I looked down the strip of road as I tried to relax my breathing. My wings were extended out on either side of me and I could feel the wind blowing through my feathers. As I started to focus I tuned out the group of cheering ponies instead allowing my thoughts to take precedence.

Alright, just like Rainbow taught you. Relax, figure out where the wind is coming from. I angled my wings slightly so that the air flowed around them more smoothly. Now I just need to run, build up momentum and flap my wings rhythmically, not rapidly. I leaned back into my rear hooves glaring at the road as if it were my worst enemy, and it had been for the past two days.

You’re not beating me this time! I dashed forward, making small adjustments to my wings without thought. As soon as I had gained enough speed I began to beat my wings. I began to feel my hooves come off the ground but I knew it wasn’t over yet. Just a little higher…

After what felt like an eternity I stopped my ascent and fell into the relaxed posture I had practiced. The strain on my wings lessened as they no longer fought to defy gravity, only negate it. I looked to the ground to see I was around twenty feet in the air.

Wow, I’m flying! I’m actually doing it!

“Ya, way to go Don!” Rainbow’s voice managed to break through my concentration as she flew over to me. “You’re past the hardest part. Now that you can get off the ground without a cliff, all you’ve got to do is fly more and more to increase your endurance, and once flying feels natural I can teach you how to really fly!”

I glanced down at the other ponies who had been cheering. Twilight was there as usual. She had been coming to every one of my flight practices. The only one who could come close to matching that level of stalker was Rarity but she wasn’t here today. Fluttershy had shown up as well and she brought Angel with her. When no one was looking he slipped me a wink and then went back to his innocent bunny routine. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were also there, though it seems Pinkie Pie had lost a few bits to Applejack.

“Thanks Rainbow. Now if you don’t mind I’m going to go fly around for a bit. This feels amazing!”

“Don’t I know it! Once you’ve flown you’ll always crave the open air.” She looked about ready to zoom off herself when she turned around. “Oh, by the way, have you seen Gilda since the day she came to visit?”

“Nope. Why do you ask?”

“I got a letter yesterday from her folks in Griffus. Apparently she never made it back home. No one knows where she’s gone.”

I figured someone would worry about her. “Maybe she just went off somewhere to blow some steam. You did tell me that things between you ended rough.”

“Ya, that’s probably it. I’m still worried though.” With that she zoomed off, her trademark rainbow streak behind her. I glanced down at the ponies below and waved before flying off toward town.

Seeing the town from this angle was definitely a different experience. Where down below houses tower above you and crowds of ponies blocked the roads, up here none of it mattered. I could get anywhere I wanted without worry, I could probably even make it to Zecora’s without much hassle. It also made it easier to find ponies and-

Spike?

Down below I could see him running toward the library as fast as his little legs could take him. What’s got him in a hurry? I angled myself down so that I could lightly land in front of him. My landing wasn’t a Rainbow Dash landing mind you but at least I didn’t hit the ground face first.

Once my hooves hit the dirt, I turned to see Spike out of breath and trying to speak. “Rarity… gems… dogs… ground…”

I patted him on the back. “Slow down there Spike. Wait until you catch your breath before you speak.” He only nodded in reply as he panted. After about ten seconds he tried again.

“Rarity and I were out digging for gems when these dogs came out of the ground and took her away. We need to go save her!”

Huh, I guess that explains why she wasn’t creeping on me today. “Wait a minute Spike. Dogs? What kind of dogs are these?”

“Diamond dogs! They really liked how Rarity was able to find gems so they took her. Come on, we need to find the others!”

I couldn’t care less what they do to her but Spike is my only bro in this place. “Screw the others Spike, we need to go right now. Who knows what they might be doing to her?”

“Just us? But what can we do?”

Hopefully break your stupid crush on her. “We can sneak inside and free Rarity. I just figured out flying today so it shouldn’t be too hard. Besides, don’t you want to be the one to save her?”

He looked at the ground in thought for a few seconds before looking back up with determination in his eyes. “Ya! Let’s go Don!” He climbed up on my back and after a rough takeoff we were airborne.

Spike pointed me to a dirt field a little ways from town. It looked like some moles had taken up residence there but when I got a closer look I found that the mole holes were closer to mountains. I landed next to one of the holes and looked in.

