//------------------------------// // 64 - Re:Tribution // Story: Re:Harmony // by starcross7 //------------------------------// Chapter 64 - Re:Tribution His scales might be tough, but his growing bones were sore from the constant shuffling around in a pitiful hollowed-out cell barely big enough for a baby dragon of a decade or so of age.  The very same scales withstood several stray gunfire and dominated the coarse fur and rubbery skin of several Diamond Dogs with the jackhammer action of his pointed tail.  Alas, they were too many, and the arrival of reinforcements pinned him to the ground.  He watched as these apish canines spirited the Diamond Princess to who knew where, and the last thing he remembered was screaming a big “No!” before they whacked him unconscious.   He regained consciousness inside a dark and tiny cell inside a mining prison reserved for younglings.  Past the steel bars he saw fillies and colts whimpering, weeping, and wasting away while peering their sunken eyes towards each other, towards Spike, and towards nothing.   One or two helmeted Diamond Dogs patrolled the multilevel youngling prison at a given time.  While many gave little care to the needs of their tiny equine prisoners, some of them relished them in tormenting them further by rattling their cages with the barrel of their rifles and unleashing a hideous and slobbering growl.  Spike was spared from the abuse thus far, and the Diamond Dog guards, whenever they passed by his cell, gave him a penetrating disdainful glance.   This wasn’t just deplorable: this was despicable.  Even if it wasn’t at the extreme level of being experimented like in the Labs, Spike would not tolerate any kind of imprisonment, whether they be ponies or dragons.  He paced around some more, and slowly he mustered the drive to escape and rescue these young ponies.  He then made a test pierce with his pointed tail on the floor, and he concluded that this rock, crystal, or whatever, was brittle and fragile.  Time to dig. Many minutes later, all he could muster was a painfully sore tail, a pitiful hill of dirt in the corner, and a bowl-shaped hole barely large enough to put his foot in.  Maybe digging might not be the best solution.  So the little dragon lunged in and clamped his gem-destroying fangs on the steel bars.   “Ow!” he cried, and he reeled back due to the pain shooting through the roots of his baby dragon teeth before muffling his own scream with his claws.   This was no time to be a cowardly sissy, and so Spike puffed his chest and lunged at the steel bars again.  Each hard bite gradually became painful than the last, and it became painful stop himself from screaming as well.  He gave up biting, and Spike resorted to pushing, pulling, and loosening with his own bare claws.  It didn't even budge for a measly micrometer.  If only these bars were made of out crystal, then he could have broke free a while ago.  But steel?  Metal was his Achilles' Heel, and years of being forced to test the force of his jaws during his days in the Labs left a terrible taste in his mouth.   “Where are Twilight and the others?” he wondered aloud.  “And where’s the bathroom?” There was none.  This was demeaning, and already the thought of smelling his own waste sickened him.  Then again, he couldn’t concentrate on his escape with an upset bladder.   He squatted by the hill of fresh dirt he just made, and after a minute's worth of concentration, he felt something wet spraying onto his sensitive areas of his underbelly.  He yelped and rolled out of the way as muddy water began filling the floor of his tiny cell.  Was this his toilet?  He started to regret his wish for civilized amenities, and feared he would drown instead of escaping.  Or dying of starvation.  But then something akin to rubber forceps pinched onto his tail much to his luck and annoyance.   It was Gummy, blinking his poker-face eyes as his toothless jaws held fast to the dragon's tail despite Spike’s best efforts to shake him off.  How did he get in here?  These answers were soon revealed when the back wall, floor, and ceiling collapsed just as he heard the hoot of an owl, the woof of a normal dog, the shrill of a cat, and the squeak of a devilish bunny.   His tiny cell became bigger, and Spike had never been so pleased to see the likes of his animal friends that he hugged all of them, including that of mean kitty--A.K.A. Opalescence of the Diamond Princess.  He never expected the prim cat to appear all dirty and muddy like the rest of the animals--or thin either.  While she looked worse for wear, the feline didn't not react to his embrace by slicing his scales with her retractable claws.   When the hugging was over, Angel broadly pantomimed to Spike that he and the other animals had found the way out, and the rabbit tried to pull the dragon towards their escape tunnel at the back of the cell.   “But what about the children?” he asked.   The rabbit shook his head, and pantomimed a pair of flapping pegasus wings, the whimpering fetal position Fluttershy often took whenever something frightened her, a paw sliding across his throat, and a charade act of a noose tugging at his neck.   “Look, Angel.  We can’t leave the kids to suffer under the paws of these Diamond Dogs.  Do you think Fluttershy would want that?” The white rabbit slapped his own head in annoyance.  After briefly stammering and stamping his furred feet, he hippity-hopped past Spike to slip between the bars of the cell.   Great, Spike thought.  He ditched us.   