Black. That's all Spike saw that night was black. Nothing came to him in his dreams. No pleasant memories of the past, no horrible nightmares of what the next day might hold, not even the random thoughts of his day gone by. There was simply nothing there for him that night.
That's probably why his sleep felt so short lived. He didn't seem to have any kind of buffer in between the time he fell asleep and the time he woke up. It all just happened too quick.
It was the sound of a loud gong that jolted Spike from his slumber. Giving a short yell, he jumped out of his makeshift bed. After taking a few deep breaths he darted his head around the room, temporarily forgetting where he was. Only to quickly be reminded by the other inhabitant of the room.
"Oh good, you're awake." he heard the demonic voice say behind him. Spike did a quick about face, finding that Sombra was already wide awake. Most of his armor, as well as his cape were already on. The only pieces missing being the neck plate and his crown.
The loud noise that had woke Spike up from before was heard again. It almost sounded like someone was ringing a very large bell. Which was very strange to Spike, because he didn't remember ever seeing a bell anywhere in the city.
"If you wish to do your daily hygiene, the wash room is through that door. Do be quick though, the slaves are being woken up to be given theirs meals as we speak."
Spike said nothing, and made his way over to the aforementioned door.
Once Sombra saw Spike disappear into the next room, he placed his crown over his head and looked to the glass orb above the head of his bed.
I'll need to get you back where you belong. he thought, It's not as safe here. I just hope this dragon is a quick learner. I don't have all day to be teaching him how to watch over sheep. I have to get myself prepared. After all, the last time I cast the curse it nearly killed me using that much energy. With my power so depleted, who knows how long it will last this time.
Spike was only in the restroom for a few minutes before he came out. Sombra was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard the door open again. Spike just stood there for a moment as the king eyed him, thinking that he was about to say something.
"Don't just stand there." Sombra told him after a drawn out silence, "Get your things. We still have a bit of time to get breakfast."
Spike did as he was told and got his new belongings from the dresser. He threw the vest over his shoulders, the thin black material barely having any weight what so ever. After securing the belt to his waist, he picked up the last two items up and placed them on their respective sides. But actually touching the whip was something that almost made Spike's stomach turn. He hoped he would never have to use it.
Once he was dressed, Spike followed Sombra over to the entrance. With a quick flash of his magic, Sombra opened the door. Looking outside, the first thing Spike noticed was that the golem was still there. Standing outside the door, unchanged from when they last saw it.
As they exited the room, Sombra stopped and looked down to Spike.
"I've been thinking." Sombra told him, "It's going to be very difficult for you to be a foreman with your stature. Even with you being a dragon, you don't exactly come off as intimidating."
For some reason this came off as odd to the young dragon. Yesterday, Sombra had just made all the ponies in the city know he was to be respected. And now he was saying that he wasn't right for the position? What did he mean?
"No offense to you, my friend." Sombra went on, "Your still a young drake, and there will be time for you to grow. So, for the time being, I'll make sure you get proper respect from the slaves." Spike noticed Sombra's horn light up, but noticed no magical aura around him or anything else for that matter.
Then Spike noticed where Sombra was focusing and looked behind him. The Watcher was still standing there, his expression stoic and unchanged. The only difference about him being that his eyes were now aglow with the same aura as Sombra's horn.
Once Sombra's magic faded away from the golems eyes, it turned it's attention to Spike. It's head making that distinct sound of rock grinding against rock. After simply staring at him for a few seconds, the living crystal walked up to him.
Spike didn't take it as a good sign, and wanted to back away from the approaching giant. The only thing that kept him glued to his position was the fear of reprisals from Sombra. Having remembered what the king said to him about his jumpy nature yesterday, he didn't want to start today off on a wrong note.
As the golem finally got up to him, Spike did his best to keep any sign of fear off his face. But he couldn't fight the sweat pouring down his forehead. The watcher stopped just about a foot away from him, motionless once again. After a few seconds of this, the crystal moved again. This time it seemed to lower itself, almost as if bowing to Spike.
Needless to say, this caught him off guard. Spike looked to Sombra, a questioning look on his face. Sombra half smirked at the young dragon.
"Say hello to your personal guard." Sombra told him. "The reason I give you this one in particular, is because this one is the largest of all of those ones created yesterday. I call him Colossus."
The name seemed fitting to Spike. The crystal beast was larger than even Big Mac. It stood back up, still eying Spike. It was almost as if the thing was waiting for him to give him a command.
"He is your personal protection, and your underling." Sombra continued, "He will also be your method of intimidation should any of the slaves get out of line. Don't be afraid to use him. If anything needs to be done, simply tell him, and he will take care of it."