“This where they took her Spike?”

“Ya, are you going to be able to fly in there?”

“Depends on how big these tunnels are. Either way we should be careful.” I dived in flaring my wings to keep our descent slow. It took a lot longer then I had expected to reach the bottom. About five or six different tunnels branched out from where we were standing. Just as I thought things couldn’t get worse I heard something scurry in one of the tunnels. This scared Spike instantly.

“What was that?” I shushed him so that I could try to figure out where it had come from. I heard the sound again, this time coming from a tunnel on our right. Before I could head down it another sound came from a tunnel behind us, and then another from the right.

Damn it, why am I reminded of Aliens in this place? Next thing we know we’re going to find ponies with holes in their chests. Another sound from a tunnel caused both our heads to turn. Spike was shaking on my back and although I had been trained in fighting, the similarity to a certain set of sci-fi horror movies was racking my nerves. The sounds became more and more frequent coming from a different tunnel each time. I braced myself for something but nothing ever came.

Suddenly everything was quiet but for some reason that made me more uneasy than the noise. I started backing up slowly towards a tunnel when my back suddenly made contact with something. Please no xenomorph! Please no xenomorph! I slowly turned my head to see a dog on two legs standing over me. He seemed to have a lot of muscle and was about as tall as I was when I had been human. Before anything could be said some drool dripped from his jowls and fell on my nose.

Okay, not as terrible as a xeno, but still just as gross. Spike however disagreed. “Run!” I was happy to oblige on that as I darted into one of the tunnels. I could hear the beast behind me as I desperately looked for a place to escape. After a lengthy chase my pleads were answered in the form of a hole in the floor. Unfortunately I didn’t notice it until we were already falling in.

Spike and I slid down the dirt equivalent of a water slide for a good minute, during which he fell off my back. He used his claws to slow his descent while I couldn’t open my wings fully so when the tunnel finally ended I was sent flying head first into a pillar of stone. Before I could figure out what was happening I had jumped out of my throne at the fortress screaming.

“Master? Why are you here? Has something happened?” Once I realized where I was I calmed down.

“I’m not sure Gnarl. I was helping Spike with a diamond dog problem but I must have hit my head.”

“Diamond dogs? Those disgusting creatures are too stupid to be of any real harm. What did they do to force your hand- or hoof that is?”

“They didn’t do anything to me, but they did capture that mare I despise, you know the one who makes clothes. Spike has some sort of infatuation with her and since I’m hoping that one day he will make a useful ally I told him I would help.”

“I see, but why didn’t you get her friends to help you?”

“Because the less ponies that are around when I try to take care of things my way the better.”

* * *

I woke up with a ringing in my ears and a massive headache. As such I let my vision return before attempting to move. It seems I was in a cell with dirt floors and stone walls. The door was the classic iron barred door you would see in movies. What light I had was coming from somewhere outside the cage but in my current state I couldn’t find the source.

I attempted to stand but quickly found my head disagreed with that idea. Fuck! I wonder if this is what a hangover feels like? As I pondered never trying alcohol the ringing in my ears died down just enough to hear an iron door open and shut. A set of heavy footsteps got louder while I heard a familiar whine.

“You brutes! How dare you treat us like this! Not only did you drag me down here to find your gems, but you hurt my friends and captured them too.”

The rough voice that responded was what I assumed to be a diamond dog. My blurred vision revealed little more than a blob of grey and brown. “We do nothing to those two. They hurt themselves. They trespassers!”

“The only reason they are here is because you took me! And these aren’t the only ponies that will come here. I’m sure my friends will be coming soon and they will show you what for!”

“Let puny ponies come. They end up like these only this time we will make them like that.” I heard metal jangling for a moment and then another iron door before all was silent. With the guard no longer here I attempted to stand once more only to fall over onto my other side. I let out a grunt as I hit the floor.

I heard Spike just above the low hum in my ears that still remained. “Don, are you okay in there? Say something!”

“I feel like shit.” Despite the truth behind the statement I heard him chuckle a bit. Rarity on the other hand did not find it so funny.

“Spike, that is not something to laugh about. He could be seriously hurt!”

“Rarity…”

“What if he has a concussion?”