A thought of roasting his fluffy tail passed through Spike’s mind should he ever see him again, but then then Diamond Dogs from one end of the foal prison hallway started barking angrily.  Machine gun fire sprayed bullets across the floor, and one bullet managed to ricochet into Spike’s cell.  Explosions rattled every prison bar.  Flames spewed from unknown sources, followed by the echo of blood-curdling screams.  Spike now smelled blood and smoke, and he began to feel a little bad for the rabbit’s untimely demise.  Sure he was selfish, but at the very least he was very protective of his equine mistress.   Or he thought he died.  Several seconds of silence later, the locks clicked, and all the cell doors swung open.  Like many of the younglings, Spike curiously poked his head out into long prison hallway, and at each side he found the Diamond Dog guards piled upon one another with deep cuts, scorched fur, and broken bones.  Their nemesis emerged from a delayed grenade explosion as he wiped the sweat off his furry and tiny white brow, and shot out a mischievous grin for all to see.  The children, thankful for their lepus liberator, leapt out of all their cells shouting whinnys of joy.  They hugged and danced with one another, and a few colts decided to take out their sadness and anger by beating up on a few fallen Diamond Dogs.   I probably shouldn't mess with him on a bad morning, thought Spike after a long hard gulp.   Then he heard her, the desperate cries of the Diamond Princess penetrating into the younglings’ prison through the main entrance.  She needed to be saved!  But he wasn't going to let a little rabbit take all the credit.  No sirree.  He whistled for a steed, and all he got was the eager border collie sitting before him wagging an excited tail back and forth.  Ponies, dogs, either one would do.  He mounted upon Winona and kicked her into a dog-gallop past piles of fallen Diamond Dogs.  The little dragon appropriated a long dagger from one of the guards’ holsters and held it high up like a knight’s sword.   “I’m coming for you Rarity!  Hi-ho Winona!” She couldn't believe it, and Applejack’s Element of Truth didn't have to prove her otherwise.  Surely she could appreciate the quick industry of earth ponies, but there were Gaean trains running on top of Gaean steeled-tracks underneath the Crystal Empire.  Someone, or somepony had been doing this for years.   At the very least, these underground train tunnels had not been fully fortified with the latest surveillance, as if anypony would be brave enough to venture down here.  Though the area lacked security cameras and proximity sensors, Applejack and the Pie Sisters had to dash from car to car avoiding the beady eyes of hundreds of Diamond Dogs.  They could not linger in one spot, for if they did, the dogs’ sensitive noses would lock onto the scent of four foreign pony intruders and attempt to blast them with their loaded assault rifles.   The Diamond Dogs’ numbers thinned as they emptied out the cars of various supplies and equipment, giving the four mares ample opportunity to sneak further in.  They snuck onto a concrete train platform, which then led them through a network of lighted and air conditioned tunnels.  Grinding machinery and the scent of burning steel filled the air the farther they traversed in, and no mare could resist peeking through the huge steel doors of the first chamber they encountered.   They expected to see the Diamond Dogs whipping pony slaves to do their bidding, but they had never expected what they were building.  This certainly was no small operation going on underground.  This was a huge, and Applejack’s eyes beheld a large hangar filled with crystal tanks in various stages of construction.  This could explain half the supplies that was being brought in to create a military industrial merge of the esoteric magic of the Crystal Empire and the cold technological machinations of Gaea.   “Now, I’m not sure who’s invading who,” said Pinkie, “but the tanks sure are pretty.” “You think the Diamond Dogs are behind all this?” asked Bella.  “I mean, they’ve been living as second-class citizens of Gaea, and many of them resent the Government for taking away most of their mines.”   “The Diamond Dogs aren't this clever,” said Ingrid.  “Somepony is pulling their strings.” “You think it’s Posey?” “It wouldn't be beneath Posey to use other races for her plans,” said Applejack.  “Now let’s move on.” Applejack sensed four shadows falling from the ceiling, and four bodies, smelly and coarse, landed on their backs.  Their weight were not enough to cause them to collapse, but their sudden appearance caused at least Bella to yelp.  Four pairs of paws thrust forward to wrap nylon harnesses around around the muzzles of Applejack and her companions, but loose enough to keep their mouths moving.   “MORE WORK HORSES!” growled a loathsome guttural voice.   Was he kidding?  Was this Diamond Dog trying to tame her into a common pack horse?  This might have worked for a normal pony, but Applejack and the Pie Sisters were anything but.  The orange pony grinned wide as she relished in the thought of the Diamond Dogs trying to stay on this pony’s back.   “You know the drill, girls,” said Applejack.  “Buck ‘em up, buck ‘em down.  Yeehaw!” Of all the places they attempted to capture them, these brutes did it too close to the tank factory, and that was where Applejack and the Pie Sisters ran in bucking wildly like savage broncos with every excuse to the destroy cranes and tool chests among other things.  