Again the tailed boy was forced to open his eyes into darkness. The many times he was forced to come to was becoming a bit distressing. He was sure it wasn’t healthy, though that thought was immediately pushed aside as a white muzzle poked closely in front of his face.
“Roxie is glad to see you are awake finally,” she said in a chuckle. Raging Star tried to move his limbs, however found that he was once more held in deep bondage. This time however, his appendages had been stretched to their limit. A tug or pull on any end resulted in a sharp pain at the boy’s joints. After struggling for a minute, he decided to leave it be.
“Good,” Roxie growled. “Roxie wouldn’t want you to lose your arms and legs now,” the poodle cackled walking towards a large stone carved throne. She sat her flank on the rock and barked a command to the nearest guard. The dog brought her a large chunk of meat of which she proceeded to chomp upon.
“What do you want from me,” Raging Star finally asked focusing on the steak between Roxie’s teeth.
“Roxie would like to use you,” the dog said through a full mouth. “You will help Roxie with her crusade and then Roxie will sell you when she wants.” The poodle swallowed and grinned at her prisoner. “Ask Roxie what happens if you don’t.”
“Like bull I will,” Raging Star spat out. Bo barked from behind the chained boy and tugged lightly on a chain dangling from the wall. Raging Star jerked his head away from behind him and screamed in pain as his arms and legs stretched further apart.
“Ask Roxie,” Roxie said again licking her chops.
“Okay!” Raging Star gasped. “What if I don’t?!”
Bo released his grip and the boy’s muscles relaxed.
Roxie left her spot and lifted the boy’s head up after stroking his head. She glared down viciously while she spoke, “Roxie will cut off that fuzzy wuzzy little tail of yours. Then, she will poke out your eyes, slowly. Poor monkey will forever be blind, and tailless!”
“Is that all?” Raging Star chortled between short breaths.
“Why does Monkey ask Roxie, ‘is that all?’” Roxie once more lifted his head, though this time by his hair. “Roxie is a master of torture!”
“Nah, not really,” the boy replied. “Mr. Satyan was much worse.”
“Mr. Satyan, of Satyan Square?” Roxie’s face contorted in disgust. She contemplated something for a minute before shrugging off the thought. “Mr. Satyan,” she laughed. “You are not a Minotaur. Only Minotaur work for Mr. Satyan.”
“You’re not a pony,” Raging Star said then irking Roxie suddenly. “You have a pony slave and are a dog. Mr. Satyan had a monkey slave and is a Minotaur.” Roxie motioned to Bo then who tugged harder on the chain. Raging Star wailed awfully loud throughout the cavern. The pain intensified as Roxie knelt under him.
“Feels like fire, yes?” Roxie asked. “Never speak about my pony. Never speak about my pony,” Roxie growled. She ordered Bo to release and Raging Star was able to relax once more. “Since Roxie’s methods are weak to you, she’ll show monkey boy how much more of a hell it is in Roxie’s Den.” The poodle whistled into the air and sat down once more.
“You summoned me?” Viololá inquired from the side. Raging Star eyed the Unicorn critically. She returned the glance, though her face was lit with concern.
“Monkey is having hard time adjusting to his new life. Roxie wants you to welcome him properly.” The grin on her face couldn’t have been wider.
“You don’t mean…” Viololá began to protest, but was hit hard across the face.
“Do not question Roxie slave,” the poodle snarled. From within her armor straps, Roxie removed a vial of purple liquid and handed it to the Unicorn. The poodle barked roughly, and insisted she take the vial from her. Viololá hesitantly agreed, keeping her eyes on the floor as she approached Raging Star.
“Viololá,” Raging Star whispered. “Why are you listening to her? Use your magic!”
The Unicorn did not reply. She raised her hands and placed them on either side of the boy’s face. As she closed her eyes, her horn began to glow something bright. A violent red aura burst from her palms then and surged over Raging Star’s body.
“VioloLAAAAAAH!!!!” Raging Star cried painfully. The searing burns flashed hot over his entire body, causing him to flinch and suffer from both his chains and the fire. Viololá shouted a cry as well and released her hold, shuffling her hands over themselves and blowing into her palms. Raging Star cooled down, but his face teemed with sweat. Although the intense burning radiated throughout his body, his visage remained unscathed. The melting sensation did not disappear either.
Removing the lid of the vial, the Unicorn opened the boy’s mouth and the slimy substance snailed down his throat. Raging Star coughed a couple of times, trying to shake off the horrid after taste.
