Late into the night, when the cells had fallen quiet Lily whispered in my ear:

“Shoo be doo, shoo shoo be doo.”

Well well. Lily, you naughty mare. Over the course of our imprisonment, the subject of everyone's favorite underwater equines, the seaponies had come up. Naturally, this had lead to me singing an acapella rendition of one of the catchiest and weirdest musical numbers ever. Explaining that one took a while. Then our conversation drifted into... different waters if you catch my drift.

(See what I did there?)

Ever since then, “shoo be doo” had become a sort of codeword for “seapony style.” I didn't really get why land ponies found it so kinky, but whatever. It made my mare happy and that's all I cared about. I didn't even charge extra for it. Just as I was about to set all engines to full, we heard the sound of hoofsteps and paws approaching our cell. Lights from gem torches lit up the corridor.

God damn it all.

After quickly disentangling ourselves we looked up and were surprised to see Silverfang and two other dogs standing outside the bars along with a pony in a red cloak. Irritated at being interrupted, I'm sure you can understand how I was feeling a little bit ready to take a beating for opening my mouth.

“The hell is this all about?” I asked the beta.

“Your new cellmate.” The Malamute replied.

The dogs opened the door and nudged the pony forwards with the butt of their spears. From the frame I could tell it was a mare. Taking notice of me, the stranger hastily skidded backwards. Now, I'll grant that I do look pretty dang intimidating, but the reaction I received now was one of sheer terror.

The dogs shoved her again and she timidly entered the cell, then raced for the farthest corner and curled up in a ball, shivering in fear. I was filled with questions. What was a Red doing down here in the sapphire mines, and why was she acting like I was going to hurt her? Something was definitely not right here.

“What's going on?” I demanded.

Silverfang sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

“She got lucky. I just happened to be performing an inspection of the ruby mines when I heard her screaming. One of her cellmates was attempting to... to mount her.”

I slammed my thick skull against the bars, causing the dogs to jump back. Grinding my teeth in anger, I gripped the bars hard enough to hurt my hands. Nothing, and I mean nothing, pisses me off more than the very concept of rape.

“Why didn't her other cellmate do anything?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“Because he ate the other cellmate. Her attacker was a griffon. Tore him apart in front of her right before. He must have just snapped. It... happens sometimes.” The beta said.

I glared at him, enraged. He saw the look on my face and nodded.

“Your eyes are full of hatred Fourty One. That's good. Hate will keep you alive.”

“How can you do this? How can you do this to other people?”

He looked at me for a while before waving his minions away. After they left he began:

“Things... weren't always like this. We were blood brothers once, Boxer and I. Back then we didn't have a pack. A real pair of mongrels we were, roaming the land in search of a place to call home. And then we came upon this place. Among my people, there is a legend, a tale of a fantastic place with wealth beyond a diamond dog's wildest dreams. The Rainbow Lode. Boxer was sure we had found it. Soon enough we had a pack. But no matter how much we dug we only found the five veins of gems. We could never complete the full spectrum.”

He sighed deeply before continuing.

“Boxer was always foolhardy. He just kept digging, deeper and deeper. All diamond dogs know about the horrors that lurk in the depths, what can happen if one delves too deep. I warned him of this countless times but he just wouldn't listen. And then it happened. Boxer broke through into an old troll catacomb and was cut off by a cave in. Tons of solid granite came down behind him. Not even we can dig through that.

Now, the trolls have been gone for generations, but their tunnels are still exceedingly dangerous. Often they would set up deadly traps to keep rivals out. Sometimes they kept Titan Spiders, and those things live forever. It was a full day and half before we found a rout around the granite. I wish... I wish he had died in that cave in. What I found, was not my brother.”

His eyes grew darker with each word.

“I came upon him lying unconscious in the shattered remains of an old stone coffin. Boxer must have hit his head on it when he fell. When he finally came to, all his memories were gone. I spent a long time trying to help him remember, but he was a completely different person. When I explained our situation, what we were doing down here, he became greedy. He went out to other packs looking for new recruits... And that was where he picked up the Abominable Practice.”

“You mean slavery.” I growled.

“Yes.”

“And you didn't stop him?”

He snarled at me, baring his teeth, including the eponymous one. It glinted in the gloom.

“Do you think I didn't try?! He's an Alpha! Possibly the strongest one there is! How do you think I got my name? Boxer knocked out my fang and beat me within an inch of my life. The same dog I used to call my brother. After that, there was no stopping him. All the others saw was an Alpha putting his Beta in place. The newcomers, they revered him like a god promising riches. It's only by chance that I've managed to keep the influence that I have.

