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// Chapter 1- Filly-Pup in Mines 
// Story: North Wind: Earning your Cutie Mark 
// by BlackBonitaCherry 
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Shouting was the first thing to hit his ears and his muzzle scrunched as one by one his senses turned back on. The familiar smells of mining came to him along with the sweet, nauseating smell of ponies, which confused and infuriated him because they were not supposed to be in Jewel Dog territory. He could also feel wind, which was strange as he knew they had imprisoned him in the deepest part of the mine where wind was impossible. Then the significance of this hit him and his eyes shot open, realizing that, yes, this was not another hallucination form his long imprisonment, he was actually free.
It did not take long for his eyes to adjust and he looked at the accursed chains responsible for his long sleep, chaining him like a pet around this stupid collar. Chains that were supposed to keep him asleep for another three hundred years, created by the greatest magic users on the planet, never to be broken. 
Had been cut
He blinked several times, looking closer and realizing that yes, these six foot thick chains had a clean cut right through them, cutting off the connection to whatever enchantment that accursed Starswirl.
Just the thought of him had him growling, the sound echoed through the chamber and there was a squeak from somewhere above before the sound of something falling reached him. Without even pausing he held out his paw and something tiny and really blue fell into it.
Never ceased to amuse him that the domestic dogs were cursed with color blindness while his Canines were born with the ability to see color, and even to smell it. 
Unfortunately, the blue color of what he had caught sent him into a flashback of someone else who had been blue, and it took more effort to snap himself out of those unwanted memories.
Luckily whatever fell was now unconscious and he allowed himself to bring them closer so that he could get a better look without them freaking out.

A filly-pup, a blue one, a [really blue one with a sapphire coat and different shade of blues in its mane from a pale Diamond blue to a dark Turquoise, and several other colors that reminded him of other blue gems.
The wings told him of what tribe she came from and gave him a clue of how he was freed, but his nose told him a different story and he felt like growling again if it weren’t for the sounds of his Canines running around barking and growling.
With a huff he looked up at the mine and then down at his form. He was too big to even fit, and while he hated it, it looked like he would need to take a new form.
Sometimes he envied those alicorns with all that power, and they didn’t need to be the size of a mountain.
Sometimes.

Glancing at the filly-pup of whom he owes his freedom, however unintentional it might have been, he took a peek into her thoughts for a canine form and raised an eyebrow before shrugging. Not the worst form he could take.
His form blurred as he shrunk, his fur going from its multi-colored fur to a dark red, the spikes on his back and tails receding as it replaced them with fluffy fur, joining into a single curled tail.
The filly-pup was now only a third his size and he had the thought of becoming larger before huffing. No, it wasn’t like his strength weakened anyway.
Taking a measuring look of the nearest opening, he flicked his tail before giving the slightest push.
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The Ruby Dogs all converged at the entrance where the loud growling from before had caught their attention.
Some of them had no clue what went on and assumed it was something else, but a few like Chief Cas and Beta Pico knew the significance and exchanged looks.
A small figure appeared right in front of them, revealing a red canine with a curly tail holding the fully pup in his paws and Cas instinctively flinched from the scent the stranger was giving off, one that the chief of each of the Four Canine tribes (even the Diamond Dogs no matter their ignorance of other subjects) memorized when the previous Chief stepped down. Pico himself knew the scent from when his granddog was in charge and he broke into the canine’s private cavern to look through his things.
It was the last time that he did so.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the other Ruby Dogs.
They all charged the unknown canine, ignoring Cas’ warning to stand back, but it was too late. The small dog appeared right in front of Cas looking unruffled while all the dogs behind him fell over, bruised and bloodied.
“Master Ruffalo,” Cas assumed the proper position, baring his neck as he knelt down before the canine, Pico doing the same beside him.
“You Chief?” the voice was quiet with an almost unheard echo if the Ruby Chief hadn’t been straining his ears.
“Yes, Cas, Chief of the Ruby Dogs at your service,” apparently what he said was wrong as a rumbling growl reverberated through his fur.
“Ruby Dogs?,” too late did he remember that the division of the canines occurred after this one’s imprisonment.
“Jewel Dogs divided centuries ago in a dispute, now Ruby, Emerald, Sapphires, and Diamonds, Cas sorry Master,” the entire ground shook under the rage of the canine and the two conscious Ruby Dogs prepared for their deaths to be swift yet messy.
Then there was a whimper and the shaking stopped, and they both dared to look up to see the filly-pup in the canine’s paws shaking.
Ruffalo’s eyes were glowing red as he bared his teeth before he adjusted the little one, the fur on his head no longer spiked up.
“Explain the dispute after you explain why filly-pup is in cave with scent of binding on wings, and why this one also bears the smell of blood not her own,” Cas swallowed, this was not going to end well.





