She was getting worse. Despite being allowed to rest, Octavia's condition continued to deteriorate. We both knew what would happen when the dogs forced her back to work. She was going to die. It was only a matter of time now.

“We have to do something.” Lily whispered to me at mealtime.

“What can we do?” I asked.

“We have to help her escape somehow.”

“Lily, that's crazy talk. We're at the bottom of a mine surrounded by diamond dogs.”

“I know Fudge. I know. Still, we can't just let her die!”

Little did I know how one tiny little word would change everything. Forever. I think back on that day a lot. I've asked myself many times if I could do things over again, and knowing what I know now, would I still have said it? Sometimes that question keeps me awake at night. The word that I said was:

“Okay.”

“We need to come up with a plan.” Lily said.

We spent all of that night hemming and hawing, debating and discussing. By morning, we had our plan. It wasn't a great plan. It wasn't even a good plan, but it was our plan. And it was all that we had. When we told Octavia about it, she didn't like it at all. Fortunately, she wasn't in a position to argue. She was the one who was dying.

It could have gone wrong at any number of times. If the diamond dogs were a little brighter, if they paid more attention, we wouldn't even have lasted an hour. Had they paid attention, they would have noticed that Lily wasn't at her station. They would have found her lying in our cell wearing Tavi's cloak pretending to be her with her hood pulled down and legs buried under the straw.

Had they paid attention, they would have seen Octavia wearing Lily's cloak climb into a half filled minecart. They would have seen as I covered her with gems. She had worn that cloak that whole awkward night we spent cuddling each other so that she would smell as much like me as possible. They still would have caught her scent, had they been paying attention.

Fortunately for us, there was a cave in. It was not so fortunate for the diggers who were buried alive. The dog's attention was diverted, and the plan went off without a hitch. I pushed that cart up to the entrance of the mine, just like I had done countless times before. A wagon was waiting to take the gems away. It had a distinctive emblem on the side, a single white pillar. It kind of looked like it was made of marble. I wondered who it belonged to. The dogs that came to unload the cart were very surprised when a pony jumped out and started running away.

They started to chase after her, but didn't get very far. They should have been paying attention. I took out the ones with spears first, catching one with a surprise left hook that sent him flying. The second I knocked the wind out of with a jab to the gut. He dropped like a rock. The draft team ran away with the wagon in a panic as the brawl ensued. There were dogs all over me at that point. It was a mass of flailing limbs and snapping jaws. Somebody blew a horn, and that was when I knew the jig was up.

There were dogs pouring out of the woodwork then, they piled on to me in an attempt to hold me down. The thing that they failed to take into account was, I'm really goddamn strong. I tossed them away like rag dolls and charged one of them into the side of the cave entrance. Just as it looked like I was getting the upper hand, a net came flying out of nowhere and tangled me up. I was promptly tackled again and landed on my back. As I looked up I saw a dog grinning down at me with one of those glass vials.

“Son of a bitch..”

I stand on the desolate rocks of the island's shore, listening to the laughter of the gulls overhead. The wind chills my armor and makes my blue cape billow. I can feel the cold even through my shirt, but I don't mind. Seeing the prison gives me reassurance, that I'm doing my job. All the monsters are locked away from my precious ponies. Even if they escape the walls, they'll never make it past the sharkwhales. I had to come out here, to get away from it all. I couldn't stand being in Canterlot for another second. It felt like the walls were closing in. Like being stuck in a labyrinth...

They're worried about me. I know. They all drop their hints. Some subtle like Rarity, some not so subtle like Twilight. All except Fluttershy. She never says anything, and she'll never know how much I love her for that. But they're all thinking the same thing: He can't carry on like this. How long till he cracks? But they don't understand. I can't crack. I have to keep going. I have to protect them. Protect Equestria. I can't let anything happen to them. I can't fail.

Not after what happened to Applejack. Not again. Never again.

Applejack... There's something bothering her too. She's never been very good at hiding things. It's something to do with me, but I can't figure it out. Did I make a mistake? Did I do something wrong? Why won't she say what's on her mind? Why?

