Attila Sarois was angry. He had just walked into his home, and he was taking off his helmet as his twin sister unfastened the leather straps that secured his iron armor to his torso. What he was about to do required him to be naked.

“Talking with ponies was good?” she asked, as she continued to help him take off his armor.

“No good, Alpha never try to negotiate,” he answered, frustrated, as he scratched his head covered in dark green fur. The armor itched when worn for too long. “Only make ponies come to laugh at Drogur and Queen Moon. He thinks we stronger.”

“We strong,” his sister replied, slightly offended. “Yellow Topaz fears no den or dragon.”

“Yes, we strong,” he conceded. “But they many, and use magic, and Queen Moon be with them.”

“Then we die?”

“No, only one dies,” he replied. “I challenge Alpha, I negotiate. Fight is death, better live with no slaves.”

“You sure? He strong, and we no alpha blood,” she said, concerned.

“Yes, but he old and slow. If Alpha wins, you leave. He no mercy, he kill me and he kill you.”

“You right. I leave if Alpha wins,” she sighed as she finished undressing him.

“You good bitch, Etelka. You find good den and have pups. I challenge now, ponies attack soon.”

Attila left his sister without further words. He knew he had to do what he was about to do: it was his duty as the Beta to defeat and replace the current Alpha if he was no longer fit to rule. Yellow Topaz was one of the largest diamond dog dens in Gem Fido. More than five thousand dogs lived together, and they had at least one slave for every three dogs. Instead of having small, concealed holes leading to their den, their entrance was as big as a road and protected by fortified walls with several ballistas placed atop them, which discouraged even the boldest dragons. Their fleet of ten zeppelins was away, each one searching for slaves on a different part of the world. Being located under a valley also prevented other diamond dogs from attacking them by digging into them, as the river that crossed the valley generated large underground deposits of water that could drown a team of digging dogs that dug into one. Due to all of this, capturing Yellow Topaz would take a long time and result in a lot of casualties for both sides. Even then, Attila knew the pony army would ultimately win. Princess Luna could fight against an army of diamond dogs on her own, and the crystal ponies’ tactics and skill made them much deadlier than the diamond dogs, who relied only in their superior strength. Lastly, Drogur and his diamond dogs made it impossible for the Yellow Topaz dogs to use their best tactic against non-dogs: attacking from the underground. An army of diamond dogs suddenly bursting out of the ground could quickly destroy an unprepared army, and injured dogs could easily fall back into the ground, where nopony could catch them.

Something gleaming and blue made him snap out of his thoughts. He found himself facing Luna, Drogur and their honor guard of ten crystal ponies, who were being escorted out of Yellow Topaz by a score of diamond dogs. The alicorn princess was wearing black regalia, while Drogur had a black suit. The crystal ponies wore the armors that the dogs in Gem Fido had learned to fear.

“Leaving so soon?” he asked, trying to sound friendly.

“Indeed, your Alpha made his intentions very clear,” Luna replied, frowning. “We’d rather return to our camp than remain underground.”

“You should wait a bit longer, Queen of Stars,” Attila said, struggling to speak in “proper” Equestrian. “I think the Alpha is feeling weak today.”

Drogur’s eyes sparkled with intensity when he understood the meaning behind Attila’s words. With that said, Attila continued walking.

“Queen of Stars?” he heard Luna ask Drogur. “Just how many names have your people made up for me?”

Attila didn’t register Drogur’s reply, as he was reminiscencing the day he became Beta. He had been the captain of a zeppelin for years, until he made a trip to the Zebrican Islands. The trip was uneventful at first: they reached the islands, raided a village for slaves, and turned back. Then two dragons attacked the zeppelin at once when they were at a distance of two days of travel from Yellow Topaz. The zeppelin had enough firepower to hold back a single dragon, but they were quickly overwhelmed by the coordinated attack. In the end, Attila ordered his crew to do an emergency landing and dig deep into the ground while the dragons were busy with the slaves. That saved them, as they would have died if they had continued fighting. The Beta didn’t share Attila’s opinion. He said that Attila shouldn’t have lost the ship and the slaves, no matter what, and that his punishment should be to work in the mines. Attila had then challenged the Beta, convinced that a Beta that couldn’t understand that no dog could have done better than him didn’t deserve to be the Beta. Being a captain of a diamond dog zeppelin was already similar to being a Beta, since any dog who thought he would be a better captain could challenge him, so Attila had eventually become very good at fighting other dogs. The previous Beta was all muscle and no brain, and Attila had had to deal with many like him aboard his zeppelin, so he rose victorious with relatively little effort.

