Twilight cocked an eyebrow.

“So, that’s when you first ran into ponies,” she noted. “Care to elaborate?”

Shiva looked away. “I don’t like remembering that time,” she mumbled.

Twilight’s gaze faltered, but she forced it into a grimace.

“I need to know what happened,” she insisted. “The way you got here answers some questions, but I need to know more. What did you do to those ponies? How do I know they weren’t just trying to help you?”

Shiva’s worried gaze faded into a snarl. “Help me?” she asked.

The guards bristled, ready to charge back in and hit her. Giving them a hateful glare, Shiva stamped her anger down and continued her story.

My eyes fluttered back open. At first, I thought my sight was damaged – strange bars obscured my vision. But when I put a hand out, my claw tips brushed against metallic bars… wider than two of my claws together, evenly spaced and securely anchored into both floor and ceiling. A brief glance around revealed I was entrapped in the very cage I came to investigate. The dog man was crouched in the corner, huddled in a fetal position. He watched me with resigned silver eyes.

A shudder vibrated throughout my entire body, and it wasn’t from nervousness. The cage was moving; drug alongside the red wagon to which it had been attached to. The wagon was making its way through the gnarled tree trunks and towards a thin mountain. The campsite I had found was long gone. From my elevated position, I realized the shuddering was coming from wheels rolling across the ground and the elevation of the cage a couple feet off the ground.

“W-Where am I?” I whimpered.

“Sh!” the dog man cautioned me. He glanced fearfully back at the wagon. “Whip pony don’t like noise.”

My ears flicked. Whip pony? I grabbed at the bars. Shaking them didn’t even rattle them, so I tried to peer through. I made out movement ahead of the wagon; what looked like equines, which probably explained how we were moving. I felt an odd memory punctuate my rattled mind: horse-drawn carriages; where humans once relied upon horses to move heavy loads around.

But if the horses were there, then that had to mean a human was controlling them. My hopes flared up.

“Hey!” I barked. “Hey!”

The dog man grabbed me. “Sh!” he hissed. “No!”

But I shook him off. “Master!” I yelled. “Where’s Master?!”

The wagon shuddered to a stop. The dog man backed into the furthest corner from the wagon, keening and whimpering. I ignored him. If there was a human coming my way, he or she had to know something about Master, right?

Problem was, the thing that came off the wagon wasn’t human.

It was a pony. A bright red stallion with a golden mane and some sort of black coat. An odd picture of a whip adorned his flank. Golden eyes narrowed in anger, and a spiral horn on its head glowed. I tilted my head at the odd display, barely noticing the whip shrouded in a golden glow next to him.

“I’m being good!” the dog man pleaded. “I don’t make noise; all new girl! I didn’t…”

But then I became very aware of the whip as it lashed up and carved right towards me. With a thwip-CRACK, pain exploded across my chest. I fell backward, slamming against the other side of the cage. I stared down at the thin cut along my chest. A shiver went through me as blood slowly started to drip down.

Shiva paused, noticing Twilight’s aghast expression. The quill and paper in her magic grip fell to the floor.

“He… whipped you?” she whispered.

“LIES!”

A new tormentor came in: a tall dark horse with a flowing midnight-blue mane and tail. Feathery wings were tucked at her side, and a horn – like the purple unicorns, but longer and sharper - grew from her forehead. She wore pitch black regalia outfitted with a white crescent moon, matching the crescent moon on her flank. She radiated both power and menace, and the glare in her cerise eyes practically shot beams of disgust and anger at the white wolf. Shiva barely had enough time to shrink back before the horse spun on her front legs and kicked her in the side.

Shiva hit the wall with a cry while Twilight backed up in horror.

“L-Princess Luna!” she cried.

“How dare thou state such falsities!” the midnight horse bellowed, threatening Shiva with her horn. “How dare thou try to justify thy heinous crime with lies!”

“But…” Shiva whimpered. “I’m not…”

“I will find the truth!” the ‘Luna’ declared, her horn glowing. “We will probe thy brain until the truth is revealed to us!”

Shiva raised a claw in defense, but then Luna’s horn flashed.

The next thing Shiva knew, she was back in the cage.

“W-What…?” she whimpered, before she heard the whip getting lashed again. Her eyes darted up, and she saw the lash descending through the cage bars at her again. Shiva screamed and brought her arms up, shielding her face.

But while the CRACK of the whip sounded again, pain didn’t come to her. Instead, light blazed around Shiva. Shiva’s eyes darted up as two lightning bolts crisscrossed over each other, deflecting the whip before sputtering out into nothing. The unicorn backed up, eyes wide in alarm, before they narrowed again with anger.

“What did you do, Dog?” the unicorn roared, turning to the male. “How did she do that?”

“I not know,” the dog keened, pressing himself against the corner. “I no make noise. I good Diamond Dog! I…”

But Shiva could tell the unicorn didn’t care. His whip was rising up for another lash. Trying to call upon that same power that had summoned the lightning, Shiva threw herself in Luke’s way, bringing her arms up again.

The whip lashed. And pain shot down Shiva’s arms and down her leg.

Shiva fell backward into the diamond dog with a scream. The power hadn’t come back, and now two thin cuts along Shiva’s arm and leg were bleeding. The diamond dog barked in horror, while the unicorn smirked.

“No flashy powers now, huh?” he demanded, before lashing the whip again.

Shiva twisted, keeping her cellmate protected with her body, but shrieked out again as the lash carved down her back.

“Yeah!” the unicorn taunted. “You need to know where the Master is now? Take that!”