I am awakened by a rather painful kick to the ribs.

“Get up moohead!” Someone snarls.

I'm in some kind of office, very different from the caverns I've been used to seeing these past months. A large mahogany desk sits atop a red carpet. Very expensive looking decorations adorn the walls, unlike anything I'd expect to see in a place run by diamond dogs. All around me are pissed off canines pointing spears.

“Get up!”

I am kicked again and quickly scramble to my hooves to prevent another blow to the ribs. It's then that figure out where I am. Sitting behind the desk in a chair of purple velvet is Boxer. Silverfang stands by his side, face expressionless. Boxer looks up nonchalantly from a newspaper.

“That's not necessary.” He says.

The dogs relax their spears.

“Sit.” Boxer commands, pointing at the chair across from him. It's a tight squeeze, not meant for someone of my size, but I sit anyway. I understand perfectly who's in charge here.

“I'm very upset with you.” He says, but doesn't look like it.

If he expects me to say that I'm sorry, he's sorely mistaken.

“No one has ever escaped from Deep Rock Warren. Did you know that?” He continues.

“No, I didn't.” I say.

“Well, now someone has. You've tarnished our record, and now I have to abuse any notion of a repeat offense from my employee's minds. Do you understand that?”

“I know.”

“You'll have to be made an example of. I can tell just by your actions and just by looking at you that you're the sort who doesn't care what happens to himself. Therefore, I can think of only one way to punish you.”

He nods at one of the dogs and they pound on the office door three times. Then Lily is roughly tossed into the center of the room. She's wearing Octavia's red cloak, but now it looks even more ragged and worn than before. Her mane is frazzled and she sports a black eye, and several more bruises cover her body. I leap out of the chair, not giving a damn about the dogs or their spears. I start checking her for further injury.

“YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!”

Lily grasps my wrist and shakes her head.

“Don't.” She whispers.

I am literally seething with rage. The alpha looks unperturbed.

“Did you think I didn't know about your little accomplice?” He asks. “I know everything that goes on in my warren. I know all about the two of you. Quite the ruckus you make every evening, or so I'm told.”

Lily looks ashamed, which only pisses me off even more.

“Since you won't much care about anything I might do to you,” Boxer begins, “I'll have to do something to her instead. Fortunately we have a place for troublemakers here. I'll send you along with her, just so that you can find out what becomes of your precious companion. Take them to the arena.”

Silverfang's mask slips just a bit, and I see his dismay. This is clearly not good news.

We are marched out into a long corridor. Another group of dogs is waiting for us there. They look different from any of the ones we've seen before. They're dressed in white uniforms with a diamond emblazoned on their chests. They have a large flatbed cart with them, a teal earth pony hitched to the front. I can tell by the whiteness of his eyes that he is blind. Our escorts step back as they approach.

One of them produces a velvet cloth from his pocket and a vial from the other. I know all too well what those things are for by now. He uncorks the vial and covers it with the cloth. Then he tosses it at my hooves expectantly. With a sigh I pick it up. At least it's better than getting hit in the face with glass bottle.

Lily and I look into each others eyes. She nods sadly. I pick up the velvet, put my arm around her and hold the cloth over her nose. She falls unconscious and I gently lay her on the ground. The uniformed dogs pick her up and put her on the cart. Then they look at me expectantly. I put the cloth to my face and for the second time that day I am knocked unconscious.

When I come to I am in another cell, somewhere else. Lily is lying by my side, still asleep. There are a couple of ponies, a griffon and some kind of cat person in the cell with us.

“Oiy, they's comin around mate.” A pegasus says, nudging the griffon beside him.

“So, you're the new blokes eh?” The griffon asks, sounding for all the world as if he were from England. “Bad luck all around yeah? Dunno what you sods done ta get tossed in wit us lot, but it don't much mattah now do it? This ere's the Deep Rock Ludus, the place where you an' yer mare are gonna die, 'ventually anyhow. Welcome to the arena mate.”

Author's Notes:

Holy hell, a new chapter. Who woulda thought?