Bottom Of The Ladder

by GeodesicDragon

Unleashed

We're really doing this, aren't we?

Damn right we're doing this; despite what these ponies might think of me, I'm not about to let them be killed by a frigging dragon.

As you make your way through the pit, you replay your conversation with Rockpaw in your head. As far as evil maniacs go, it's a solid plan, but if there's one thing he didn't count on, it was you not being as bad as you'd led him to believe.

If you're going to rescue the slaves, you'll need the master key for their restraints, which means you'll need to beat up the last Dog you saw carrying it; it's just your luck that happens to be Slasher. He's much bigger than you, but – as a wise man once said – 'one swift knee in the happy sack and he'll drop like anyone else.'

It's not long before you see Slasher in conversation with another guard and make your way over, but as you do you see him put the other guard in a headlock. Wondering what the fuss is about, you quicken your pace and get close enough for him to see you.

"Oi, Anon!" Slasher tightens his grip on the other guard, who is trying – with no success – to escape. "I need to talk to you, so don't go nowhere!" He looks down at his victim. "As for you, Breaker, have you learned your lesson about not pissing in my spot yet?" Breaker responds by letting out a small whine and tapping Slasher's paws. "Okay, good, but just to be sure..."

With that, he piledrives Breaker into the ground, causing you to wince as the sound of skull on rock echoes throughout the pit. The sound even makes the prisoners perk up and start digging a little bit faster; you presume it's out of fear that it was one of their own on the receiving end of some cruel punishment.

Slasher lets out a chuckle and turns his attention to you. "That takes care of that." He takes something out of his pocket. "Anyway, Anon, the reason I wanted to talk to you was this." He holds out his paw. "The boss told me to give you this; we have to keep it on the move at all times so the slaves can't get it."

You look at the object to see that – by sheer coincidence – it's the master key to the manacles. You quickly take it and put it in your own pocket, before giving Slasher a nod.

"Sure thing, Slasher," you reply. "I'll keep it nice and secure."

Slasher smirks. "I know you will, Anon," he says. "I know you will." He looks back as Breaker comes to with a groan, then sighs. "Looks like I'm not finished with this idiot yet; you go do whatever, Anon, and I'll see to it my 'friend' here gets the message."

You don't have to be told twice, quickly leaving the area as Slasher cracks his knuckles. You do hear some blows being landed, but they are soon replaced by the all-too familiar sound of pickaxes thudding against stone. With the key in your possession, and in a much easier way than you expected, you are now ready to put the next phase of your plan into action.

But as you make your way to where you last saw Vinyl and Octavia, you – and everyone else in the immediate vicinity – stop in your tracks as one of the prisoners shouts out.

"WE'VE FOUND SOMETHING!"

Almost instantly, every guard in the area starts moving to the source of the voice, shoving prisoners out of the way in their mad rush. Realising you need to keep up appearances, you decide to follow them, and join in the mayhem by running in the same direction. You are met by an enthusiastic Slasher, who takes you aside and rubs his paws together eagerly.

"They found the hoard, Anon," he says malevolently. "It's not long now before the boss' plan comes to fruition!"

You crack a smile. "Great!" you give a thumbs-up. "Can't wait."

SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!
SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!

The guards make no effort to stop curious prisoners from peeking into the hole they've made to see what all the fuss is about; in fact, they are going out of their way to avoid going anywhere it themselves, for reasons you are already all too familiar with.

"Can't wait to see what happens next, Slasher!" you say. "Sooner the better, am I right?" Slasher nods at you, and you thumb in a direction away from the hole. "I need to take a leak, and don't worry; I won't use your spot, all right?"

Slasher cackles and winks at you before turning his attention to the hole surrounded by prisoners, even going so far as to direct a couple of them towards it with an encouraging shove.

All pretence is soon abandoned as you run like a bat out of hell towards Vinyl and Octavia, both of whom have stopped working and are trying to catch a glimpse of what is going on.

"Can you see anything, Tavi?"

"No, I can't." Octavia shakes her head. "Too many prisoners."

Both of them let out a yelp as you careen around the corner with enough speed to kick up dust and pebbles, before falling flat on your face in front of them. Vinyl picks you up, at which point you fish the key out of your pocket and start undoing the manacles.

"You found the key?!" Vinyl covers her mouth to stop a scream of glee from escaping. "That's great news, Nonny!"

You nod. "That's the good news, yes, though I can't remove your dampener," you reply. "The bad news, however, is that the slaves just uncovered a certain dragon hoard, and the Dogs are actively encouraging the rest to go and look at it."

"What?" Octavia gasps. "We need to act fast, Anon!"

"I know, I know!" you reply, undoing her manacles and giving her the key. "Take this and start freeing as many prisoners as you can; the guards are more interested in getting them to look at the new discovery, so they probably won't pay you any attention. But, with that said, I'm still going to distract them myself."

Vinyl and Octavia nod once, the former kissing you before they both disappear around the corner you came from. You hear a gasp of shock from one of the other prisoners, followed by a "Thank you!" as the girls free them from their bonds.

How in the hell are we going to distract these guys?

After what I saw Slasher do to Breaker earlier, I've got an idea; use their own brute strength and ignorance to my advantage.

You head back to the hole, catching occasional glimpses of Vinyl and Octavia freeing the prisoners, whom they direct to the place where they had been working. It's safe, sure, but not for much longer; you know that time is not on your side and you quicken your pace, arriving at the hole in time to see two of the guards standing with their backs to you as they watch the prisoners still in the area peer into the hole, letting out the odd 'Ooh' and 'Ahh' as they catch sight of the treasure within.

The guards barely notice you as you walk up behind them; there's a small alcove to your left which you decide to hide in in order to enact your plan. Picking up a small rock, you throw it at one of the guards, nailing him in the butt with it. He growls and looks at the guy standing next to him with narrowed eyes and bared teeth.

"Oi!" he snaps. "Whatchoo do that for, you git?"

"You what?" the other guard replies. "I didn't do nothin'!"

Guard One gestures to the seemingly empty corridor. "It musta been you, cuz there ain't nobody else here!"

Guard Two pushes him away. "Quit yer yappin' and keep watch, will ya?" he snaps. "Yer just imaginin' things."

"Oh yeah?" Guard One says. "Well imagine this!"

He punches Guard Two in the face, and the two of them soon end up on the floor snarling and growling as they start to fight. The other guards take notice of the event and come over to watch, while one of them starts taking bets. You emerge from your hiding place and join the circle; you soon see Vinyl and Octavia taking advantage of the melee to free the prisoners.

I'm getting kinda worried here, Anon.

How so? This is going really well; first we get the key without a fuss, and now we've successfully distracted these boneheads.

Well, yeah, but... aren't you worried things are going too well?

I am now, since you've only went and made me think about it. Come on, let's get the hell out of here before—

All activity stops as the cavern begins to shake, sending prisoners and guards alike scattering as chunks of rock begin to rain down from the ceiling. The two guards who had been fighting scramble to their feet and begin to back away, their friends following suit; just as you finally begin to do the same, though, the rumbling stops.

The eerie silence is soon broken by a loud and booming voice, as though Luna was speaking through a hundred megaphones.

"WHO DARES DISTURB MY SLUMBER?"

The voice is soon joined by a pair of piercing yellow eyes at the hole, above a large mouth full of razor sharp teeth.

Comments

[FishNachoz]

Wow, it's been a while.
After re-reading the original and getting back up to date on the sequel I'm really enjoying this Diamond Dog arc again.

Hope we see some more in the future.