//------------------------------// // Slaving Away // Story: Aegis // by AIRS //------------------------------// Rock, rock everywhere..... Aegis was released from the cell after a day, she would be broken in by Diamond Dogs, it wasn't a long process, they broke all the hope that the pony would have, and make them do slave labor with the only reward being food at the end of everything. The Diamond dogs took a particular liking to Aegis because she had a horn, she could do magic and finds the gems. It took her a good eight hours to be able to track gems that were merely fifteen centimeters under dirt, less distance if there were rocks in the way. But to the Diamond dogs, they had struck gold. Aegis hated the caves, luckily, as the Diamond Dogs cherished her due to the magic she didn't have to carry about what she found, but it didn't make her feel any better, others had to carry the heavy loads. Though the gems were pretty, the way they glimmered when they were clean, it was almost mesmerizing. She found herself staring at one right now, she was still young, easily distracted and it intrigued her how they even formed, and why there was such a variety of them in a close area. Even though she had little clue how they formed it didn't pair up to how the Diamond Dogs said they formed. She was hit and the gem in her hooves fell out and pinged across the ground, She was surprised, she didn't at all hear the Diamond Dog come up behind her, maybe she was just too far into her thoughts to hear it come to her. The scruffy voice spoke, she didn't like the voice. "Get to work!" The Diamond Dog hit her again. Aegis quickly scrambled to her hooves and once again, began draining away her magic on the search of gems, she was never given the chance to properly recover, and she was begging that maybe she wouldn't have to work through the night, or whenever night was. In the cave she had no clue, she never knew how long she was asleep for, if it was even morning or midnight, she had no clue. It didn't take long for Aegis to find another bundle of gems, it was a bigger bundle, roughly fifteen or sixteen of them. Their attention went off of her and to the gems, but in case they were small and they took it quickly, something big was found, it was dense, Like a Diamond. She would keep this a secret until she had to find again, as long as other bundles were found, she could keep this hidden Aegis had no clue why the Diamond Dogs wanted gems and such so bad, they weren't Dragons, they couldn't eat them, could they? She did not know and it would stay unknown. The bunch of gems were uncovered and swiftly put into a cart, the Diamond Dogs, now with nothing shiny in the ground turned back to her. She could easily uncover what seemed like a huge Diamond but kept it secret, she could use it as a distraction for escape, she found a small cluster of gems away from the Diamond. She was not thanked, they just moved to the new location and began digging, it was a deeper cluster, was she getting better with the magic, most likely and thank Celestia for the timing too. A pony walked up beside her and covered her mouth, Aegis froze up, metaphorically. The pony then began to speak to her in a harsh whisper. "You're treated so much better than us...." Aegis looked at the stallion that had spoken to her, the same stallion with his hoof over her mouth. She didn't know how to respond, even if she did respond. All that could come from her mouth was a muffle. The stallion looked bad, he was mostly bone, it looked horrible to look at but she couldn't look away from it. He was dirty, dusty and clearly unhappy she was getting better treatment. He let go of Aegis and she dropped onto her flank, she heard the sound of chains as she was let go and she saw that the pony was chained, but free to move, like they had lost the key and just broken the link so he can move. It was clear the diamond dogs had little care. The stallion walked away, to do his job, whatever it was, but Aegis was sure she'd see him again, soon. She was left looking in that direction. Not realizing that the Gems were all uncovered, she was grabbed by the muzzle and the horn, that was how they moved her, and it was this time back into the empty cell. She was gently tossed in onto the straw bed. She was guessing it was night or day, whatever it was, it was time to sleep. She put her head down to think about the place, one day and she could not stand it, it was dirtier than her old home, and forced to work now, Aegis had made up her mind. Tomorrow would be the escape. She was going to vanish.