"Get that door open!" Shouted Ace as he ran over, leaving Clyde Pie in a shocked guffaw. The Mine-Bots started blasting at the door, but instead of buckling under the barrage of blasts, the door stood, and glowed with green runes. Ace watched as the door's colors faded, going back to a metal hue. He turned to one of his Doc-bots. "DeeBee-Oh-Two, scan it."
One of the Doc-bots stepped foward. "Analyzing..." A bluish beam projected from it's eyes, sweeping the door up and down. "Report: Data analysis complete. Ambient background energies detected on door. Conjecture: Though the energies are unidentified, I suspect the energies are magical in nature. Observation: After all, these meatbags are far too ill-advanced to have energy shielding of any technological level."
"Do the energies cover the area around the door?" Ace asked.
"Answer: No, master." The Doc-bot concluded.
"Then rip it from it's hinges." Ace ordered. The Mine-bots obeyed, blasting the rock that was holding the door in place. The Rock crumbled away, until the door was standing freely on it's own. Pyro-bot lumbered up to the door, and grabbed it, giving it a great heave, and tossing it behind him. As soon as he did, a green flash emitted from the room, temporarily blinding all the bots and Ace. When they could finally see again, They saw a troop of Dogs, a huge Dog with several bone decorations on his armor, and a sharp dressed Dog sitting on a throne, holding a black gem.
The Diamond Dog on the throne stood, his appearance and posture suggesting a more intelligent Dog than the others seen."You've ruined my mines! You've taken my utilities! And you dare to barge in to my chambers unannounced?!" He spoke with authority. "Why?! Why have you come?!"
Ace stepped foward, as a BIRD transformed into a Taser pistol above him. Ace snatched it out of the air. "Do I need a reason to stop forced labor of innocent beings?" He asked, pointing the taser at the apparent chief. "Life as a slave is no life at all."
"So you've come to free my utilities." The Dog scoffed, sitting back down. "I see. I believe introductions are in order. I am Chieftan Razor. With me is Warchief Doomclaw and my elite guard. I would like to know your name."
Ace was suspicious of Razor, but was willing to indulge him. "I'm Doctor Ace Sorou, P.H.D. The big guy behind me is Pyro-bot, and the ones that look like me are my Doc-bots." Ace scowled at Razor. "Let's cut to the chase, since you're obviously smarter than the average Dog. You're right, I'm here to free the slaves. Your army is beaten, and your territory taken. If you surrender, I'll make sure you're given a fair trial."
"How generous of you." Razor replied, cocking an eyebrow. "I have no intention of giving up my mines, and I plan to fight tooth and nail. Yet, I sense that you aren't here specifically for the slaves out there. I suspect that it was because of a specific slave that you've come." As he spoke, the elite guards brought out Pinkie, a cloth tied around her muzzle, and a guard holding her in a full nelson as she struggled to free herself.
Ace showed a look of concern for a split second, before steeling himself, and addressing the chieftain. "Why would I be worried about one pony?" Ace's voice caught Pinkie's attention. She looked at Ace with pleading eyes. "That one pony doesn't mean much to me, especially since I technically have more hostages than you." He stated, keeping his gaze fixed on Razor. Pinkie looked a little hurt at this.
Doomclaw pointed an accusing claw at Ace. "Chief smart!" The big Dog boomed. "Chief saw pretty necklace! No one gives necklace that pretty unless giver cares a lot!"
Knowing he was cornered, Ace turned to Doomclaw. "It's a choker, you numbskull."
"So you admit that she means more to you than the others?" smirked.
Though Pinkie was happy that Ace really did care, Ace sighed. "I can't get anything past you." Ace admitted. "You're a credit to your kind."
"And you are pain in the neck." Razor replied. "Now let's see how much you're willing to sacrifice in order to get your precious pink pony back." The Dog grinned wide. "I want your forces to turn and leave, letting my Dogs go, and my slaves return to work. After that, I will return this pony to you safely. If you refuse, then this pony dies."
Quite scared, Pinkie began struggling more, trying to get away from her captors. Ace was unfazed, and sighed. "Oh, my!" He said dramatically, raising the back of his palm to his forehead. "What ever am I to do? Surely I cannot choose between my lover and my morals! I haven't the will to carry out a third option!" Ace gave Razor an annoyed expression, before he looked behind himself, and did a hand signal, causing a trio of Doc-bots to run off.
This action did not go unnoticed to the chieftain. "What did you do?" He asked.
