//------------------------------//
// The Disillusioned Ones 
// Story: Innavedr 
// by Imploding Colon 
//------------------------------//

	"Fasterrrr!  Fasterrrrrr, poniessss!"  A diamond dog paced over the deep pit of crystals, lashing a whip over the flanks of several sweat-stained stallions hard at work.  "You wantttttt to eat?!  Then dig harder!"

Josho grumbled, his horn aching as he levitated the power drill at a slanted angle and pounded away at the base of a giant, sapphiric shard.  "What I wouldn't give for a can of kibble and some arsenic right about now..."

"Shhhh!"  Eagle Eye insisted, squatting just a few feet away from the heavy-set stallion.  The purple binding of their manacles shimmered between them as the petite mercenary continued chipping away at a cluster of crystals with his pick-axe.  "I'm trying to clear out this wall here..."

Josho flashed an incredulous look to his left.  "The heck do you think you're doing?"

"You heard those 'Thrillas.'"

"'Killas.'"

"Whatever.  They're gonna punish us if we don't get this pit cleared out."  Eagle Eye licked the edges of his lips as he carefully plucked one stone out after another.  "I, for one, plan on eating before I die of not eating."

"It's been dark for over an hour now.  Night has long fallen," Josho grumbled over the roar of his engine.  He sweated and struggled with the device, his stubbly muzzle awash with sweat.  "I seriously doubt they're gonna throw us a bone that they haven't chewed on already."

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Eagle Eye murmured aside.  "Who enslaves ponies at this hour?"

"Jeee, I dunno.  Why don't you go take it up with the bellhop in the damned lobby?!"

"No talkinggggg!"  A passing dog slashed a whip across Josho's shoulder.  "Only digging!"

"Augh... I hear ya, Fido!  I hear ya!"  Josho glared over his shoulder.  "Why don't ya save it for a flank less blubbery than mine so that the pony can feel it?!"

The dog gave an indignant snort.  He looked ready to whip the Enforcer even harder, when a wave of crystalline filament flew towards him.  He immediately retrated, scaling the edge of the pit and slapping a breathing mask over his face.  Breathing safely, he escaped the settling layer of glittering sediment.

Josho paused in operating his power tool, squinting curiously at that.  "That's funny.  These are diamond dogs.  One would think they'd be used to the earth's farts in all of those mangy tunnels they dig..."

"Ungh!"  Eagle Eye groaned as he inadvertently chipped a pristine crystal in half.  "Didn't I say to stop yapping?!  Now look what you made me do..."

"The heck is your deal, kid?" Josho hissed at him.  "There's no need to be so damn exact!  You're supposed to be their slave, not their homemaker."

"In your book, those two probably count as the same," Eagle Eye grunted.

"Oh, hardy har hary..."  Josho spat and rammed the power tool deep into the rocky wall.  "You can't afford to be delicate here, sissy saddle!  All these drooling buckets of butt loogeys want is for us to break rocks, not practice sculpting.  The moment they catch you wasting precious time, they'll have your guts for garters."

"Hmmph..."  Eagle Eye smirked.  "Bet that'd make your life a lot easier."

"Kid, I could have flattened you into a pulp hours ago if I so much as sneezed wrong."

Eagle Eye raised his pickaxe and glared over his shoulder at him.  "Then what's stopping you?"

"I don't know the rules of this pathetic place!" Josho hissed, once again glancing at the patrolling canines.  "These Killas aren't acting just like any normal pups!  What's more, I think... I know it's strange, but I think they're scared crap-less by the rocks we're digging up.  Who ever heard of that?"

"It doesn't matter," Eagle Eye spat, chiseling away at more pieces of reflective stone.  "We're prisoners, and we'll probably die as such."  He clenched his chin and paused in chiseling.  "Is it such a crime that I wanna do so with dignity and my belly full?"

"Yeesh.  No wonder you deserted the Queen's forces, ya friggin' wuss."

The air sang from Eagle Eye swinging the pickaxe until it rested against Josho's nose.  "I didn't abandon the front because of cowardice!"  He frowned.  "To have given in blindly to orders would have been the mark of a true weakling.  Thankfully, I had a marvelous, strong, family-devoted stallion to inspire me to greatness!  But he's gone now!  And everything that ever mattered to me is gone with him!  All thanks to you and stupid jerks like you who value murder over... m-murder over..."  Eagle Eye's lids fluttered as he tilted forward.

Josho actually gasped as he caught the teetering stallion in the crook of his left limb.  "Spark's crapping, kid!" he wheezed as he flashed a nervous look behind him.  "This ain't no time for the friggin' vapors!  Get up or I'm gonna shove that pickaxe straight down your throat until it becomes a bookend on the other side!"

"I... I-I don't know what's happening..."  Eagle Eye teetered back onto all fours, his eyes bleary.  "The crystals..."

Josho cleared his throat, nodding.  "Yeah.  I think something's in them.  I don't know what it's doing to us, but it's obviously something those Killas don't wanna get close enough to pee on."

"Why w-would they do this?" Eagle wheezed, summoning the strength to whack away at the wall with the pickaxe again.  "Why run us into the ground?"

"Their prison is on tank treads.  Whatever it is they're after, they're not sticking around in one place to clean up after themselves."  Josho shuddered.  "Or our bodies..."

Once more, a whip cracked nearby.

"Stupid poniesssss!  We told you to digggg!"

Grumbling, Josho hammered away at the crystalline wall.  "I'm not sure how much friggin' more of this I can stand."

"Well..."  Eagle Eye nevertheless managed to sing-song as he swung the pick-axe once more.  "You know what they say.  'Where there's a whip, there's a—'"

"Shut your banana hole!"  Josho hissed, his eyes blood red.  "You shut it right now!"