Sombra's horn then lit up again, this time it came over Spike. Spike felt himself being lifted into the air again, this time being brought over to the overseer. After a few moments of floating through the air, Spike was dropped onto the crystal golem's back. It was far different from riding on Twilight, or even Sombra. The creatures hard, rock body was less than comfortable.
"He will also act as your mode of transport." Sombra said, that smirk coming back to his face. "Once again, no offense to you, but you're stature is somewhat lacking. Also, he already is endowed with the knowledge of every path in this castle. So you can count on never getting lost."
Spike just nodded. He still found it odd that the king was acting like this. First giving him special treatment, and now giving him a personal guard. Sombra was either very biased to him, or was just trying to make sure that he stayed check.
"Let's be off then. We have a bit of time to get a meal." Sombra said, but stopped just before he began walking. "Oh yes, I almost forgot." Spike watched as Sombra as he used his magic again, although this time he couldn't see where he was using it.
After a few moments, Sombra's magic faded from his horn. He then looked back to Spike, already knowing the dragon was questioning what he did.
"Have to make sure our guests get their meal as well." Sombra said before turning back forward. He then began to walk down the hallway, the golem in tow.
Spike didn't need to be told who Sombra meant by "guests". He already knew that he was talking about his friends.
Everyone in the dungeon was roused from their sleep when the torches suddenly came back to life. A few of them gave out startled gasps, momentarily forgetting where they were. Only to be instantly reminded when they looked at their surroundings.
Shining Armor was the first to be fully awake, coming to the very horrific realization of where he was. He had hoped that what happened yesterday was nothing more than a bad dream. But, much to his and everyone else's dread, they were still in the nightmare from yesterday.
He rubbed his eyes, trying to get the last remnants of sleep out. Looking across to the cell next to him, he noticed that Cadence was still fast asleep on the floor. She was in so much pain the night before that she couldn't even lift herself up on to the matress.
He groaned softly, rubbing his still sore snout. He looked to the side, noticing that everyone else was slowly waking up as well. And, just like him, their faces fell when they fully realized where they were.
Where as he was worried about everyone as a whole, his primary concern this time was his sister.
Even though he hadn't seen what happened to her yesterday, hearing it was enough to stir his emotions. He knew that she was blaming herself for what happened, but he didn't understand why. She didn't have a choice in the matter. She couldn't do anything to stop what happened. And yet she held herself responsible.
He wanted to talk to her. To tell her that it wasn't her fault, and that she didn't have to treat herself like that. He wanted to embrace, let her cry out all of her worries, and let her know that none of them blamed her. But he couldn't.
Everyone was fully awake by then, but all of them remained silent. What could they possibly talk about? There was no way to escape, so that was out of the question. None of them wanted to talk about what happened, for fear of bring up something worse with the others.
Pinkie was about to be the one to break the silence, but was interrupted when a loud sound was heard. It sounded like someone had just snapped an iron rod, which was followed by the sound of metal scrapping against rock. Everyone turned their attention to the sound, which was coming from the back wall of the dungeon.
That's when they noticed the wall, which they thought was part of the room, was moving upward like the dungeon gate. Once it had fully risen up, it revealed a passageway. And standing at the entrance of that passage were two figures that none of them had yet to lay eyes on.
The two creatures stepped from the shadows of the hidden tunnel, putting themselves in full light for them to see. Many of them gasped when they first saw the golems. They really didn't know what to make of them. At first they thought that they might be regular ponies, but were quickly proven wrong when they came closer.
The way the soft flames of touches gleamed off of their crystalline bodies was the biggest give away. And as they got closer, the lack of facial features and the glowing eyes became evident as well.
The two of them walked past the cells, looking over each of them as they passed. That's when everyone noticed what one of them had on it's back. It looked like some sort of containers. It was only when they got to the end of the cells that they found out what it was the strange crystal statue was carrying.
The one that wasn't carry anything reached into the container, pulling out a metal tray with food and a small metal cup. He dropped the tray on the ground, sliding it under the small opening at the bottom of the bars. The golems continued down the line, delivering a tray to each cell one by one.
The eight of them simply watched as the living crystals did their duty, never stopping to look at them, never saying a word and never spending more than a brief moment to give them their food. Finally, Shining Armor and Cadence were the only ones left.
Where as everyone else remained silent while the golems did their work, Shining Armor couldn't restrain himself. His wife was still hurt, and he wanted something done about.
"Hey," Shining armor said to the golem as the tray was slid into his cell. But the statue didn't even so much as look up at him. Shining Armor wasn't about to take that.
"Hey, I'm talking to you." he said, trying to get the two of them to acknowledge him. "Are you listening to me?"