“Rarity.”

“What if he has brain damage!?”

“RARITY!” I let the silence settle before speaking again. “I’m not fucking dying, I just feel how one would expect to after hitting a stone wall head first. I just need some peace and quiet until I can stand up straight.”

“Oh sorry.” Now that things were quiet I continued to- “I was really worried about you Don.” Never mind.

“If you want to worry about someone, worry about Spike. He’s the one who got me to come down here.” I scooted around on the floor to get comfortable while the two of them started talking. Damn this floor. I’m probably going to be picking dirt out my wings for an hour. Wait… dirt!

I interrupted whatever conversation was being had. “Spike, you use your claws to dig up gems, right?”

“Um, ya?”

“So why don’t you dig a hole underneath the cage door?” There was a moment of silence before I heard the sound of a scaled face palm followed by digging. It wasn’t long before the sound had stopped and a purple and green blur was standing outside the door.

“Woah Don! You don’t look so good.”

I gave him my best shit-eating grin as I spoke. “Bet I’m still better looking than you.”

That got a laugh out of him. “Don’t worry, we’ll be out soon.” I heard a few different sounds come from outside the cell which finally ended with the same metal rattling I had heard before. After that was a kerchunk and the sound of something swinging on unoiled hinges followed by Rarity’s voice.

“Great job Spike, now all we need to do is-” A sharp snap rang out and something hit the floor with a thud. That can’t be good. “Oh no, oh no, oh no! The key! It…. it…”

Spike finished what she said. “Broke. How are we going to get Don out now?”

Though this isn’t an ideal situation this does give me a chance. “Both of you need to get out. Once you are free, find help and come back. I’m sure all of you can take on these dogs no problem.”

Of course Rarity had a problem with it. Though her face was still blurry I could still make out that stupid look of shock. “We can’t leave you! There’s no telling what those mongrels might do to you in your state.”

“Well do you have a better plan? They aren’t exactly smart but I’m pretty sure even they can see a broken lock and a hole underneath the door. The longer you stay here the more likely you are to be caught so you need to leave now!”

Things were quiet for a moment before Spike spoke up. “He’s right Rarity. We need to get help if we’re going to get Don out.” A moment more and then I heard footsteps followed by a door swinging open and close. I was alone.

Finally! Now let’s see if I can get this to work.

* * *

I was curled up facing the wall when I heard a door open and a bark of what I assumed was surprise. After that was rattling and another door opened. I could feel the dog’s footsteps in the cell.

“Pony, where others go?” I didn’t move. “Pony! Speak now!” I didn’t. I heard a growl and felt a paw try to grab my wing. Before he could get a grip I rolled over and struck him with my hoof covered in dark red lightning. The dog’s metal armor was quick to transfer the electricity across his body. After a few seconds the charge stopped and the dog fell to the ground smoking.

Who knew pegasus magic could be so lethal? I smirked as I got up on my hooves. As I headed toward the door I stumbled as one of my legs gave way beneath me. Damn it. That used up more power than I thought it would. Looks like my original plan to murder everything in my path isn’t going to work now.

I continued toward the door, my nose scrunching up a bit as I passed the corpse. And I thought wet dog smelled bad! Walking outside I saw that there was a desk with an open drawer and a candle. A piece of metal stuck out of the lock on one of the doors with what remained of the key on the ground beneath it. I guess that explains what I heard earlier.

Outside of the small prison was a intersection similar to the one Spike and I had entered into. With absolutely no way of telling which direction to take I turned down a random tunnel, taking my time so as to not alert anymore dogs.

After awhile I was starting to think I was completely lost but I soon heard two dogs speaking with each other as they walked by the tunnel I was hiding in.

“Ugh! I not believe you make us late to ritual. If I get in trouble, you going to pay!”

“Hey, how I know my shortcut collapse? Besides, dark earth lord will not care for few minutes.”

Ritual? Dark earth lord? I watched them continue to argue as they passed. Well… I guess Twilight and the others are on the way. If I get caught I doubt these things will kill me. Deciding sating my curiosity was more important I slipped behind the two oblivious dogs. It took about a minute for the two of them to reach their destination.