Ace smirked grimly. "Let me start by saying that I do unto others as they would do unto me. If someone is honest with me, I'm honest with them. If someone generously gives me something, I endeavor to find a suitable gift for them. If someone makes me happy, I do my best to try and make them happy." Ace's expression turned into a snarl. "If someone threatens or hurts my friends or family, can you guess what I'm gonna do to theirs?" A stoic expression crossed the chieftan's face. "I noticed something with all the prisoners I took. Not one of them was a woman or child. That means you either force your own tribe into slavery..." Ace regarded Razor. "Unlikely." He commented before continuing. "Or you have your noncombatants hidden somewhere nearby. And I have a whole mine full of informants willing to tell their liberators where to find them."
Razor's eyes burned into Ace. "You wouldn't."
"Try me." Ace dared. "Here's a counter offer; If you let Pinkie go, and keep this fight between us, I'll call off my bots. But if you persist on holding my marefriend hostage, then I will find your lover, and I will make sure she suffers the same fate you have in store for Pinkie. The question now isn't what I'm willing to sacrifice for my special somepony, but rather, what are YOU willing to sacrifice to keep your mines?"
Razor regarded Ace, seeing the scientist was completely serious. After some internal deliberation, he growled, and raised the gem. "Plan B!" He shouted, ushering a dark ray of light to shoot forth. Ace braced for impact, and Pyro-bot moved to shield him, but Ace was not the target. Warchief Doomclaw was struck by the beam, instead of hurting him, the beam made him grow and mutate, causing the bone armor he wore to fuse with him. Dark energies emanated from his body, and his eyes glowed red, as he let out a demonic howl. "Doomclaw!" Said Razor, the transformation complete. "Destroy them!"
"Pyro-bot!" Ace shouted. "Take him out!"
Pyro-bot and Doomclaw clashed, wrestling each other's grip for control. Pyro-bot shifted his weight, and tossed Doomclaw into the main mining area. Pyro-bot pressed the assault, as he charged into the fight.
Ace looked over to where Chieftain Razor was, only to discover he nd his elite guards had run off with Pinkie. The curtain behind his throne had opened, revealing a secret passage. Ace quickly took a spare Particle beam rifle from one of his Doc-bots. "Doc-bots, with me! If Razor gets away, we'll never get Pinkie back!" Ace and his Doc-bots disappeared into the tunnel, hot on the heels of Razor's pack.
Pyro-bot hefted Doomclaw up by his neck, his photoreceptors glaring into Doomclaw's eyes. "Function: None. Escape: None."
Doomclaw thrusted his legs into Pyro-bot's chest, knocking him onto his back. Doomclaw lept onto Pyro-bot, and began slashing his magically charged claws over Pyro-bot's armor. "I no escape!" He thundered. "I rip you to pieces! I destroy you!"
Pyro-bot caught Doomclaw's paw on a downswing. His shoulder mounted particle beam focused on Doomclaw."Error: False!" The bot blasted the Dog, sending him sailing into the roof of the cavern, cracking it, and causing water droplets from an underground lake to form on the roof.
Doomclaw landed on the ground some distance away, giving Pyro-bot enough time to get to his feet, and formulate a plan. Doomclaw looked up at the bot, and howled loudly. Pyro-bot got into a fighting stance. Doomclaw pounced at Pyro-bot, who brought his iron fist down at Doomclaw.
*****
Ace and his Doc-bots jogged through the caverns, following the tracks of the Diamond Dogs. They kept going until they hit a dead end. The tracks just seemed to disappear.
Ace turned to one of his Doc-bots. "Deebee-oh-three, assessment?"
"Analyzing..." The Doc-bot scanned the area. "Observation: The Diamond Dogs are capable of tunneling great distances over short periods of time. Conjecture: I believe that the Diamond Dogs have simply tunneled to another part of the complex."
"That settles it. Blast the walls until you find another chamber." Ace ordered. Particle beams let loose, and soon enough, three more chambers were discovered. One going left, one right, and one continuing on in a lower level. Ace jumped down into the chamber below. "Deebee-oh-four, with me! The rest of you, pair off, and search the other chambers!" The bots went their separate ways, and Doctor Sorou led DB-04 down the central path.
It wasn't long until the doctor found a pair of Diamond Dogs guarding a bridge. Elite Guards, by the looks of it. They had spotted the doctor and his bot, but had elected to stay in the middle of the bridge, spears pointed at them, rather than charge. Now certain he was on Razor's trail, Ace tapped a few keys on his PDA, while DB-04 aimed his particle beam at the Dogs. After stepping foward, DB-04 focused in on his targets. "Optimal accuracy ratio achieved." He stated, before melting the spear tips of the Diamond Dogs. Confused by the disappearance of the threatening end of their weapons, the Diamond Dogs charged foward, off the bridge. Ace stepped foward, bringing out his Taser Pistol, and engulfed the pair in a wide bolt of lightning, stunning them. The situation dealt with, Ace and DB-04 moved on.