‘If I win and I Alpha, I must be fast. Next Beta will fight me when I say we peace and no war. Must make peace before that, then Beta that beats me and is next Alpha no war because he will be traitor to allies,’ he thought as he reached the Alpha’s home, a palace-like building carved in the walls of their cave. Then he inhaled, filling his lungs with as much air as possible, and he released a howl as deep and loud as he could. His howling made all the diamond dogs that heard it stop what they were doing and turn to face him, shocked. A few seconds later they echoed Attila Sarois’ howl so all the dogs in the warren knew that the Beta had challenged the Alpha. By the time the Alpha came out of his house, also naked, a crowd of five hundred diamond dogs had formed a wide circle around Attila and the Alpha’s house. The Alpha howled in response to Attila’s challenge, and his powerful howling made Attila’s seem like a cub’s in comparison.

“You challenge me, Beta Attila Sarois,” the Alpha said, incredulous. “Why?”

“Alpha Matyas Rakois, you no deserve ruling,” Attila proclaimed. “You will make all dogs die fighting pony army. When I Alpha, I save Yellow Topaz from death.”

Matyas laughed, a cruel laugh that sounded more like a bark. “You think you have what it takes to be an Alpha?” he asked, no longer speaking the diamond dog’s primitive version of Equestrian in order to show his superiority. “You don’t have the blood of an alpha, you have no idea how to rule over a pack, and you are too weak to defeat me. You weren’t even born in Yellow Topaz, the scouts found you and your sister in the burning remains of Blood Ruby after the dragon attack and brought you here. When I beat you I’ll make sure you die you should have died: burnt in the ruins of your den.“

With that said, both dogs bared their teeth and began to circle each other. Matyas truly was an alpha, being more than a head taller than Attila, bulkier and with a more feral look. However, he was past his prime. It was said that his reflexes weren’t as good as they used to be, and he had a slight limp from the last time a Beta challenged him, as the leg bone the Beta had broken never fully healed. Attila knew that only by exploiting the Alpha’s weaknesses, would he be victorious.

Matyas attacked first, quickly moving towards Attila and trying to hit him in the head with a swipe, but Attila ducked below the Alpha’s arm and darted to the side as Matyas tried to grab him. Attila stepped back and watched closely as Matyas quickly turned to face him again, his predator mind noticing that the Alpha had to put his right hand on the ground to assist his crippled leg. They resumed circling each other, waiting for the other to make a mistake. Attila decided to test the Alpha’s defenses with a quick slash at his face, which the Alpha narrowly dodged. Then Attila moved back before Matyas could return his attack with his longer reach. This continued for a long minute, with both dogs hesitating to get in reach of the other’s jaws. Matyas went closer and tried to maul Attila, who tried to maul him back. Their attacks only grazed each other, inflicting small wounds and scratches. They both knew that trying to inflict deep wounds would leave them exposed to an equally painful attack. Their arms began to move slower as they moved away from each other before the accumulated wounds became an issue due to blood loss, in Attila’s case, or before running out of breath, in Matyas’ case.

“I don’t have time to play with you,” Matyas said, breathing noticeably heavier than before. “I have a battle to plan and-”

Matyas charged against Attila, his phrase turning into a roar as he did, trying to take advantage of his opponent’s lack of attention. However, he didn’t take into account that Attila’s work as the captain of a zeppelin had trained him to be always alert to everything that happened around him, so Attila anticipated the Alpha’s attack and moved to his right side. Matyas tried to turn and lunge towards Attila before he got out of his reach, but his lamed leg forced him to plant his right hand on the ground to support himself. Attila attacked the moment Matyas’ hand touched the ground, slashing between the elbow and the shoulder with his powerful claws. The three deep wounds his claws inflicted immediately started bleeding, making Matyas grunt in pain as he quickly shifted to a stance that allowed him to retaliate if Attila tried to attack him again.

They continued to circle each other, but this time getting a bit closer with each step. Attila decided to attack first, but just as he raised his paw to try to hit Matyas, the Alpha threw a fistful of dirt to Attila’s head, blinding him. Attila yelped in surprise, as he had never considered that dirt could, unlike the wooden floor of a zeppelin, be used as a weapon. This allowed Matyas to grab his forearms and move them away from his body. Attila tried to break free, but the Alpha’s powerful arms could have been made of steel for all of his efforts. Matyas forced Attila to assume a cross-like position, bringing their heads closer as their arms spread. Attila, still blinded by the dirt in his eyes, tried to bit Matyas; but he only bit air. Matyas, on the other hand, quickly sank his teeth into Attila’s left ear and violently jerked his head, tearing it off. Attila let out a high-pitched cry of pain as Matyas tried to bite his other ear. Attila moved his head away and Matyas’ jaw closed around his right shoulder.

