Opaline stroked the Dragonfire Stone and laughed. "Hm-hm-hm! To think it would be so easy to recapture this little dragon. Revenge really is best served hot. Hahaha!" A trail of green, sparkly smoke drifted into the stone from a cage a few feet away, inside which sat a baby dragon.
"Y-you're right, Opaline," Misty stuttered. The Flamespire always seemed so much bigger and more menacing than Opaline's regular castle. "And soon, all his power will be yours."
"Indeed it shall," Opaline mused, walking to the cage.
Inside, Sparky slapped his belly and laughed. "Heehee! Goo!" He wiggled his fingers in front of him.
Opaline raised an eyebrow. "Though he seems rather… unbothered by having his very life force siphoned from him."
Misty perked up. "Oh! Uh… Well, maybe he's just… happy his power is being used properly?"
"Hmph. Perhaps, but I must admit that his lack of suffering is a bit disappointing."
Misty shrugged and pointed to a set of separated cages on the opposite side of the room. "At least those ponies seem like they're suffering."
"Ple-he-he-he-hease!" Hitch Trailblazer wailed, forelegs spread wide as he slammed himself into the side of his pony-sized anti-magic cage. Tears flowed from his face as he rattled the bars and butted them with his head. "He's just!" Slam! "A!" Slam! "Baby!" SLAM!
"It'll be okay, Hitch!" Sunny shouted from her own cage, which was divided from her friends'. A crystal collar clung tightly to her neck. "We'll get out of here and save Sparky soon."
"YOUUUUUU!!!" Hitch shouted, pointing a hoof at Opaline. "You shall not escape the hooves of JUSTICE!!!"
From her own cage, Pipp slapped herself in the face with a hoof. Izzy merely giggled.
Opaline held her head high and slowly stepped up to Hitch's cage. "And you will watch every last drop of magic get drained from your precious baby, right in front of you." She stuck her nose right up to Hitch. "And there's nothing you can do to stop it."
Hitch strained to keep an angry face, but he quickly collapsed and threw his hooves to his eyes, bawling. He rolled around on the floor. "It's not fa-ha-hair!"
Opaline sneered. "That's the most pathetic display I've ever seen." She smiled. "I quite like it. Misty, make a mural of these pathetic ponies. I'm going to go take a wicked bath with some wicked bath bombs to celebrate my victory." She moved towards the door.
Misty scratched at her mane. "I, uh, don't know how to make a mural, Opaline."
"I didn't ask." She walked out the door and slammed it behind her.
The room went silent.
And the ponies sighed in relief. Sunny smiled. "Nice work, Misty. That bought us a lot of time."
Misty blushed. "Aw, it was all Hitch."
"Don't sell yourself short, Misty," Hitch said as he kipped up onto his hooves. "Although, not to brag, but I did play the biggest Billy goat gruff in our foal school play." He made a sweeping bow.
Pipp grumbled. "Might have oversold it just a touch."
Hitch gasped. "Plebeian!"
Misty walked over to the dragon stone, reached under it, and turned off the smoke machine and vacuum hidden beneath it. "I'm just glad Sparky's okay. Good job with the fake siphon, Izzy."
Izzy bounced in her cage. "There's nothing you can't accomplish with creativity and a LOT of glitter."
Sunny raised an eyebrow. "Where did you get that glitter, anyway?"
"Pfft, silly. I ALWAYS have glitter!"
Pipp groaned. "Ugh, can we just get out and stretch a little?"
Misty hung her head. "Sorry, Pipp. Opaline saw what happened last time. These cages are doubly secure. They've got magic locks, metal locks, and some locks I've never even heard of. Oh! I can get you some snacks, though." She retrieved some hidden snacks from below the table and carried them to Pipp's cage.
Pipp reached for the snacks. "You're a lifesaver, Misty. Thank–"
The door flew open and Opaline burst in, hovering a dozen small orbs around her. "Misty! I can't find my wicked bath bombs. All I have is evil, nefarious, impious, profane, iniquitous, and… What are you doing?"
Misty, wide-eyed, looked between her snack and Pipp's outreached hoof. "Uh… Just… torturing the prisoners, Opaline." She stared at Pipp.
Pipp rolled her eyes, then dropped to the floor and grasped at the snacks that were just out of reach. "WHY oh WHY are you being, like, sooooo totally cruel? I'm starving!"
Hitch mumbled, "Now who's overacting?" Sunny shushed him.
Opaline harrumphed. "Fine. I'll find it myself. At least you're doing something worthwhile." She turned and left again.
After another breath, Misty groaned. "I'm not sure how long we can keep this up. It's already been three days."
Sunny rested against her cage. "Don't lose hope, everypony. I'm sure Zipp will come for us soon."
Pipp whimpered. “Yeah, but… where could she be?”