Master Ruffolo stared at the scene before him, a blank expression on his face.
“You are telling me that this Cornhusker had an interest towards the filly pup that no one put an end to?” Chico's ears pinned to his head as he tried to think of defense for the tribe.
“We Ruby dogs do not interfere with the ponies, we make them work to pay off their debts,” the ground shook and they couldn’t say anything right could they?
“ This filly-pup had no debt!” they trembled at his shout, “Now explain to me exactly what happens that you would do this, I did not think that my tribe, my canines would fall so far as to force filly-pup of this age into work we do not even do this to our own pups unless that has changed as well?” Cas looked offended.
“No master Ruffalo, we do not force the pups to do the work that this one has, but her uncle holds influence and debts as well with three of the four tribes and gave us no choice but to accept her in place of him. He threatened to send her to market and we decided that it would be better for her to remain in our sights than to condemn her to an even worse fate." This angered the Alpha even more but the shaking did stop (which caused them to sag in relief.) 
Ruffalo returned his attention to the mess in the room.
“When did you discover this pony?” the smell was rather unpleasant.
“We discovered him 10 minutes before your arrival my lord, he gave a great shout and when we found him it was too late and the filly pup’s wing binds were scattered across the room.” Pico explained.
 Ruffolo bent down and picked up a cloth with her scent and frowned as it was covered in the stallion's blood that now lay in pieces on the floor.
Considering she had managed to slice straight through a magically enchanted chain, it didn’t surprise him that this kind of thing could happen as well. But it did not make any sense. This kind of magic was different than Pegasus magic yes and back then he remembered winged species commanding the winds much more precisley than any other pegasus, some with the ability of 'wind scars', but to this extent?
Something was not right.
"Where is The Record Keeper?" he asked, it is their responsibility to make sure that no knowledge of the jewel dogs is lost.
The two unfortunate canine shared glances, swallowing as they dreaded this part of the conversation. Their god was not going to be happy.

When she woke up, it was to an entirely different storage room from before, with books instead of scrolls and where the ceiling was even lower.
It didn’t take her long to remember what happened, and she immediately started searching for an exit, panic overriding her common sense.
They had found Corn Husker, they knew what she did, she had to get out!

“This Ruffalo suggests you sit down before falling over, your stunt depleted your energy dangerously,” at the voice she froze, only then realizing what he said as her entire body locked up on her and she fell over.
There was a sigh before he picked her up, setting her back on the cot she had been lying on.
“Pony pup not in trouble, guards punished for letting foolish male pony leave fight.” A bowl of stew was placed before her and at his urging she drank the whole thing, feeling her energy return.
He took the bowl away and she looked down at her hooves, flinching when she saw the red stains on them.
The image returned and this time she felt her stomach heave as the stew she had just consumed ended up on the floor.
Tears came to the corner of her eyes as she stared at yet another mess she had made.
“Please don’t tell them, please,” she was whispering this as another Ruby Dog appeared to clean everything up.
“Don’t tell who?” his calm tone caused whatever restraint she had to break.
“My family, or my uncle, if they knew,” she shivered, “Don’t make me fly, please don’t make me fly,” she felt horrified at breaking down in front of this canine who she didn’t even know.
He said nothing as she continued sobbing and begging for him not to make her fly. She did not know who he was, he had the crimson fur of the other Ruby Dogs but he didn't put off the same airs as the others either.
When she finally calmed down he helped her clean up and gave her some water that actually didn't taste bad.
“Pony pup should never have been here, but Wind Scar a dangerous, foolish pony,” the air became heavy as she looked up at him, “We cannot return you to him for fear of what’d he do, but we also cannot have you working as you did before, even if you learned to climb mine walls,” those words caused confusion.
“Climb walls? I ha," but she had grabbed onto something when the wind sent her back up, had she grabbed onto the ceiling instead of ground like she thought?
 “It is not safe to run in mine with eyes closed, if not for Pegasus magic, you would have smashed your head against wall,” she felt numb, her magic made her climb the wall? Could ponies do that?
“What are you going to do?” he coughed into his paw, looking even more severe.
“Pony Pup will stay in this room and clean, walls and floor very dusty, pony pup can also help Gaius the griffin with food retrieval and prepping. We’ll make a tally of your work to take off Wind Scar’s debt,” and that was that.

Warmth from the sun after a long time underground made her feel a bit drowsy, and she almost fell asleep if Gaius (finally learning his name was a bit embarrassing but he didn't seem to mind it.) Had not dropped the bucket in front of her.
"Ocean this way, permission to go farther," she nodded, picking up the bucket while he pulled the cart. She would've pulled her own cart but her wings were not liking anything around them and after the third broken harness she was just going to use the bucket.
However, other than the occasional breaking or unscheduled wind sending dirt everywhere, the wind didn't feel as built up or wild as it was before. She had a feeling it was because she released a lot of it into that strange pit, but considering her new duties and freedom, she didn't break anything important.

For some reason she felt like something out there was cackling at that last sentence.