‘Must act now!’ Attila managed to think through a cloud of pain and rage, and he quickly flexed his legs. Then he stretched them with all his might in a kick aimed at Matyas’ lame leg. The blow was accompanied by a sickening crunch, and Matyas fell to the ground, his cry of pain twice as loud as Attila’s.

The Alpha had been defeated, but there was something that Attila had to do. He was sure that, should Matyas be spared, he would become a dangerous foe, undermining him on each chance and waiting to challenge him in a moment of weakness. Due to this, he didn’t hesitate when he took a spear from the paws of one of the dogs that had witnesses the fight and stabbed Matyas in the neck before he could plead for his life. Someone started to cry in anguish, and a quick look confirmed that it was Matyas’ bitch. Attila knew that he had to prove that he wasn’t a weak-willed Alpha, or else the alliance with the ponies would be seen as weakness and would force him to face challenges from Betas all the time until he lost. Due to this, he took the spear out of the Alpha’s neck and, using his bare claws, beheaded him. Attila found the strongest-looking dog after quickly checking the ones that were watching him and gave him Matyas’ head.

“Name?” he asked as he gave him the head.

“Dalk, my Alpha.”

“You impale it on main entrance,” he ordered. “You Beta now.”

The dog he had chosen would consider it twice before daring to challenge him after having impaled the head of the previous Alpha, and it would take time for a dog strong enough to beat Dalk to become the next Beta.

“You,” he said, pointing at another dog. “Find Queen Moon and Alpha Drogur, tell them Alpha wants to talk. And someone take bitch away,” he added, pointing at Matyas’ wife, who was now hugging his beheaded corpse and crying.

“-now I only need you to sign here and it’ll be official,” Luna explained.

“You can just dip your finger in ink and-” Drogur began, only for Attila to grab a feather and put his signature on the bottom of the scroll, next to Luna’s.

“Now that we are allies, you bring here your ponies so they take our slaves to freedom,” Attila said, refraining from touching the bandages that covered his wounds. His missing ear was the injury that hurt the most. “Meanwhile, you fulfill your part of the deal, unless you want to renegotiate whenever a new Alpha appears.”

“I know, I know,” Drogur said with a hint of annoyance. “We need to go to a place where I can teach you how I do magic without anyone else snooping. Princess Luna, could you teleport us to such a location? I think you can come back for us in… Two hours.”

“Not yet,” she said. “I want to check on the slaves first. When they are free and being treated by our medics then you can teach him anything you want.”

The visit to the slaves pens was long and unpleasant. Unlike Granite Back, Yellow Topaz kept its slaves with the bare minimum of food and water for them to stay alive, and sometimes even less. Hygiene was an alien concept to them, and many had forgotten what sunlight felt like. The stench was almost unbearable, and it carried the characteristic smell of decomposing flesh. The fact that carnivorous slaves often ate the pony slaves that were too weak to work was well known. The slaves’ reactions to Princess Luna varied wildly. Some cried in either fear or relief, certain that Luna was Death herself that had come to take them away. Others felt hope for the first time in years, having heard rumours from the dogs that many other warrens had been conquered and forced to release all their slaves. Lastly, there were a few whose faces remained blank, too far gone to realize that an alicorn was in front of them.

“Listen to me” Luna gently said, her voice reaching the ears of all the slaves thanks to her magic. “I am Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria. Your days of captivity and forced labour are over. In a couple of hours, you will be taken away from here, to the outside. There, you will be fed and your diseases will be treated by our medics. The nightmare is over, it’s time to wake up and go back to the life of happiness and freedom that you deserve.”

“I’m not happy with teaching you my secrets,” Drogur told Attila, after Luna had finally sent them to a lost wood in the middle of nowhere. “It’s better than dealing with all the work that comes from releasing slaves and forming an alliance with a new den, but I’m still not happy.”

“It must be done,” Attila argued back. “I have no alpha blood. Without magic to defeat Betas, I’ll be defeated by a stronger dog soon. Then, you’ll have five thousand dogs revolting if the new Alpha is stupid enough to order them to do that.”

“Yes, yes, I know. You intrigue me, where did you learn to write and talk proper Equestrian?”

