"Ooomf!" Rainbow Dash grunted as she and Romulus were tossed down onto the stone of Mother Rushnut's throne room. Several furry bodies scampered up on all fours and surrounded them. "Oh, look." Rainbow glanced up. "Squirrels. My favorite."
"Comrades, Mozer Rushnut trrusts you have been vrrung dry of all anger, da?" The white-eyed matriarch leaned forward in her torch-lit seat. "Must say. Are looking mighty rrested."
Rainbow blinked, then glanced at herself and Romulus, tied back to back. "Just what does your optometrist label you with, lady? Negative twenty / negative twenty?"
"You!" Romulus snarled suddenly, gnashing his beak. "What do you think you're doing, lounging about like you own the place?"
"Huh?" Rainbow turned to look. She instantly grimaced. "Ah jeez..."
Sunset Shimmer yawned. She sat several spaces away on folded limbs, dipping her hoof into a bowl of peanuts and taking liberal munches every other second or so. "Mrmmmff... well, one of us has gotta accept these furballs' hospitality."
"Zap me with your magic and break my binds, you stupid harpy!" Romulus spat.
"Uh... hello...?" Sunset pointed at her thoroughly bandaged horn. "While you were too busy going all Griffonmania on Lil' Miss Tomcolt, I got a maniacal talking missile flung into my cranium like a dodgeball! Multiple times!"
"Eheh..." Lancie shuffled up, waving. "Guilty as charged, albeit none too remorseful." He adjusted his fur coat and propped an elbow up against the paw-rest of Rushnut's throne. "Hey there, gorgeous. How goes it?"
"Mozer Rushnut eez overcome veeth exeestenteeal strrife over leading lone cabal of hyper eentelleegent squirrel warriors."
"What a coincidence! Me too!" Lancie chuckled, waving his arms out. "First day, in fact!"
"Lancie..." Rainbow growled.
Romulus rolled the two over and grunted in Sunset Shimmer's direction. "Well, if your horn can't set pony or squirrel flesh on fire for the time being, at least come over here and gnaw the ropes to bits, you dumb horse!"
"Uhhh..." Sunset squinted. "And end up in a subterrannean sweatbox like you two?" The unicorn shook her head. "No, I don't think so."
"Don Canter's counting on you!" Romulus growled. "He's paying you a fortune to do your job!"
"Wait... you brought that fatso into this mess?!" Rainbow's voice cracked.
"Ahem," Sunset pushed the bowl of peanuts away, brushed her hooves off, and stood up. "Don Canter desires for us to bring him to the shards. In case you didn't notice, launching yourself at the enemy like a blood-sucking meathead hasn't gotten us any closer to such a bounty." She cleared her throat, wincing from her bandaged horn. "I, for one, intend to survive long enough to get her cut."
"In this flippin' den of dirtbags?!"
"Shhhh... Keep a cork in it, birdo. You might learn something." Sunset smirked. "Besides... I do believe they're about to give us a proposition..."
"Proposition?" Romulus wheezed.
Rainbow rolled them both over and squinted at the throne. "Like... what kind of proposition?"
"Here, Sparky..." Lancie suddenly hobbled up, sliding over a bowl of peanuts. "You might wanna nibble on these during the show..."
"Comrade Brucie," the matriarch said, waving a hoof. "Please. Do prroceed, my leettle cherub."
"Eugh..." Rainbow groaned, rolling her eyes.
The goggled rodent in question shuffled into view. "A-a-ahem..." He coughed into his paw. "Do please excuse most raspy voice. Death steecks have Brucie by nuts, da?"
"At least something has to," Sunset slurred, rolling her eyes.
"Ve squirrels are not dull or dense crreatures," Brucie said with a smirk. He paced before the "guests," adjusting his goggles. "As matter of fact, ve see how passieeonate horse morsel and beerd morsel and ozer horse morsel are for gleetereeng drragon shards. So... Grreat Mozer Rushnut geeves dees prroposal..." He extended his paws. "Three morsels agree to vork for squirrels... seize precious stones and free squirrel castle of drragon blight. Squirrels get castle. Morsels get shards. Dragons get axed. Veen – Veen – Lose, but mostly Veen. Best, most profitable odds, da?"
"You've got to be insane..." Rainbow snarled. "Completely caddywonkus butt-over-balls bonkers to even think that I would ever... ever team up with the murderous, conniving, back-stabbing likes of—"
Whump! Romulus rolled Rainbow over agan and peered deeply at the squirrel. "When do we start?"