He gave us an ultimatum. Any dog who spoke out against the Abominable Practice would live to see their families die. Those without families, they would become slaves themselves. Don't stand there and ask me why we accept our fate when you do the same yourself. Sure, you could try and rebel. But you know what would happen if you did...”

And really, what could I say to that? It was true. I hated it, and in turn I hated the hate. It was a vicious unending cycle.

“Take care of her.” Silverfang said, walking away into the darkness.

Then I turned my attention to the frightened mare. While the beta had been talking, Lily was busy attempting to calm her down, telling her that she was safe now. When the stranger saw me look at her she cringed and tried to make herself even smaller.

I knelt down and put my hand on her shoulder as gently as I could. She still flinched as if she had been burned.

“My name is Fudge and I will never, ever hurt you.” I said softly.

Her trembling stopped, her whole body frozen. Slowly she looked up from the floor and pulled back her hood. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw her face.

“Octavia?!” I exclaimed.

“How do you know my name?” She asked, confused.

“I'm uh... a fan.” I said.

(Sorry Applejack, but she's in no state for 'the whole truth and nuthin' but' right now.)

And it was true, I was a fan. Just not the kind she had in mind.

“Oh.” She said softly.

“What the hay are you doing in a place like this?” I asked.

Her face took on a wild expression. Her eyes went wide, the right one twitching as her lip curled back.

“The wolf.” She seethed. “The wolf! The filthy, disgusting, awful wolf! That horrendous beast! That miserable excuse for a--”

She started coughing and Lily gave her some water from the large bucket the dogs filled every morning, holding the ladle for her.

“Slow down.” I said. “What wolf? What are you talking about.”

“It was a wolf that turned me over to the diamond dogs. A flying wolf, with wings like a griffon.”

Lily and I exchanged concerned glances. We were both thinking the same thing, that maybe her experiences had driven her batty. The cellist saw our expressions and glared.

“I'm not crazy. I'm not. There were witnesses. Vinyl was there. He let Vinyl go when he... V...Vinyl...”

Tears began to well up in her eyes and she covered her face with her hooves. Lily wrapped her in a hug, patting her back and rubbing Octavia's once illustrious mane. It had become quite ragged in her time with the dogs.

“I'll tell you what.” I said, “If I ever get the chance I'll make him pay for this. I promise.”

“You... you really mean that?” She asked.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

I even went through the motions.

“It doesn't matter.” Octavia sighed. “We're never getting out of here.”

She lay her head down and curled up, pulling the cloak tight around her. We settled down to sleep and about an hour later the gray mare had another coughing fit.

Lily looked into my eyes, and was she scared? You bet your ass she was.

“Fudge.” She whispered in my ear. “She has pneumonia.”

No one saw the figure in the white robe slip into the mines. She paused by each cell, stepping between the bars and touching the inhabitants briefly on the head before moving on to the next. None of them stirred at her caresses save for a singular little gasp, before sinking down into dreamless sleep where the nightmares couldn't hurt them.

Finally she came to the very last one, her true purpose for this visit. His hatred had drawn her like a moth to a flame. She had been going about, to and fro across the wide world, doing her work when she had felt it. A heart crying out with a sentiment that matched the one in her own. He hated seeing the innocent suffer, with every fiber of his being. At long last, she had found the one she was looking for.

Stepping into the cell she put a hand over her mouth. The Sight gave her pause. She had known that the so called 'Architect of Fate' held a claim on the human, but what she saw in store for him was just... ghastly. She got down on both knees, sitting at his side watching the young couple breathe together as one.

“You poor thing. You poor, poor thing.”

She blew the hair out of his eyes and brushed the back of her finger against his cheek. Then she reached out and gently stroked the mane of the mare he held. It hurt her heart to know that there was nothing at all she could do for them. If she dared to interfere, there would be dire consequences... The kind of consequences that sank continents.

Moving over to the gray mare in the corner, she petted the cellist softly and said:

“These two are about to suffer greatly for your sake. Do not forget them, ever.”

Her body dissolved into specks of golden light, rising up through the earth, out of the mines. She became the wind, soaring far far to the south. The wind blew through the slumbering village of Ponyville till it came to the little cottage at the far edge of the city limits. It slipped through the shutters that the cottage's owner always closed so diligently every night.

She glided over to the bed and reached out to the sleeper. She moved the mane to the side, it was always hiding the pegasus' face. Then she kissed the Element of Kindness on the forehead.

“Be ready little one. I have a lot of work for you, my good and faithful servant.”

Angel sat up and rubbed his eyes. The figure was gone. Assuming that it was all just a hallucination he rolled over and went back to sleep, dreaming about raiding Carrot Top's fields.

Author's Notes:
It is accomplished. What has been done cannot be undone.