“Still not hot enough for you?” Roxie’s bark forced her slave to flinch. “You are Roxie’s now. Viololá put a magic spell on you. Silly Monkey has to obey Roxie, or the magic will blow up inside and… POP!” Roxie’s paw snap ushered two guards into the room. They detached Raging Star from the chains and tossed him in front of Roxie. “Get up,” Roxie ordered.
Raging Star remained slumped on the ground, breathing heavily. He shifted his eyes in her direction and politely held up his middle finger. Roxie snarled and barked the command more rigorously. Unwilling to submit, Raging Star instead laughed.
“Please listen,” Viololá whispered from behind him. The boy chuckled more and remained still on the ground. Roxie reduced her sudden fangs into a light smile. She crossed her arms and waited. Suddenly Raging Star felt bloated. Filling up inside and getting bigger.
“What?!” A forceful surge through his chest forced the boy onto his feet. It felt like his body was expanding exponentially, but he remained unchanged. The fibers of his being were being stretched and an agonizing pain swelled over his body. He couldn’t seem to catch a break today.
“Listen to Roxie and the pain will stop,” Roxie said calmly. Raging Star yelled obscene remarks rather than comply, and his body convulsed violently to the ground. He shrunk into a tiny ball and continued his screaming.
“Raging Star, listen!” Viololá shouted.
“Say you will obey Roxie! Say you will serve her!” the dog shouted then, kicking the downed boy.
“I’ll… serve you!” Raging Star gasped out. The tearing stopped. Raging Star lay on the floor in a weary slump, glaring maliciously at his new captor. Roxie bent down and licked her tool. The boy could not react. Her saliva coated his face and she chuckled at the success of her methods.
“Welcome to Roxie’s Den,” she said.
“You have to obey her if you don’t want to die,” Viololá said in the darkness. Raging Star sat as far away from her as he could. He was a little glad the cage that contained him kept the two separated. She was the last person he wanted to see.
“So that’s why you didn’t help,” Raging Star replied. “You would’ve turned into a big mess.”
“I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you,” the Unicorn’s voice softened.
“Instead of telling me, you fed me that stuff too.”
“I had no choice; you know what would’ve happened.” The tailed boy audibly disapproved. “At least you don’t have to wear chains,” Viololá tried to lighten the mood. “The cage is only there to keep you and me separated.”
“It stinks down here,” Raging Star commented off topic. Viololá took the hint and closed her mouth.
“I didn’t know you could use magic,” she said again after a while. Raging Star did not budge. “That was incredible, what you did. It blew away all of those guards.”
“I don’t remember,” Raging Star interjected. “I know I did that stuff, but I don’t remember how or why I can’t do it on my own!”
“I can relate,” Viololá said. “In the beginning stages of our lives, Unicorns give out magic spurts until they learn how to control the outbursts.”
“I want to learn,” the boy cut in again. “I want to learn how to control it… then maybe I can get back at Mr. Satyan.” Raging Star clenched his fists together, trying to amass something from before. After a few seconds, he roared loudly and smashed his hands into the ground.
“I… I could probably teach you.” For the first time since they began speaking, Raging Star turned around. Viololá stood directly in front of the cage, illuminating the darkness with her magic. “No, I can teach you,” she corrected herself.
“You won’t explode?”
“Roxie’s serum only works when she gives a command, so all we need to do is keep it a secret. She doesn't think you can perform magic as far as I can tell.” Raging Star jumped to his feet.
"What if she does find out? The moment she tells us not to we'll die."
"Not if we take the antidote," Viololá revealed.
“You can get it?” She nodded in response.
“I’m allowed to explore the caverns periodically. The only reason I haven’t tried an escape before is because these brutes outnumber and out power me,” she began. “However, with you in the equation, we just might be able to do it.”
“If it means getting out of here, I’ll learn a thing or two from you,” Raging Star said more as a compromise than an agreement. Nevertheless, Viololá chuckled and nodded as well.
“We have some time before they start a shift for you,” the Unicorn stated, increasing her magic light further. The boy shielded his eyes. “I don’t have the expertise to teach you everything, but if I can just get you to understand the basics, we should be fine.”
“Just hurry up and show me!” The boy stamped his foot on the ground.
“We lost him in the gorge,” a Minotaur worker reported to Mighty Frey. Mighty peered over the edge of the cliff.
“How did he cover so much ground? He’s half my height,” the young Minotaur pondered.
“He did kill Terrano, Mighty Frey,” the worker recalled. Mighty waved off the bull and continued to study the massive fissure in the ground.
“Summon a small party of scouts,” he commanded suddenly. “They’ll follow me into the gorge and we’ll hunt for the boy then. Perhaps we can flush him out.”