"We'll stop here," with a start she realized they were near the ocean and the sight was a whole lot better than the desert they were in before. With unease North thought back to being dropped off in an area with trees and grass, how extensive was the Ruby dog mine? 
Gaius was watching her again and she hurried to join him,
"Does filly know how to swim?" North thought about it before nodding, "Good, will need help gathering some seaweed and fish for dinner." her ears fell back, he was eating fish and she was stuck with seaweed, her stomach didn't like that.
"Fish?" he tilted his head,
"Yes, and since we are out in the open I was thinking of smoking and grilling, how do you take yours?" she blinked.
"I've never had fish," he dropped the sticks in his talons.
"What?" she cringed at the whisper, "What about shellfish, chicken, or Tartarus even bugs of any kind?" she shook her head with a frown.
"My p-parents gave us vitamins every morning for nutrition, and I ate a lot of fruits and vegetables, and oats, I asked about meat once and they didn't take it well," Gaius' eye was twitching and she swallowed, "Anyways, I thought with our teeth we can't have meat," he scoffed.
"In small bites you can," then he started muttering about 'no wonder pegasus rely on magic for flying' which caught her attention.
"Is it possible to fly without magic?" the eagerness in her tone threw him off and he frowned,
"Let's get food, it recently stormed after all," drooping a bit at her question being ignored, North swam out into the ocean and dived a bit before bringing up some seaweed in her mouth. 

After ten minutes her stamina waned and she swam back, wings beating against the current and reached the shore, only to stop at Gaius' raised eyebrow who pointed behind her.
With some dread she turned and nearly screamed at all the floating bodies behind her, some cut in half. Others with cuts along their throats.
"Swimming will have to be out," she stared at the carnage, flinching at the wing covering her head, "Dinner will be big," she whimpered.
"I didn't even feel the magic leave," she tilted over and there was a sigh,
"Rest for now," he cobbled together a net from debris and used it to scoop up most of the fish while North stared at the sand, her hoof swirling around the sand as she contemplated her future.
It didn't look all that good.

The next morning they returned to the mine with a cart filled with smoked and grilled fish, and one shark, along with a bucket filled with shellfish, including an unlucky crab that had startled North by pinching her hoof. Gaius prepared dinner by himself with only North helping, the other ponies had their debts reviewed and some were released while others were relocated to other parts of the mine in case they tried asking questions about Corn Husker. Ruffalo surprisingly helped as well, cutting up vegetables that he himself had gathered and listened to what happened with a blank face, only his tail twitching revealing the discomfort. 

North would be tempted to hug him if it wasn't for the aura he released anytime she so much as thought about it, as if he knew what she was thinking.
"This is troubling," Ruffalo rubbed the tuft of hair underneath his chin and flicked North on the nose when she leaned towards him, she tried not to pout, "From what I've learned her Uncle refused to remove the bindings despite the laws against them and did not give any instructions on how to remove them. This kind of magic should not be contained, especially when it is newly awoken, when did it first appear," North gulped.
"Three months ago," she wanted the answer to remain there but the raised eyebrow had her continuing with great reluctance, "I was startled and panicked and accidentally hurt my sister," she thought back to Corn Husker and shuddered, "I could've killed her," she said with horror, only to receive a bop on her head.

"No," Ruffalo's voice was firm, "What happened with Corn Husker was an unfortunate side affect of the binding as well his own actions. What he received was a mercy compared to what is normally done with these types," the look in his eyes made North shiver, but at the same time she felt a bit of comfort from his words.
"But how long will this continue? I killed all those fish on accident, what if I accidentally hurt someone else? Is there a way to get rid of it?" the silence that fell made her look at both adults. Ruffalo's face was twisted into a frown but it was Gaius who caught her attention.
"Yes," he whispered, a sad expression on his face, "But the alternative is not worth it," he spoke as if he went through it himself, but that made little sense, Griffins don't have magic, do they?
"You used to have that magic," Ruffalo's statement was not a question and Gaius nodded.
"A long time ago, but an incident with my own tribe resulted in the ability being lost forever, and after that my wing was taken from me as well. Little one, I know that you believe it to be a curse, so many do, but so long ago they considered it a gift," she avoided his look.
"My own family sent me away because I hurt my sister, they saw my uncle bind me, and I-i don't even know if it's normal or not, I have less than a month before he comes to pick me up and I can't go back without the assurance that I will be able to control this so called 'gift.'" there was a sigh.
"This one would suggest to have you remain for Gaius to teach you, but there are answers you must seek for yourself that is unattainable for non-ponies in Equestria. But if filly-pup wishes, we shall do what we can to help," North stared at the canine, a bit overwhelmed and the short canine found himself almost bowled over as the blue filly-pup cried into his fur. 
Feeling a bit out of his depth, Ruffalo glared at a smirking Gauis, awkwardly patting the one responsible for his freedom and resisting the urge to throw her off. Someone of her talent should be nurtured and encouraged into a great asset, and he wasn't going to let whatever corruption is among the ponies now ruin that talent. 
Even if it meant dealing with those damn Alicorns again, at least this time around Starswirl won't be around to interfere. Now, what could they do to make sure this filly-pup's magic doesn't dice without her say-so?