The guards had just ripped them away from their friends and now Rainbow Dash and Applejack were chained and being led somewhere by two crystal pony guards. Rainbow Dash asked, “Where are you taking us and why are you giving in to that tyrant?”
She received a swift knock on the head by one of the guards, “Silence! Lesser slaves are not to address their superiors unless addressed first.”
“Now Gem Hunter, remember where you came from! You were in their horseshoes once; show some restraint!”
“You know Lord Sombra would be furious if we showed any kindness to those who caused him such an annoyance.” Gem Hunter replied.
“Yes but you don’t need to be over the top about it.”
“I don’t want to give any wiggle room. I’m not going back to the mines ever again.”
The Guards lead their captives the long way around the empire to the mines. When they arrived there was a blue stallion standing on a raised platform with a line of crystal ponies in between him and the new mares. “Ah the Elements of Honesty and Loyalty, It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He said with a bow then he used his magic to manipulate a crystal in front of him and magic shot to every pony in the line, each one of them screamed in pain. "This little demonstration was to show you that if you misbehave then not only you will be tortured, you will cause pain to the others." He said to them. He turned his attention to the guards, "Take them inside, make sure they're in different sections and the pegasus is in a lower section."
The guards did as they were told ant took them to their respective stations. Applejack feigned obedience when she was shacked to a crystal pony; whereas Rainbow Dash fought hard when they shackled her to another pony in the lowest level of the mine. “You can’t do this to us” she shouted trying to hit the guards as they moved away.
“Of course they can, in fact they have to!” The pony that she was shackled to shouted at her, “Now stop trying to fight, you’ll never be elevated if you’re disobedient.”
“But they…”
The crystal pony cut her off “Separated you, beat you, enslaved you family, or perhaps he ordered you execution. This wouldn’t be the first time.”
This through Rainbow Dash for a loop “Who are you?”
“That’s not important, what is important is that Sombra is scared of you.”
“What do you mean? He took me down in one move.” Rainbow Dash asked.
“If I know my husband then everypony down here is here because they pose a possible threat to Sombra.”
Rainbow Dash fluttered as far back as the chain would allow her to, “Your married to Sombra?!”
“Yes and no, I married Sombra before the dark magic corrupted him, I think it’s safe to say we’re separated.” She smiled.
“How could you smile at a time like this?”
“If I didn’t then my husband would win. But now we need to see the newly crowned Prince of Rags.”
“Who?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Just come with me” She said leading Rainbow Dash deeper into the cave.
It only took five minutes for them to reach the entrance to the Prince’s chamber. When they entered a very familiar but somewhat depressed voice said “Hello Pearlspar, who’s your fri… wait I… You’re Rainbow Dash right? This isn’t good if they beat you.”
“Shining Armor! They got you!”
“Yes…”
“And of all the alias’s you could have used, you chose ‘Prince of Rags’ that’s not even remotely cool.”
“It’s not supposed to be a cool name. A ‘cool’ name would attract the wrong attention, the goal is to suddenly overthrow this tyrant, not to become a martyr for the cause.” he said scribbling something down in a piece of paper. He looked to Pearlspar and handed her the paper he had just wrote on, “You know where to plant this.” He told her and she nodded, tucking it under her shackles. He went back to writing.
“Come on Rainbow we need to plant this.”
“Hold on.” She said then faced Shining Armor, “Shining, Applejack is here as well we'll need her if your little revolution is going to work.”
Shining shook his head, “I have ponies on every level of the mines, I can get word to her but I can’t get her down here or for that matter you up there.”
“Hey if you're here, then where’s Cadence?" Rainbow Dash asked without thinking.
Shining Armor's magic stopped and his quill fell to the ground. A pained expiration came over him “I don’t know.”
Rainbow Dash instantly regretted her decision to ask about his wife. “Let’s go” Pearlspar said to her and began to leave the small cavern.
Once they were out Pearlspar gave Rainbow Dash a look of disappointment “Next time we go to see the Prince please don’t bring up his wife. Now he’s going to sulk for the rest of the day.” She said rolling her eyes.