Her sleep was fitful, full of aches and memories. Reminiscing so much before slumber brought up vivid visions of the past, and Noir was a lucid dreamer. She was back in the cave, could feel the cold, hard rock beneath her body, the screaming pain in the growth protruding from her left side, smell the wet moist mass being shoved between her lips.

"Please, horse lady... must eat."

The voice was gravelly, but imploring. Noir cracked a swollen eyelid to stare at the gray fuzzy blur kneeling at her face. The substance was pressed against her teeth once more. Her teeth... felt... odd. She ran her tongue along them, and winced. Sharp.

"Please." The blur slowly came into focus, and Noir forced her other eye open. It screamed its protest in silent rage, sending rivulets of pain deep within her socket.

It was a diamond dog, no more than a pup just weaned, eagerly offering her a hunk of bloody meat. Clad in the tattered rags of its kind, a collar spoke of its status amongst its clan - slave. Its green eyes were large and bright and flecked with gold, and when it noticed her looking at it, it grinned toothily, tail wagging spastically.

"Awake! Awake!" it said excitedly. "Not awake for days! So worried!" it gushed. Noir moved to sit up, and the diamond pup waved a paw frantically. "No no no pretty horse lady not move!" Again the meat was thrust into her face. "Eat!"

It smelled acrid. It looked raw. But Noir's stomach chose that moment to voice its opinion... loudly, and the pup giggled. Reluctantly, she raised her head and took a bite, finding her new fangs tore the flesh quite easily. The meat felt slimy and tough in her mouth. Her throat closed and she felt her gorge rise. The eager, proud look on the pup's face was the only thing that made her swallow. It offered it again, and she accepted, repeating the motions until the hunk was gone. It sat back on its haunches, watching her intently.

"I find topside. Pretty horse lady there... all red on white furs." Its face turned sad. "Not moving, here." It tapped its chest. "I drag to cave, out of sun. Bring water. Every day, when bright and dark come."

"How long...?" Noir asked. The diamond dog tilted its head. She winced as her head began to pound. "How many brights and darks?" Its face lit up with understanding. It splayed its front paws, all ten digits, then, sat on its rump to use its back feet, then flashed one front paw again. Noir's heart sank.

Twenty five days...

She felt hot tears gather in her eyes. She had failed. Luna remained on the moon, and she was gods knew where, barely alive, injured, and half-changed. The Nightmare had done something to her, she could feel it; it was all she had been able to do to fight it back when it attacked her in the Aether.

I will never be a Princess now...

The tears rolled down her cheeks. The pup made a distressed sound.

"No... no no. Too pretty. Please..." it beseeched, scooting forward on its rump to gently touch her muzzle with its cold little nose. Noir flinched at the contact, but the pup did not react. "Horn so shiny, feet so shiny, like gems," it continued. "Not cry."

How could she possibly explain to this simple beast what she had stood to gain and lost? Yet, here it tried to comfort her. Its small paw reached up to touch her horn.

"I go. I come back at bright. Yes?"

She nodded. It grinned again, wagging its tail.

"I bring special meat!"

It returned many hours later. Noir had a poor sense of the passing of time, so far back was she in the cave that the light from the outside did not reach her. She heard it before she saw it, scuffling and shuffling of paws. It carried a torch this time, and she sat up slowly, finding that her body did not ache as much as it did before. It waved.

"Awake! So happy to see awake!" it announced, dropping a sack on the ground. Noir shifted her forelegs around to sit more comfortably on the stone ground, folding her right wing close against her body, keeping the left... thing... as limp as possible to prevent it from causing her pain.

"What did you bring?" she asked. It beamed at her as it dug in the sack.

"Meats!" it grinned, brandishing a big, fat rat. Noir masked her horror.

Oh gods, is that what I ate?

"I catch myself," it announced, clearly proud.

"Oh... good," Noir said, forcing a smile. She owed this creature her life. Manners, girl, manners. Canterlot court training came back in full force.

"I hide from leader. For pretty horse lady, I say to self," it told her, thumping chest. "Leader beat, know I have, but I still hide."

Noir's heart tinged. This creature had lied and taken punishment for her.

"What is your name, little one?" she asked gently as the pup gutted the rat. It blinked.

"Name?" it echoed. She nodded, smiling, hoping her fangs were not frightening. It tilted its head again. "Grecio."