I peeked into the room to see what couldn’t have been less than two hundred diamond dogs assembled. They all stood in rows with an aisle down the center and at the front of the room was a pedestal and another dog who was speaking to the others. In front of each dog in the audience was a bowl of some black substance that they had their claws dipped in. With the intricate carvings in the wall I was getting a cult kind-of vibe from the place but the strangest part was what sat upon the pedestal. It appeared to be a helmet rusted far beyond use though it seemed completely intact. I couldn’t itch the feeling that it was familiar but my train of thought was interrupted by the dog presiding over the congregation. Thankfully this one seemed to pass elementary english class.

“We are here to remind us why we dig. Gems are shiny and they are useful to get the tools we need, but they are not why we toil away underground. We dig because we know that somewhere our lord resides, trapped beneath the earth for ages. The diamond dogs did not serve him when he walked among us, rather we only found of his power later in our race’s existence, but from what we have found he is a force of nature. He has stood up to a pony goddess and won!

“So what is the reason we dig? We dig because you and I know that we are nothing to a pony goddess, but now that there are three we will need our lord more than ever. He will bring us out of this dark age oppressed by ponies but first he must be free!” With his speech over the whole room began to cheer but their sounds felt far away to me. My eyes locked onto the helmet as I felt something stirring within it…

...get...it…

I need to… wait, why do I want that piece of junk?

“Hey! What this pony doing here?” I shook the fog from my mind to see I had walked into the room. “Get the pony!” As every diamond dog near me leapt into the air it felt like time slowed down. I pushed off the ground with everything I had, barely slipping between the pile of dogs. Once airborne I turned to leave.

...no...need…

That helmet, it’s- I felt a dog’s claw scrape one of my hind legs, jolting me out of whatever trance I was in. Not more important than my life! I zoomed out of the room as fast as my wings could take me. Once in the tunnels my only focus was not crashing as I darted through the maze. It took a surprisingly short amount of time to find the exit though the dogs had managed to keep up.

I angled myself to ascend the shaft when I felt another claw dig into my left wing. This forced me to not only work through the pain but also to use what little pegasus magic I had left to keep my speed up. When I reached the surface I was completely spent and flopped to the ground. I didn’t even look back at the hole before running as fast as a four-legged creature with a limp can go. I’m not sure how far I went but I seemed to have zoned out because before I knew it I was along the path back to town and Rainbow Dash had landed in front of me.

“Don! Oh my gosh, are you okay? We were just on our way to save you. How did you get away from the diamond dogs?” I guess the adrenaline in my system wore off because I noticed the stinging pain coming from my wounds at just that time. Out of magic, adrenaline, and breath, I fell forward as my body finally gave out. It wasn’t until the rest of the girls and Spike had shown up that I managed to find my voice.

“The guard came in to check on me after Rarity and Spike disappeared and left the door open. I sneaked out but along the way got discovered. I still managed to make it out though I got scratched up and overexerted myself.” I made sure to omit the part about the diamond dog cult of evil.

Up to this point Rainbow Dash had been examining my wing intensively to make sure it wasn’t too bad. She made sure to cover up her worry with her usual brashness. “Hah, I should have known you would have outsmarted those dogs. Takes more than a few muts to get the better of you.”

Rarity was being overdramatic, but at this point I was having trouble finding a moment when she wasn’t. “Well I was worried! I mean, Spike and I left you there, all alone. You valiantly sacrificed yourself to save us.”

“I didn’t save you. The key broke and I couldn’t get up so I faced facts and told you to get. That’s not bravery.” This got a huff out of her. Hopefully she starts to realize I’m not her knight in shining armor. “Anyway, all I need is a couple of bandages and some rest and I’ll be fine. Although Rainbow and I will have to postpone stunt flying until my magic is back.”

“Aw man! I wanted to show you the Sky Top Maneuver!” Fluttershy had brought a first aid box and Twilight, deciding she needed to do something to help me, used her magic to levitate me so that Fluttershy wouldn’t have to move my leg. Not that it made a difference when I had to walk on it right after. Once I was clear to go we started moving and Applejack walked up next to me.

“You better take the next day or two off until you’re back to your normal self. Don’t want you agrivatin’ nothin’.” Though I wanted to object since work was one of the few places I didn’t have to worry about the crazy unicorns, I was feeling more tired by the second. I simply nodded in response as I mind began to drift.