Applejack bucked her Diamond Dog in less than ten seconds, but it helped that she, like Bella and Ingrid, rammed him against walls and low-hanging scaffolds.  The one riding Pinkie Pie had the misfortune riding in the middle of her Pinkie Gears’ Tornado Whirlwind technique.  That created a pink twister that tore through the factory floor while vacuuming hapless Diamond Dogs and spitting them out like ragdolls.  Pinkie finally stopped after ejecting the last one, but being the source of the twister, she stumbled dizzily before knocking down a row of cannons like dominoes.   The pony slaves had already fled to safety, but more Diamond Dog reinforcements arrived in spades.  An operational crystal tank rolled in through the main entrance and fired its main cannon.  The shell struck nopony, but it did hit a wall and nearly caused a cave-in.  That was indeed stupid, even as a warning shot.  But considering that Applejack and the Pie Sisters had just destroyed a factory, it was also understandable.   They couldn't take on a tank right now, a crystal one at that, and the ones they could have used for themselves had been destroyed.  The four mares tried to escape through another exit, but another tank pulled in to obstruct them.  Before long, three more tanks arrived to block off all the remaining exits, and more armed Diamond Dog foot soldiers burst through smaller doors and overhead vents to secure them as well.   This was going to turn ugly, and the apparent head honcho of this outfit arrived in a red overcoat studded with jeweled buttons.  He raised his right paw in the air, ready to lower it as a signal for his group to bury the four mares in lead, and yet he didn’t.  The paw in the air started shaking, and he had to use his other to control it.  He soon did lower both paws, and he did it slowly and fearfully before taking a step back in shock.  Since he could not sweat from his fur, he began panting nervously. “Ingrid Marble Pie?” he asked.   “Red Rover,” smirked Ingrid.  “It has been a while.” “W-what are you doing here?” “We were going to ask the same thing.  Sister, wasn't there still a bounty on this dog’s head?” “Last I recall, there is," replied Bella.   “And yet here he is selling stolen military equipment to help aid a coup.  Surely, that would jack up the bounty tenfold, would it not?” “It sure would, and we would be swimming in bits for his capture.” “Rebel Applejack, you and Pinkie go ahead.  We got this one covered.” “Doncha need guns?” asked Applejack. “Who we’re beating, we don’t need guns.” “Y’all sure about that?  If you really need our help…” Bella, without being shot at by the watchful Diamond Dogs, trotted back over to the main entrance to flip a crystal tank upside-down and out of the way with one Geosense kick.  Okay, she was strong, but her sister was even stronger.  Still, this was just two mares against a small platoon of heavily-armed mutts.  But Ingrid and Bella kept motioning to the orange pony to go out the path they had opened up for her.  Applejack would protest the obvious disadvantage of numbers, but she couldn't, for Pinkie, who for once painted a serious face on herself, nudged the orange pony out of the underground factory.  She wasn't even allowed to turn around, and after a few paces, the loud fireworks and dog yelps had begun.   “They’ll be fine,” said Pinkie, “‘cause they’re my sisters.” Applejack never liked the Unicorn Hunters, Ingrid especially, but she also didn’t like the feeling of owing them something.  Yet, she grudgingly admitted to a tinge of worry when a large and fiery explosion rocked the cavern and partially collapsed the tunnel near the tank factory.  That worry soon disappeared when Applejack heard the familiar of sounds of hooves pounding on furred flesh and bone.   The orange mare doubled up her pace, and briefly she was ahead of Pinkie who then began to squeak-bounce quicker to match her friend’s pace.  The two ponies made sure to avoid any signs of the Diamond Dogs rolling their way in response to the factory assault, and there didn't seem to be as many as there should.  So far, they hadn't run into any sightings of the apish canines.  Surely, more would be brought over to subdue a small population of enslaved ponies.  Their guns and electric carts lay about the underground mines unused and untouched.   Then a loud and dramatic scream echoed throughout the tunnels with enough force to rattle the rocks.  If her ears heard correctly, then that could be none other than Diamond Princess Rarity.  Applejack and Pinkie Pie tripled their pace farther in and crashed through many a steel gate blocking their path.  Then more of the mangy mutts began dashing towards them on all fours howling and drooling excitably.  Both earth mares showed no signs of slowing down, and their Elements of Creation glowed in hot anticipation for an inevitable clash.   But in the end, they didn’t use them.  The Dogs, about a dozen or so, stampeded around and past Applejack and Pinkie Pie, leaving the mares confused as to why they didn’t attack.  There was no time to find out why, and the two resumed galloping hard down the hall when a third suddenly galloped beside them.  However, the third turned out to be a dog; a normal honest-to-god dog.  And on top of the dog rode a brave baby dragon with a large knife he brandished like a shining sword.   After bursting through the last metal gate, they finally arrived and found the Princess.   “Rarity!” Spike cried.  “I’ve come to rescue y--oh dear god, no.”