our rights to beat the shit out of them, however.” Thinking for a moment, he embraces her, the two extra limbs doing the same. “All this is starting to get to you, huh?”

Dior groans, closing her eyes and leaning against his chest. “You have no idea…”

Patting her back, he tries to comfort her. “Don’t worry, I’m here now. I’ll stay with you.”

She chuckles quietly, finally hugging him back. “Thanks… I could use the company…”

Speaking of company, they aren’t able to enjoy their own for long; running down the tunnel towards them from the main room up ahead are yet another swarm of the dogs, once again carrying seemingly anything weaponlike they could get their dirty paws on. They surround the couple, not giving them any directions to run.

“Rock lady and metal arm pony cause trouble,” one dog growls as it readies its club. “Trouble end here.”

Nonplussed, Hydro looks around at the circle of dogs before loosening his grip on his wife just enough to be able to look at her face while still holding her. “You know, somehow I don’t think he’s right.”

“I agree.” She smirks, pecking him lightly before letting go and turning around. “Sorry, boys, we aren’t done yet.”

Hydro’s metal arms raise and split their ends, almost hissing at the dogs as he goes back to back with the nymph. “You however, are.”

Comments

[Raybony]

Umm, was Hydro's armour transformation a reference to Doctor Octopus from spiderman? If not, then it's something I'm not familiar with.

[RLYoshi]

4315958 The comparison was pointed out between us while writing, but as far as I know, it wasn't intentional.

[Raybony]

4316646 Umm, OK then? So after you guys finished this stories, will you start from the first one? Seeing as the chapters are marked numerically like the comic books for an edition. If so, is it mainly just for any future collaborations that you guys may do? As I don't know how would you continue this as an actual story, once the two, editions? End.

[RLYoshi]

4316664 To answer your first question, I myself don't know about the whole numbered thing. I think it was done like that so the story wouldn't start from the very formation of the Tactics and Stealth teams.

For your second question, even though it was more a statement: I'm personally hoping we continue this as our own little thing even when we're done with the main plotline, though it may end up being done as a separate story labelled as a sequel rather than being in this one. Of course, it may end up not happening at all, depending on what the others think.

[stallionshock]

4260099
Well chapter 9 killed #1.