The golems didn't even turn when he raised his voice, and just went on with their work. Once the last tray was delivered, the two went back into the dark tunnel from where they came. Shining Armor tried calling out to them one last time, but his protests fell on deaf ears.
Just as the two of them were out of sight, the large stone slab that acted as a door dropped down, closing off the tunnel once more. And it wasn't a gentle lowing down. The stone wall simply slammed itself down to the floor after the two golems left.
With that, the eight of them were left alone once more. Some of them looked to the tray's that had been left for them, and were far less than happy about what they were given to eat.
It really wasn't much at all. In a small bowl was, what looked like, thin, watery porridge. Next to that was a piece of plain bread. And the last thing, aside for the tin cup of water, was what looked like some sort of potatoes. All in all, it was very basic.
At first, no one dared to even touch the minuscule meal that was presented to them; but eventually, PInkie was the one to take the first bite. Many expected her to spit it, thinking that she was going to be tasting something that shouldn't belong in food.
The most she did though was make a face. There wasn't anything wrong with the food, but there also wasn't much right with it either. It was just very bland and all around tasteless. Pinkie found herself taking frequent sips from the cup of water to help wash down the stale taste. But, at the same time, it felt somewhat nice to have something in her stomach again.
Several of those who saw that nothing was happening to Pinkie started with their own tray's as well. And, just like with Pinkie, they all thought it was completely bland and somewhat hard to force down.
I wonder if this is the same stuff that he's giving the crystal ponies? Rainbow Dash thought to herself. After taking another sip from her water, she looked to the cell across from her, trying to see how Twilight was handling her meal. But, she noticed that Twilight was still on her bed.
At first she thought that maybe she already ate, and was just resting. But after looking down at her tray, she saw that it was still full. Nothing had been touched; Even the cup of water was still full.
Dash knew that wasn't at all good. First Twilight wasn't talking, and then she wasn't eating.
"Twilight?" she said, trying to get her friend's attention. "Twilight, look at me." It proved to be all in vain. Twilight didn't give any form of acknowledgement and just continued to lay there. But Dash wasn't about to give up.
"Twilight, I know your blaming yourself for this, but you can't just not eat." Once again, no response came. Dash was about to speak up but, once again, Pinkie chimed in.
"Yeah, Twilight." the pink pony said. "Sure it's not the greatest thing, but I get past it by pretending it's something really good."
"Pinkie, still not helping." Dash told her friend.
"What? It help's sometimes." Pinkie said, clearly not getting what Dash meant.
"Ugh, just forget it." Dash said, turning her attention back to Twilight. "Twilight, please don't leave us guessing here. Can you at least tell us something?"
Once more, her unicorn friend gave no form of response. As much as her friends sympathized with her for feeling responsible, they couldn't stand to see her torture herself like that and, the absolute worst part about it was that they couldn't do anything other then talk to her.
But it seemed that no amount of words were going to be pulling their friend out of her storm of emotional turmoil.
Inside the mines, Spike stood and waited for his next set of instructions. He and Sombra had just finished a very quick breakfast and were now waiting just inside the entry of the mine. Sombra told him that he was going to be with him for the first part of his duties to show him what he expected out of the young dragon.
Spike was standing on top of some sort of pedestal. With it, he was now on about level with Sombra's height. Colossus stood to his left, waiting for any command that either of his superiors might give. In his hands, Spike held a piece of paper and quill that he had pulled out of his satchel. The paper was lined with numbers, and each to next number was a small box that was to be checked off.
"Once they file in, they will give you their number." Sombra said to Spike, "This system is not new to them, so this will go relatively quickly. The rest of your duty simply involves patrolling the mines to ensure that everyone is doing their jobs."
Spike nodded meekly, and then whipped the sweat that was forming on his brow. Even with them being so close to the entrance, the mine was still fairly hot. He didn't even want to imagine what it was going to be like for the crystal ponies who had to work here.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, Spike heard the sound of synchronized marching. Turning his head to the mines entrance, Spike saw exactly what he was expecting. The crystal ponies were making their way to the entrance. The chains they once wore back around the necks and legs. On either side of the very front of the line were two of the Watchers.
Once the overseers had got to the entrance, the stopped on either side and faced the line. They coldly glared down at the ponies as they continued to walk with their heads low. The first of the group, a mare that Spike recognized from yesterday, came up to the three of them.
She trembled slightly as she approached, obvious fear plastered on her face. She was met with three different looks from each of them. The crystal golem simply held his angry glare, unwavering to anything that might pass by. King Sombra (who she really didn't expect to see) looked at her with cold indifference. The dragon, on the other hand, looked at her with what she could only assume was concern.