“I was the captain of a zeppelin. I made a slave teach me to read and write, and another to help me talk like the other races. Sometimes you need to restock in a place too well guarded to simply sack it, or trade with another species. When that happens, your only weapons are here,” he explained, poking his skull. “Now, how do you use magic?”

Drogur sighed. “You must keep what I’m going to teach you in secret. There are some words that have… Power. When you say them aloud while touching something with magic energy you will do a spell. The spell will depend on the word AND what you want it to do. For example… Colossus.”

The moment he said that word, he grew to twice his size. “This is what happens when I say that word thinking in becoming bigger, now I stop giving energy to the spell to return to normal and… Colossus.”

This time, a couple of rocks near them came to life and walked to Drogur’s side, who then stopped the spell so they would return to normal.

“Doing magic like this is very easy, which is why it must be kept in secret. I have never taught anyone else this, so maybe you can’t even do this unless you are born with a magical capacity. But if every living being in Equis can use magic like this…”

“Anyone with a gem hidden in a pocket could use magic as a weapon,” Attila concluded.

“Good, now take this gem,” Drogur said, taking a small ruby from a pocket and throwing it to Attila. “Try saying ‘color’ and thinking of blue until you manage to channel the magic energy and something changes color. I’m going to continue reading this book meanwhile,” he explained, pulling a small book from another pocket.

Cloudy Sunset finally turned around to return to the camp. She had spent the last hours scouting the clouded sky with three more pegasi, trying to detect dragon activity so the army on the ground could be warned.

“Cloudy, now that we are flying back to our camp,” began her wingpony, Silverwing. “Could you tell us what the Wonderbolt Academy was like? We are curious about it. Is it true that you were Spitfire’s wingpony?”

“You know, the first time an unicorn said that in the scouting division we gossiped like hens I thought he was just being racist,” Cloudy replied. “Now I see he does have a point.”

The three ponies flying behind her looked at each other, wondering if she was angry or amused.

“The Academy was an incredible place,” Cloudy began, to her team’s relief. “We trained until we dropped dead on our beds, only to wake up with the sunrise and train again. There was a lot of competition between us for being the best, and we loved every second of it. We practiced maneuvers that tested our skill, our resolve and our reflexes. Spitfire was the best of us. She was the first to wake up every morning, the last to leave the training courses, and the only one who broke Academy records. Being her wingpony, and her friend, was an incredible experience. When I had the accident, she stood by my side until I woke up from the coma. I learned afterwards that she almost got expelled for missing classes to stay with me. I think that, if it weren’t for her support… I wouldn’t be here today.”

“Come on, Cloudy,” Silverwing said, trying to take her away from such dark thoughts. “Tell us the juicy stuff. Did you and Spitfire ever do something silly? Pranking a drill sergeant, maybe?”

“Well, there was this one time… We were training together, doing a set of high-speed maneuvers. The ponies on the watch tower were drinking coffee in the meanwhile, so we did a flyby at our top speed a few inches above them. We startled the captain of the Wonderbolts so badly that she poured coffee all over herself.”

The four of them bursted into laughter, which encouraged Cloudy enough to tell more of the “feats” she and Spitfire had accomplished together. They reached the camp without further incidences, other than Silverwing losing control of his wings due to how hard he was laughing.

“Welcome back,” greeted the pony in charge of receiving their reports. “Anything to report?”

“Nothing, the skies were clear and there was no signs of hostile presences on the ground,” Cloudy answered.

“Good,” he replied, writing down something on a large parchment. “Oh, by the way. We aren’t fighting against Yellow Topaz, they have agreed to release the slaves and become our allies. Everypony is running around the camp, making sure we are ready to take in the two thousand slaves these dogs had down there.”

“Two thousand?!” Silverwing blurted, and then he whistled. “That’s, like, a small town worth of ponies.”

“And zebras, griffins, diamond dogs, the odd camel, maybe even a horse or one of those vulture griffins,” another member of Cloudy’s group added. “At this rate we’ll find they have seapony slaves digging in the underground lakes.”

“Yeah, seaponies. And a human too,” Silverwing joked. “Everypony knows seaponies are an old mare’s tale.”

“Well, I wouldn’t put humans and seaponies in the same bag,” Cloudy said. “I have heard rumours about humans living among us disguised as any creature they want. Somepony even told me that the griffin leader of the pirates that have been attacking diamond dog dens on the other corner of Gem Fido is a human.”

“Well, I have been told that Celestia turned her pupil Twilight Sparkle into an alicorn,” Silverwing replied. “Are you going to believe that, too?”

They shared a hearty laugh at such a ridiculous notion.