"I'm Noir," she replied. Grecio smiled so widely she thought his face would split in two.

"Is Noir... friend?"

"Yes, Grecio. We are friends."

The joy on his face made her feel dead inside.

Day by day, Noir grew stronger, and she was eventually able to walk. Grecio brought her rats and water, and sometimes the odd handful of grass when he could find it. She longed for a bath, but that would have to wait until she returned to Canterlot. If she returned to Canterlot. Diamond dog territory was vast, and Grecio's powers of description were limited. She could be anywhere. The backlash of dark magic with the unwoven power of her Ascension could have flung her to the other side of the sphere Equestria sat on.

She was able to take a full assessment of her transformation: one good wing, one malformed, pearly white fur now bland and dull. Her tail was that of a griffon's, which she took delight in lashing furiously from side to side to see how much wind she could whip up. The fangs took getting used to, as she still bit her tongue now and then when speaking. Grecio giggled as she occasionally had a lisp. It was a temporary inconvenience, she was sure; Celestia would fix everything when she got back and explained. She may not have passed the test, but certainly the Princess would not allow her to remain a monstrosity for the millenia her life would now be.

One dark, the pup did not come. Noir paced the entrance of the cave nervously. She depended on him still for water and food, the mountainous regions unfamiliar to her, the plants foreign. The sun sank beneath the horizon, and its twin slowly rose in the sky. He still did not come. Noir became frantic with worry. She lay at the mouth of the cave, ears flat, despondent.

A rock fell.

She lifted her head.

It was followed by a high pitched yelp. She raised an ear. The yelping grew louder, and with it were voices, deeper angry voices. Noir scrambled to her hooves, ducking just inside the cave entrance. The yelping sounded like Grecio. She receded further into the shadows.

"Here?" a gruff growl demanded. There a silence, then the sound of flesh on flesh, and another yelp. "Here?" the demand came again.

"Smells like pony," another voice offered, this one more nasal. From over the ledge came three full grown diamond dogs. Two trailed behind what was clearly the Alpha, who has Grecio by the ear. Noir began to tremble.

"You hide it here?" the Alpha roared. "Stupid whelp!" He twisted the pup's ear violently and Grecio whimpered, tears in his eyes. "Whole time, we can eat, take horn, take hooves." The Alpha raised his hand to deliver another blow.

Do something do something do something! she screamed at herself.

Panic. Her breath came in short rasps. She was no fighter. Her magic was powerless against foes. There wasn't a single thing her talent was good for in this -

Like a key in a lock, the tumblers fell in sequence.

Noir reached back with her teeth and ripped a primary feather from her good wing. Spitting it on the ground, she then bit savagely at her foreleg until blood ran freely and pooled on the rock. Using her magic, the shimmering black aura lifted the feather, dipped the tip in her still warm blood, and began to scrawl hastily on the cave wall.

"Leave him alone," she said loudly, stepping out of the shadows. The diamond dogs stared, the Alpha male dropping his hand. Grecio's face fell. The Alpha snorted.

"She has horn like jewels," he roared. Noir inclined her head. The Alpha male blinked, dropping Grecio to the ground, and clutched suddenly at his throat.

"Come to me," Noir told Grecio.

The pup scrambled to his feet and ran to her side. Noir enfolded him in her good wing protectively. The other two diamond dogs stared at their pack leader as he continued to claw at his throat, gasping, his eyes beginning to bulge. Noir took a step forward.

"I've never seen someone die from asphyxiation before," she said conversationally. Her tone was cold. The Alpha locked eyes with her, and the look he found gave him no hope. "I've read about it in books... when the brain does not get enough of the vital element in the air it needs to survive, and just... shuts... off..." She flicked her tail in his face. Spittle had begun to run from his slack jaws.  Noir's eyes gleamed wickedly. "I also read someponys find the sensation... erotic." Here, she cast a glance down at his nether regions, and laughed. "Hard to tell; you are a dog. Tell me, do you lust for a bitch of your pack?" She turned and offered her plot teasingly as the Alpha made an enraged noise.

           Noir continued to walk, Grecio molded to her side. "I am leaving," she announced to the other two, paying them no mind as she strolled past. "And I am taking him with me."

They looked at each other, then to their struggling Alpha, then back to Noir. She cast a glance back over her shoulder and lifted her chin. The Alpha made a gurgling sound and dropped to the ground. She narrowed her eyes.

"Do not follow me."

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