“With all due respect sir,” the worker began, “It’s been days. Raging Star is gone, and Satyan is also gone. We don’t care what happens to the brat, all we wanted was for him to be gone.”
“You stressed your discontent with Mr. Satyan, did you not?”
“We were just a little unhappy,” the worker stammered. “I didn’t think we would be stuck in the wild for so long. Many of us are hungry and tired, not to mention rumors of deserters have been floating around.”
“Deserters can desert; they’ll die in the wilderness. Satyan made it clear that if we didn’t catch Raging star we would all die. He’ll kill us personally.” Mighty Frey held his stoic countenance despite his partner’s pleas.
“He’s only one Minotaur,” the worker snorted. “If he kills us, he’ll have no more workers for his farm.”
“And that’s what troubles me.” Mighty’s comment caused the bull to flinch. “He seems fine with that. I’m not.”
“How would he even go about doing that? It’s not like he has magic or anything.”
“Enough,” Mighty snorted out. “Bring me my scouting party.” The worker hurried off, leaving the young Minotaur to stand solemnly over the large gorge. His muscles tensed as he thought about the newfound abilities Satyan had possessed. The conversation between him and the orange bull replayed over and over again. He was right. The workers would not understand, nor would they care. The worst part of it was that they were all going to die for Satyan’s cause. Unwillingly.
“Here is your posse.” Mighty Frey jerked his head sideways. His eyes rested upon four healthy and well maintained Minotaur. The young bull stepped down from his perch and ordered the group to follow as he began to descend the mountainous terrain.
“If Satyan should return before I, let him know of my situation.” The worker nodded, and Mighty Frey leapt off of the first ledge landing about one story down. The bottom was distant, but the young bull continued his leaps. His group followed in the same manner, scaling the gorge side and heading deeper into the abyss.
“Mighty Frey,” one of the Minotaur called, “We have company.” Mighty glanced at the wall side and noticed the subtle movements as well. He halted his decline, landing on the nearest road and awaited the ambush. A grey paw exploded from the earth and latched onto the Minotaur’s left hoof. Mighty Frey lifted his leg up, dragging the surprised Diamond Dog from the earth and lifting him into the air.
“Why are Minotaur in Sapphira?!” the mutt barked. Mighty brought his hoof down, smashing the dog into the ground. From above, a few more dogs announced their arrival. Each drew a blade and shield, surrounding the unarmed Minotaur.
“Kill the bull!” one of the dogs chanted.
“He’ll make good meat,” another said licking its chops.
“You’ll make a good punching bag,” Mighty Frey responded charging in. The dog nearest him swung his blade down, however recoiled after it bounced off of the Minotuar’s horn. Mighty unleashed a slew of punches, forcing the flailing dog over the cliff. The remaining canines attacked, however the bull stamped his foot into the ground, forcing the ledge to crumble and break. Mighty leapt over his assailers and watched as they disappeared in the landslide.
“Mighty, we’ll meet you down there,” one of the Minotaur called out in the midst of his battle. The young bull agreed and continued his descent, using the still moving earth as a faster means of transportation.
“So much for a scouting mission,” he said to himself. The bull’s attempt at light hearted relief vanished again as three more dogs emerged from the landslide and began their chase after Mighty. “Damn dogs,” he complained and hastened his pace. The Minotaur exited on another level road, waiting for his enemies.
The giant mastiffs landed on the same ledge, and withdrew their maces. Mighty charged in again, moving faster than his opponents. His fist sped into the torso of one of the canines, however, the metal plating absorbed most of the assault. Unable to get away in time, the dog swung his mace, smacking Frey across the jaw. The Minotaur stumbled back, wiping the blood off of his face.
“We’re not looking for trouble,” Mighty Frey tried to reason now. “I’m searching for a weird monkey with spikey hair. He is mine, have you seen him?” The dogs peered at each other and then back at Frey, snarling in disgust.
“Minotaur want Roxie’s pet!” one of the mastiffs said.
“We won’t let you steal Monkey!” another barked.
“At least you answered my question,” Mighty Frey replied fixing his stance. Rather than charging forward this time, he urged a dog to make the first move. One of the mastiffs lumbered over to the Minotaur, cocking his weapon back for a swing. Frey fell to his knees, ducking just under the assault and rising back up to connect an uppercut strike. The dog yelped as his exposed chin shattered from the attack. Mighty Frey lifted the mace now, switching back to the offensive.
“Kill stupid cow!”