*****
Pyro-bot slammed his fist into Doomclaw's muzzle, but Doomclaw countered by smacking Pyro-bot down to the ground. Pyro-bot sweeped his leg, and tripped the Dog. It seemed useless to attack the dog head on, So Pyro-bot looked for other means of taking him out. A glint in the ceiling showed on Pyro-bot's sensors. He scanned it to discover it was a large deposit of iron ore, unmined, and set into the ceiling. Pyro-bot got to his feet, forming a plan in his mind. He ran over to an area underneath the ore, and faced Doomclaw, who was charging after him.
Doomclaw pounced at Pyro-bot, but Pyro-bot took Doomclaw by his shoulders mid-leap, planted a foot on the dog's stomach, and used the dog's momentum to toss Doomclaw into the wall behind him. Pyro-bot got into position, and aimed his heat ray up at the ore. Doomclaw stumbled over to him, disoriented, but still willing to continue the fight. A red beam connected with the ore, melting it instantly. Molten iron splashed down onto Doomclaw in large drops. Doomclaw seemed unfazed, perhaps because of the magical invulnerability given by the dark magic he had been hit with. There was still a large amount of molten metal on the Dog, but now, Doomclaw was angered. "Stop fighting!" He roared, smacking Pyro-bot away with both paws, and sending him flying. "I stronger! I tougher! I beat you!"
Pyro-bot got to his feet, and looked up at the ceiling again. He saw it; the crack. He readied his particle beam, and waited for Doomclaw, who was overburdened with the liquid metal that was slowly starting to solidify. Doomclaw lumbered over to Pyro-bot, right under the crack. Pyro-bot's particle beam shot forth, and the lake drained water down upon the Diamond Dog, cooling the metal, and encasing him in iron. As the Mine-bots began draining the water by mining overflow tunnels, Pyro-bot stomped towards Doomclaw, and glared in his face. "You think this hold me?!" Doomclaw shouted, as he struggled to move, to no avail.
Satisfied with his work, Pyro-bot turned around. "Objective: Complete. Target: Neutralized." He stated, walking off.
*****
A particle beam lanced out, causing a cave-in just ahead. As Razor and his elite guard shook the cobwebs out of their heads, a voice came from behind. "Don't move!"
Looking back, and seeing Ace and his Doc-bots behind him, Razor took his sword, and Pinkie Pie. "Take one more step, and she dies!" He threatened, as his elite guard put up their spears.
The Doc-bots aimed their rifles at the dogs. "Warning: It is unwise to threaten the master or his lover." One of the Doc-bots said. "I suggest you surrender while our weapons are still charging, meatbag."
Ace put his hands up. "Everyone, calm your nuts!" He exclaimed. His attention turned to Razor. "Explain something to me, Chieftan." He said. "You have this perfect mining operation, with hundreds of slaves. You're making plenty of profit. Yet, you blackmail one runaway into coming back, risking your entire operation. Why?"
Razor was silent for a moment. But then, he spoke. "No one has ever escaped my mine." He replied. "I can't have rumors abound of the legendary Pie pony who managed to free herself of the mines. It rouses the utilities."
"It gives them hope that they'll one day escape?" Ace asked. Razor nodded. Ace shook his head, wagging his finger. "Now, see, I don't buy that. You're a smart dog, and you don't seem like the control freak type. Furthermore, you seem adamant about keeping Pinkie here. So why? What's the real reason you came after Pinkie?"
Razor bared his teeth, as he began sweating. But then, he harrumphed. "I gave my explanatiom. You don't want to believe it? Suit yourself." He glared at Ace. "If you're trying to convince me to give up my only bargaining chip, save your breath, it's not gonna work."
Ace shrugged, smirking. "Oh, no. I knew it wasn't gonna work. I'm just stalling for time so that he could get behind you." Ace pointed behind Razor and his guards to see the tall, black suited Slender-bot. Before any of the dogs could react, several mechanical tentacles shot forth from behind Slender, and grabbed the dogs. They all yipped and yelped in fear, as Pinkie dropped to the ground. Ace rushed over, and untied her. They shared an embrace, before Slender disappeared with the Diamond Dogs.
"Oh, Acey!" She sobbed. "I was so scared. And not in a good way, either. That wasn't any fun! I don't wanna go through that ever again!"
"Shh, shh." Ace comforted her. "It's alright. I'm here, now." Slender suddenly reappeared, minus the Diamond Dogs, and holding Razor's crystal. He extended his hand out to Ace, who caught the gem. Ace looked at the crystal, then up at Slender. "What did you do with them?" He asked, before waving his hand and shaking his head. "No, no, no, no, no. Don't tell me. I don't wanna know."