This was getting to be annoying. If this was Discord's doing, Nexus would have to make sure he ended up back in stone as soon as he woke up. Nexus woke up in a dark room by the sound of dripping water on stone. Nexus rolled his neck and summoned fire to his horn. As the flickering light of the flames filled the small stone cell around him, the sound of a quill on paper caught his attention. His vision snapped left and there sat a dirt covered Lunarus Goldenchord. Nexus found it odd that he could see the dirt on his coat but seeing as he probably hadn't bathed in a while, it wasn't a surprise.

Goldenchord sighed, licked the end of the quill to remove the ink and then shut the quill into the book. He looked up to the ceiling and hummed a gentle tune. The fire on Nexus' horn suddenly went out without his telling it too and all that remained was the sound of Goldenchord's humming. Slowly, the sounds of metal on stone rang out in unison. Then again. And again. It was like a depressing metronome, laying the tempo for a depressing song. It drowned out Goldenchord's humming almost completely.

Dim blue light revealed the scene as though Nexus had only blinked. He now stood in a tunnel with the sound of the pickaxes echoing their tempo back up to the surface. Long, blue crystals glowed bright enough to allow anypony to see what they were doing. In front of him, Nexus saw a line of ponies reaching towards the surface with their hind right leg clasped in a shackle, he estimated there were about eighty ponies there. Goldenchord was right in front of him swinging his pickax with his hoofs at the very end of the line. Nexus would've wondered why he wasn't using his horn, but if he worked down here all day only to get an hour's sleep, he probably wouldn't be able to lift a quill; even though Goldenchord could.

Nexus looked to his left as a guard stated to pass through him. Like when he attacked Sombra, he turned to mist and then reformed. Goldenchord looked over his shoulder as the guard started back up the line and he started humming again. As the guard got further and further away he started singing louder and louder. It was the song he had sung to Sombra before being hauled away. The words still sounded familiar but were still in the foreign tongue; then it hit him.

Griffon, he was singing in Griffon! Nexus had learned some Griffon during one of his all nighters in the Canterlot Archives, but clearly wasn't as fluent as Goldenchord. He could make out only a few lines, and Goldenchord was right, the song was of hope and light. Sing for the joy of day and dream of the comfort of night, for our tomorrow is always bright. Nopony can say; the skies are too gray. I say we'll be free someday.

Nexus couldn't believe he hadn't figured it out sooner. Nexus looked back down the tunnel and saw the guard making his way back. Goldenchord noticed this as well and started lowering his voice until it was a light hum under the tempo of the pickaxes hitting the stone again. After the guard had passed again, Goldenchord started up again, this time catching the attention of the pony next to him; a tall blue mare with a stalk of wheat as a cutie mark.

"What are you doing?" She whispered louder than he sang. It gained his attention and caused him to stop. "You're going to be punished for this. Aren't you afraid?"

"I'm afraid of a lot of things, but punishment is not one of them." he replied still working.

"Hey! What goes on down there?" The guard shouted as he trotted towards them."Nopony is permitted to speak while down here or in their cells. You may communicate when you are returned to the compound. What were you speaking of?"

"Nothing sir." Goldenchord said not making eye contact.

"Look at me when I speak to you Goldenchord!" the guard said turning him around. "What were you speaking of down here?"

"Please don-" the mare was interrupted by the guard back hoofing her.

"I didn't ask you!"

This set something off in Goldenchord. He through the guard against the wall and started bashing his head into the wall. It didn't take long for the other guards to get to Goldenchord and peel him off of the stallion.

"Take him… to the stake." the guard said trying not to fall over from his head trauma.

"Go ahead! You only do what you do out of fear of Lord Sombra. You know as well as I that this is not what you want."

"It is our job. Now get him out of my site."

The guards unshackled his right hindleg and started to drag him out of the tunnel. Goldenchord didn't speak another word as they drug him up to the entrance of the mines. Everything went white as Goldenchord was drug out of site and a loud beeping filled his ears.