Not wishing to anger any of them, she proceeded with the process that was well instilled in her mind.
"T-T... Twenty seven." she said, her voice trembling.
Spike managed to pull himself away from the pathetic sight before him, and looked down to the paper he held. After a quick scan through all the numbers, he found the number she had said. He checked it off, and then nodded to her. Once she got his confirmation, she slowly walked forward, only to stop for the next pony behind her.
"One fifty three." he said in a raspy tone. Where as spike was a bit surprised by the number, he went through the same process again. After confirmation, the stallion walked on, and the process just went on like that.
Spike was unsure how long the process lasted, but it felt like it was at least close to an hour. The entire time, Sombra and Colossus stood quietly, waiting for anything to go wrong. Something else Spike learned that day was just how many ponies lived in the crystal empire. The number ranged in the high hundreds.
Another thing that he noticed was how the other golems filed in. Although Spike wasn't counting, he took notice of how two of the crystal behemoths would follow behind a certain number of the ponies.
Finally, Spike was at the last pony of the line. Once he checked off his number, he looked over the list, making sure that all were accounted for. But, after looking it over a second time, he noticed that one of the numbers had not been checked off. Not thinking before he spoke, he brought it up to Sombra.
"King Sombra, sir?" he said, getting the kings attention, "I think I may have made a mistake. There's one that I haven't marked off."
Sombra looked at where Spike was pointing on the parchment. Sure enough, there was a number that wasn't checked off. Spike saw Sombra bear his teeth as he growled angrily, and he immediately knew he there was going to be trouble.
"Tell your guard the number that is missing." Sombra said, giving a nod in Colossus' direction. Spike shakily turned to his new guardian, who in turn looked back at him.
"Um... N-Number... ninety four is missing." he blurted out the last bit rather suddenly. Without anything else, the hulking crystal turned itself to the entrance of the mine. As it walked out of the mine, one of the golems that had been standing guard at the door followed behind.
Although he was still concerned about what may happen, Spike found it rather astonishing that the overseers could communicate so fluently without the use of words. After several minutes of waiting for the two to get back, Spike's ears were assaulted with sounds of pure terror.
"No, Please!" he heard a high, feminine voice shriek. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" That's when the two golems came into sight. The two of them each had one of the mares arms held tightly in their grasp. The aforementioned mare struggled with all her strength to try and get away, but to no avail.
The two golems dragged the mare to Sombra and Spike, trying to keep the mare still as she continued to struggle. In her futile struggle she looked up, only to be faced with the king's oppressive gaze. She immediately stopped struggling when she saw him. There was a long drawn out silence between the group before Sombra spoke first.
"Care to explain yourself?" Sombra asked, his usual leveled tone now back.
"I...I-I" she stammered, unable to come up with any form of excuse. "I'm sorry, sir! Please, have mercy! I didn't mean to!"
"You didn't mean to?" Sombra questioned her, "That's all you have to say for yourself? You're not making a very strong case for yourself. You don't show up on our first day back, and expect me to be merciful?"
The mare simply stared at him with pleading eyes, hoping that he might be able to have at least the smallest form of compassion or understanding. It had been over a thousand years since all of this ended, but it would seem that Sombra had not at all changed. Sombra looked away from the mare, and then looked at the taller of the two golems.
"Twenty." he said to the thing. The mares face fell at the simple word uttered.
"NO!" she screamed, "No, please don't!"
As she continued to scream and writhe, the two Watchers dragged her to the wall adjacent from Spike and Sombra. That's when Spike first noticed the odd object jutting from the wall. It was a metal ring dangling from a simple loop mounted on the wall.
Spike watched as the two golems worked. Once they had gotten to the metal ring, the shorter of the two shoved the still screaming mares face against the wall, holding her in place. While the thing held her down, Colossus was busy restraining her. He took a large lock that was hung on the wall nearby, and used it to lock her collar to the ring.
The mare was now completely unable to move. So, having now lost every option, she stopped her screaming and simply attempted to look around with eyes. Out of her peripheral vision, she caught a glimpse of one of the golems grabbing the second item off the wall. Her mind immediately went back into panic mode. Even with the prospect of knowing what was going to happen, it did nothing to settle her mind.
Spike continued watching the scene before him, not wanting to look, but unable to look away. Colossus stood behind the mare, a whip waiting to be used in his right hoof. The behemoth looked to Sombra and Spike, as if waiting for his next command.
Spike was unsure what to say. On one hand, he really didn't want to see this happen. But on the other, he knew he really didn't have a choice. Taking a look at Sombra, Spike noticed that the king hadn't taken his eyes off of Colossus and the mare.