Need to sleep… so tired…

...need...

I felt a claw nudge my side as I woke up from my bout of sleepwalking. Finding that we had already entered Ponyville, I looked down to see Spike giving our special signal we had made up (the trick was we could only do it because we had fingers). The girls continued to chat about what had happened with Rarity while I picked up Spike and slipped onto one of the side roads for a guy chat.

“Let me get this straight. We went in there and you nearly got a concussion, but then you the dog ‘happens’ to leave the door open and you slip out with a few cuts? I’m not buying it dude.”

“Ya, I guess it doesn’t make sense if you really think about it, but it was a good enough excuse for the others.”

“So what did happen down there?”

“I can’t say right now Spike. It has to do with a secret of mine, one that I can’t reveal to you yet. One day I will tell you. I’ll tell you everything. Until then though you’re just going to have to trust me when I say you don’t want to go back there.”

“Well alright. I guess I can trust you, but you need to do something for me.”

“And that would be?”

“You need to tell me how you got Rarity to like you.”

Should have seen this coming. “Spike, if I had any idea how that happened I would have told you. Hell, I would have done the reverse if it meant getting her off my back. I still don’t see how you like her so much.”

“She’s just so generous and beautiful. What more can you ask for?”

“How about some brain? I have been dropping a lot of hints telling her to back off and she hasn’t taken any of them. Also dude, and I’m only saying this since you’re my bro and I’m looking out for you, but you’ve been trying to get her attention for months now and your hints have been a lot less subtle than mine. I think it might be time to cut your losses.”

“Are-are you sure? Maybe if I-”

“Spike.” I spoke as sternly as I could. Facing those diamond dogs would have been easier than this. “You need to face facts. Rarity just sees you as a kid with a crush and I doubt she’ll ever see you as much more. Time to let go.” I felt him slouch against my neck and I could hear a bit of sobbing. I quickly looked around for someplace to let him vent and found an alleyway. Once there I put him down in front of me.

“Spike, come on. You’re not looking at this the right way. Sure, you got friendzoned, but that means you’re now free to look elsewhere and, unlike myself, you have the option of not only ponies but your own kind as well.” This slowed his sobbing a bit but it wasn’t over yet.

“Tell you what. I heard that the great dragon migration is coming up next spring. How about when it happens, you and I follow them and see what we can figure out about your heritage.”

Spike finally seemed done crying but was still shaking a bit. “B-but what about Twilight? There’s no way she’ll let us do that.”

“What Twilight doesn’t know won’t hurt her. We’ll just say we’re going on a camping trip. Since I’ll be human again by that time I’ll be more than capable of taking care of the both of us.” Spike thought about it for a moment before his smile slowly returned.

“Alright, but I’m holding you to that promise even if you stay a pony.”

I picked him up and started walking again. “Spike, don’t even joke about that. The only thing I’ve actually enjoyed about this so far is flying. Everything else just sucks, especially those damn hormones the mares get every month.”

“Hor-moans? What are those? I don’t think Twilight gets that.”

“Are you telling me Twilight has never explained this stuff to you? I get that you’re a baby dragon but you must be like, what, thirteen, fourteen years old?”

“I’m fourteen in pony years, but that’s still baby age for dragons. Twilight said the easiest way to figure it out while we’re still growing is to divide my age in pony years by ten.”

“That doesn’t excuse Twilight from explaining this stuff to you, especially since you’re smart enough. Back on my world you’re at just the age to start learning about this kind of thing. For as long as you have lived with her, you haven’t noticed that Twilight acts a little more crazy than normal once a month?”

“Well ya, but she says it’s because every month she needs to make a special report to Celestia and that it stresses her out. She also wears this strange perfume during that week.”

Oh dear Faust. Looks like I’m explaining this to him. “That strange perfume is her hormones and she isn’t wearing it. Her body creates it.”

“I don’t get it. Why would her body make perfume for a week?”

Author's Notes:

This chapter went through three rewrites and I'm still not happy with it for some reason.

Also, Spike gets the talk from a human-turned-pony that aims to take over the world with evil. I can't think of a better person to explain it!