Footsteps echoed in the the dark caverns, adding to unsteady rhythm of labored breaths. The only source of light was the faint glow of Starlight Glimmer's horn, casting flickering shadows as she glanced from side to side. Ever since being chased here by Twilight Sparkle and her interfering friends three days ago, she had at first attempted to navigate the endless passages. Unfortunately however, her knowledge of these caverns was... minimal at best. As a result, she had soon lost her way entirely.
She wouldn't last much longer like this. The more time she spent fruitlessly wandering, the more exhausted she became. And she was hungry. And thirsty.
Breathing heavily, Starlight sat down, trying to collect herself. But it was hard to concentrate with her stomach loudly voicing its discomfort.
Her ears shot up, and leapt to her hooves. What was that sound? It seemed to be coming from the passage behind her. As Starlight watched and listened, she could hear something heavy being dragged, and the yellow glow of flickering torches. Although it was not in Starlight's nature to go do down without a fight, she knew that doing so in the current circumstances would be stupid move at least five different ways. So she did the only thing she could: she hid.
No sooner had Starlight hidden behind a large boulder, that several large, vicious-looking diamond dogs came striding out of the aforementioned passage, their harsh voices echoing off the cavern walls.
"Typical!" one spat as he dragged a large cart behind him. "These stupid ponies never last long."
"Go ahead and dump 'em here," one of the others - a brown dog with a scar over one eye. "We need to get back to digging for gems, quick."
With help from the other three diamond dogs, the one pulling the cart proceeded to tip it over - and Starlight quickly turned away as several dead bodies spilled onto the floor. Dear sweet Celestia. They had actually worked those ponies to death! Starlight thought she might be sick.
She needed to find a way out of this place. Now. Slowly, she began backing away from the diamond dogs, trying to keep her steps as quiet as possible.
Then her rump came into contact with something solid. Whirling around, Starlight experienced a moment of terror as she locked eyes with a large, black diamond dog holding a stout wooden club.
"Oh boys!" he called. "I think I just found us a new slave for the mines."
That was the last thing Starlight heard before the diamond dog swung his club. The force of the blow was so strong, not only did he knock Starlight unconscious - he also snapped her horn in two. As blood trickled down Starlight's forehead, the diamond dog grabbed one of her forelimbs and hoisted her onto his back - with little regard for how uncomfortable Starlight would have found the experience had she been awake. He and the other dogs set off down the tunnel from whence they came - grinning with glee at their latest catch. And nearby, still and unobserved by any of them, Kyra stood behind a boulder on a high ledge. As soon as the coast was clear, Kyra leapt lightly down and followed the light of their torches down the tunnel, being sure to keep a safe distance. Getting Starlight out might be tad more difficult with the dogs to contend with, but Kyra wasn't upset. On the contrary, she saw this as a blessing in itself. Where diamond dogs gathered, usually there was a stash of gems hidden somewhere close by. In addition, rather than making her task more difficult, they had provided her with the means to earn Starlight's trust and had rendered her totally helpless when they'd broken her horn.
Kyra smiled, and almost giggled. This was turning out to be easier than she'd expected.
.....
The cell door clanged shut with a bang. Starlight Glimmer staggered inside, collapsing moments later onto the ground. Today had been another long, terrifying day at the gem mines, adding to the uncertain amount of time she'd spent in these damnable caverns. Turning over, she winced from the pain of her newly acquired whip lashes. Her mane was filthy. Her once bright pink coat was unkempt; her hooves covered in a layer of grime and blood from being forced to dig. She was thin too - her ribs were painstakingly visible, as were her hip bones. Forget about being fed at all - the diamond dogs rarely even bothered giving her water - and that was only if they felt like it.
As she lay on the cold stone floor of her cell, Starlight felt the first hot tears form in her eyes. How had it come to this? How could she have fallen so far from the mare she once was? Before long she succumbed to despair, but she wept silently. If these diamond dogs saw her crying, they would no doubt subject her to another beating. Starlight wasn't sure how much more abuse she could take.
A distant crash from above startled her, and she sat bolt upright. Was that them? Were they coming for her already? Oh Celestia, what would they do?
Even more noises. Among them, Starlight could hear angry curses and yells from the diamond dogs as whatever was upstairs was clearly giving them quite the beating. But Starlight wasn't hopeful. On the contrary, she was terrified. Whatever was fighting the diamond dogs was probably even worse than they were, and she trembled with fear wondering what sort of horrible monster was currently wreaking havoc on the floor above.
Then all at once, the noises stopped. Starlight remained motionless, blood roaring in her ears as she waited on pins and needles, every second of silence a moment of agony for the frightened mare.
Finally, after what seemed like an hour but was in fact only ten minutes, Starlight heard footsteps on the stairs which led to the floor above. She sat still as a statue, eyes wide in the dark as the flickering light of a torch came ever closer. Moments later, Starlight experienced a surge of joy as she recognized the outline of a unicorn. As the figure came closer however, the momentary joy Starlight had felt at seeing another pony gave way to unease. Something didn't seem right. The mare before her was dressed in ebony armor and shoes, with a black traveling cloak and mask which concealed her muzzle. Her eyes shone a bright blue in the light of the torch she levitated, and Starlight realized that one was bleeding freely from fresh claw marks - likely made by a diamond dog.
The two mares stared at one another for a long minute, before at last Starlight broke the silence with a hoarse whisper.
"Who are you?"