Sombra gave a simple nod, and the golem nodded back in recognition. Turning itself back to the mare held in bondage, Colossus uncoiled the whip.
Although the mare knew it was coming, the anticipation of it was killing her.
"Please." she whimpered, "Please, I'm begging you. I won't let this happen again, I promise."
Her voice fell on deaf ears. Colossus reared his arm back as far as it could go. With one quick motion, there was loud crack, followed shortly after by a shrill, blood curdling scream that could have been heard miles away. No less than seconds later, there was another.
Colossus seemed very skilled in this craft. He timed the lashes just right so as to give no time for recovery, but keep her body from going numb from the old ones. With no breathing room, the mares mind and body became nothing more than a storm pain and agony.
Spike looked on in disgusted horror, cringing with each ear splitting scream that followed the deafening cracks of the whip. Every time a new one came, Spike's body would suddenly get a jolt of surprise. He wanted to look away, fearing that he might become sick to his stomach from the torture scene going on in front of him.
Sombra, however, simply stood and watched. His stoic expression never changed at any time during the brutal punishment. He didn't even so much as flinch whenever the whip came down. He just seemed to be just as unbreakable as the golems.
After several minutes, the final lash was delivered. The mare's back was a mess of fresh, deep gashes. The blood from her wounds slowly trickled downwards, drying slowly as it descended. The mare's eyes were bloodshot from her screaming so hard, and her face was a waterfall of tears.
The second, who had been standing idly by, reached to the mare's collar, unlocking her from the wall. She immediately collapsed to the floor, the pain too difficult for her body to bear. As she laid there weeping softly, she felt the golems grab her by the arms and start dragging her again.
She continued looking down, just letting herself get dragged, until she saw those telltale armor encased hooves. She lifted her head up slightly, facing the emotionless king. There were a few seconds of silence before Sombra said something.
"It matters little as to why you didn't show up." he told her in his same leveled tone. "It is the simple fact that you didn't. You are aware of how things work, and yet you still disobeyed. But, with the prospect of what you know will happen next, I'm willing to wager that you won't be slipping again. Correct?"
"Y-Yes, sire." she whispered hoarsely, her throat hurting from the screaming.
"Get her on the line." Sombra told the overseers, not acknowledging the mare at all. They both nodded, and proceeded to drag the barely conscious mare to where the rest of the chain gang was waiting. With the defector being taken care of, Sombra turned his attention to the trembling dragon.
"As you can see, I have zero tolerance insubordination." He said, getting Spike's full attention once more. " That was on the spot correction for a very big problem. However, smaller problems can arise during the work hours. That's were your second task comes into play.For the rest of the working day, you will patrol this mine with the overseers, watching for any infractions. Accidents will happen, but I want you to write them down. Am I clear?"
Spike's kept his mouth closed to hide his chattering teeth, and simply nodded vigorously. He was still very shook up, but he couldn't afford to not be on the king's good side. Sombra gave him a small smirk, pleased with Spike's answer.
"Good." Sombra simply stated, "Colossus will be back momentarily, and he will take you through the mines. Now, if you'll excuse me." Sombra began to walk away. "I have a great deal of things to do today. Should you have anymore questions, direct them to your guard. But keep them simple. As I've said before, they somewhat lack in intelligence."
With that, Sombra turned and left Spike alone in the mine. As the king slowly made his way out of his sight, Spike found himself frozen. He still was having trouble comprehending what took place only moments ago. He couldn't understand how anyone or anything could do something so cruel and heartless.
As Spike continued to stand there trembling, he couldn't stop that scene from replaying in his mind over and over again. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew it was going to be forever burned into his mind. He would never be able to get that macabre moment out of his head.
Sombra made his way back up to castle. He was still a bit irritated from the events prior, but he would manage. He had actually thought that nothing would happen today. That it would just be without any major incidents.
I swear, it's as if these sheep don't even value their own pathetic existence. He thought angrily to himself. He took a breath, trying to steady his nerves. Calm down. You've come too far to start getting this angry. It was difficult enough keeping this place hidden for that long. Then getting it back was something all together different.
He opened the door to his room, and used his magic to light torches on the wall. He let the breath he was holding out in a short sigh. As irritating as the day started out, at the very least, he was back on track.
He looked at the encased heart, staring at it lazily. He knew he had to get back into the right place, but so much of him wanted to start with his other work. He looked to the bookshelf, glancing over every book that he owned. Using his magic again, he took a book off of the very top shelf.
"Hmm, this should be a good place to start with getting my magic back into focus." he thought aloud as he looked at the book, entitled "Flow of Magic through Meditation".