“I’ll kill you!” The Minotaur countered the dog’s strike with his own and chucked the mace into the mastiff’s muzzle. Disoriented from the strike, Frey was able to sweep his legs under the dog's. It fell to the floor unable to move. The last one barked wildly before recklessly sprinting in. Mighty Frey smirked, dodging the canine’s cumbersome attacks. Within the intervals of his assaults, Frey generously contributed his share of the punch and kicks until the large animal keeled over in exhaustion.
“Captured by Diamond Dogs. He’s either really stupid or really weak,” Mighty Frey commented leaping off of the ledge. His hoof met the bottom of the gorge in complete satisfaction. A small stream trickled through, leading to wherever. The opposite direction however held promise. A cloud of dust could be seen from the distance, kicked up by the stampeding paws of the Diamond Dogs of Sapphira Gorge.
“We are here!” a Minotaur called out from above, landing behind Frey. The remaining bodies gathered and stared at the force charging right at them.
“I’m guessing he is that way,” a different Minotaur stated. Mighty Frey did not reply. He exhaled deeply and inhaled again, waiting for his heart to regulate. After he had finished, the young bull took off, followed closely by his impromptu comrades.
"Try it again," Viololá said. She held her hands out in front of her chest, "like this. Visualize the energy seeping out of you and into your palm."
"Damn it Viololá I can't!" Raging Star threw his hands down and growled. "How do you do it so easily?"
"Unicorns have horns. They allow the displacement of magic rather easily. Channeling it to the hands is the hard part. I can see why you can't grasp it, but I don't know what else on you would be like my horn," she replied. The boy held his hands out again frowned.
"Sometimes," he started, "sometimes it feels like my heart is on fire. Whenever I get angry and that fire surrounds me, it feels like my chest is where it is hottest."
"You... you think you channel energy through your heart?"
"I don't know what I think!" His voice echoed throughout the cavern.
"No need to get so upset, I'm trying to help you. If anything, I should be frustrated that you're not understanding it at all," the Unicorn said. She exhaled slowly and grabbed the boy's hands.
"What are you...?"
"Shut up, and listen," she replied. "When a Unicorn wants to use magic, she'll gather the energy into her horn, and she can leave it at that. On the chance that she'd want to manipulate the magic through other appendages, she simply channels that magic to any other part of her body."
"Why are we going over this again?" Raging Star asked biting his lip.
"So we need to find a way to gather the energy into your heart. Then channel it through your hands." Viololá closed her eyes, prompting Raging Star to do the same. "Concentrate. Feel the magic from within and store it in your heart. I know its there, you just have to gather it into one point."
"Easier said than done," the boy remarked.
"It helps if you're quiet," the Unicorn snapped back. "I can feel it all around you boy, you just need to focus it into one location." Slowly, Viololá removed her hands, placing Raging Star's in the correct position.
"Feel the energy," Raging Star whispered.
"Once you've grabbed hold of it, force it into your palms. Expel it in the area you want it to come out," Viololá instructed.
The tailed boy stood silent for a long time, his teacher watching on carefully. A faint glimmer flashed over his hands suddenly. The Unicorn held her tongue, anxious to tell the boy that he had done it. A few moments later, the energy manifested brighter than before lingered a second longer than before.
"You've done it," she said in a small gasp. "I've never seen anypony get it so fast. You..." she suddenly stopped as Raging Star continued the exercise. The energy formed again, larger in size and greater in power. The boy's hair began to drift in an invisible wind as a visible aura circled his body. "Raging Star, stop."
"I don't want to," the boy replied, opening his eyes. The aura intensified. The ball of energy within his hands dissipated around his form and augmented the flowing fire around him.
"Raging Star, if you don't stop they'll figure us out!"
"Let em come! I'll kill them all!"
"Not yet!" Viololá pleaded. "We need the antidote first. Once Roxie commands you to stop and you don't you'll die. Then where will you be?"
"Then I'll kill her before that happens," Raging Star said. The Unicorn stumbled back from the pressure of the boy's energy. Never before had she felt something so incredible. She had to think fast, or her partner's bull-headedness would kill them both.
"Wait," she called out again, "I can teach you something else! Something that will kill Roxie in one hit! Probably even Mr. Satyan!" Raging Star glared in her direction. "Yes, yes I know a spell that will help you focus your energy further into an attack."
"Then teach me," the boy commanded. Viololá planted her hooves into the ground.
"Not until you calm down. Calm down first, and I'll show you. The attack doesn't work if you're wasting energy like that," she replied. Raging Star growled in her direction and ceased his power. The pressure in the room vanished and the boy cracked his knuckles in anticipation.
"I've mastered how to control my magic, now teach me this attack."