Another lash carved down her back. Shiva grit her teeth and hissed, squeezing the diamond dog to her chest. It was her duty to protect and support when Master cried or was upset. Master wasn’t here now, but this dog was. He needed her help. So, she pressed the dog man – diamond dog? - to her chest, and endured two more lashes.

“Breaker!” a voice called. “She gets it. You can always say ‘don’t yell at us.’”

“Words don’t do anything for these creatures,” the unicorn replied. “They need to understand the force.”

His whip snapped again, and though Shiva didn’t feel it carve down her back, she still winced.

“See? That’s how Celestia did it,” he declared. “Asserted her superiority and made them afraid and compliant.”

“They’re not animals, you know,” the voice noted. “They can talk.”

“Want me to lock you up in there with them for a while? See how chatty they get?”

Shiva glanced back, and saw a dark brown stallion backing up, his coat slowly paling as his eyes widened under a messy black mane.

“Not necessary,” he replied.

The red unicorn holding the whip smirked. “Exactly,” he said. “These things are monsters. For some reason, Celestia didn’t see fit to wipe them all out, so it’s up to us to at least make sure that they know not to mess with us.” He turned back to Shiva, who winced under his glare. “That right, mutt?”

“Yes!” The diamond dog yelped from underneath Shiva.

Shiva tucked her head and said nothing. The dog looked up at her, but she just shook her head at him. He wisely didn’t say anything more. The unicorn huffed.

“Keep it that way.” He paused. “Be thankful your new girlfriend is here, Dog,” the unicorn taunted, as his hoof steps faded away. “She won’t be there to save you next time.”

The unicorn vanished out of sight, only for his voice to roar in rage a moment later.

“Walker! That’s my spot!”

“Was your spot,” the brown stallion’s voice replied. “Now, it’s your turn to drive.”

“I could whip you off there, you know!”

“You do, and I’ll make sure the boss knows where I got the scar.”

The two argued back and forth, but it seemed they were done tormenting the two dogs for now. Shiva pulled herself from the diamond dog, their chest fur sticking thanks to her blood. She managed to pull away, and instinctively started licking at the wound on her arm, failing to quell the shaking in her legs.

Master had never struck her before. Even when she had made a mess on her living room floor, Shiva had never been struck or hurt like this before. Fear and rage battled in her mind over these cruel, odd talking ponies. The turmoil wasn’t helped by the confusion her only defense brought on. She gazed forlornly down at her claws, wondering what had triggered the white lightning, and how she could bring it back.

She was broken out of her thoughts when she felt a tongue on her back, licking at the lash-marks. She spun, causing the diamond dog to back up.

“Sorry,” he whimpered. “I…” he paused, rubbing his callused knuckles together. “You okay?”

Shiva winced as the lack of his tongue sent a throb through her system, and she turned her back to him, gazing hopefully at him. Getting the message, he crept forward, and set his paws on the few bits of her back that weren’t lashed to ribbons.

“Thank you,” he added, before continuing his licking.

“He shouldn’t be doing that,” a new voice added.

Both of them jumped back as a new tormentor appeared: a light purple unicorn mare with a green, frazzled mane. Her aura held two bowls, and with a swift burst of magic, she yanked open a section of the bars – a door, Shiva realized, wondering how she missed it – and slid the bowls in before slamming the door shut. The mare gave them a smile, though the smile didn’t reach her eyes the way it did with Master.

“You learned quicker than most,” the mare praised. “Just follow the rules, accept that we’re better,” she added with a small chuckle. “And you’ll be home before you know it.”

The male whimpered, while Shiva glared at her. The mare’s grin faltered at the anger in Shiva’s eyes.

“Summer!” Breaker’s voice. “You done?”

The mare jumped. “C-Coming, Breaker,” she yelled, glancing at Shiva again before racing out of sight. A second later, a shudder ran through the cage, and they were pulled back onto the road.

Part of Shiva knew the mare probably had a point about the licking; the rational part of her mind wondered where the other dog’s mouth had been. But licking dulled the pain, even if minimally, and she presented her back to him again, licking at her own wound in earnest.

“Who… are you?” Shiva asked.

He paused, humming in confusion.

“I mean,” Shiva said nervously. “You’re not just called ‘Diamond Dog,’ are you?”

“No,” he said. Without the panic in his voice, he had a nice baritone. “Name’s Luke. You?”

“Shiva,” she replied.

“And… magic?” he asked.

Shiva glanced down at her claws again. She shook her head. “No idea,” she admitted. “It just… happened.”

Luke hummed again, before glaring at the wagon.

“They find out,” he growled. “They learn. They find out how to beat it.”

Shiva glared at the wagon as well. “And if I don’t want them to find out?” she asked, even as the cuts from the whip subtly answered her.

Luke shrugged. “They make,” he replied. “Don’t care what we want.”

Shiva gasped, breaking out of the memory with ragged panting. Above her, a wisp of mist faded, the last remnants of Luke’s resigned face fading with them.

“Ah-ha!” Luna declared. “You see, Twilight Sparkle! They found out how her powers worked. Obviously, that’s why she killed them!”

“But… Princess,” Twilight whispered. “The whipping? And the…”
“Illusions!” Luna insisted, though her eyes did dart to the still visible scars down Shiva’s back. “Admittedly good tricks to make us feel sorry for this filth!" She shook her head as if clearing it. "But not to worry, Twilight Sparkle.” Her horn flared again. “We shall discern the truth.”

“Wait-wait-WAIT!” Shiva barked, but the lunar alicorn forced her back into the memories.

Shiva wasn’t sure how the alicorn was ‘discerning the truth.’ All Shiva knew was that it forced her back into the memories. And forced her to relive what those ponies had done to her.

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