The Refugees

The Refugees
by neorenamon

Jifar carried Big Mac as the group travelled down the tunnel.

"Honey-buns," he said, "Ah can walk on mah own."

"And of that there is no doubt," she replied, "but my love may need to fight another bout."

"I reckon I can't talk ya outta this?"

"You should know," she answered with a smile, "the answer is no."

He glanced back over his shoulder at their prisoners and bargaining chip, and asked, "Y'all behavin yerselves?"

Rover grumbled against the rope muzzle, and he had no doubt his words would not have been suitable for a lady's ears if he had been free to speak his mind at that moment. He glanced back at Jifar and wondered what was making her blush so until he realized that he had his hand on her breast which was laying across his stomach, and was stroking it like his hand had its own mind. It was his turn to blush as she smiled at him awkwardly.

"Sorry there sugar-cube," he said quickly.

"Is there a need for my love to remind," she replied, "that such attention I do not mind?"

He glanced back again at the makeshift stretcher they made to carry the inert form of Twilight. She was tied down to keep her still, and two miners had volunteered to carry her even though he was sure some of them were questioning the value of hauling around somepony who for all intents and purposes appeared to be dead.

Zecora and Opa walked hand-in-hand next to Twilight's stretcher, and seemed to be evaluating her as they walked. They took turns whispering into each other's ears, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Then Opa paused to sniff around. She walked over to a nearby cave opening just off the passage.

"What's goin on, sugar-cube?" he asked.

"A number of us have great need," she replied, "to fund us some food and feed."

"Is there food in there?"

It was about then that his nose caught the scent of some kind of mushroom stew coming from the same place.

"Put me down, sweetums," he said, "I may haveta fight some dogs fer that there food. But I don't wanna hurt nopony if there ain't no need to."

So Jifar put him down, and he boldly strode into the cave first. He clenched his fists ready to start pummeling, but soon realized that the only thing inside was three naked bitches tending huge pots of boiling stew. It seemed to be some kind of mess hall/kitchen area.

He glanced back and said, "Come on in and let's eat up. These bitches ain't gonna be no trouble." The group began to file in as he walked over to the nearest one and said, "Mah friends here are right powerful hungry. Y'all don't mind servin them up some vitals, do ya?"

They started pulling out wooden bowls and spoons, and began serving up everypony as they sat down at the tables and benches that were scattered about the room. No one seemed to pay attention to the way Opa and Zecora remained by Twilight after the miners had laid her out in the corner.

He chowed down with the others as large bowls of mushroom stew were set out before them. While he normally wasn't a big fan of the fungus, it sure tasted great to him right then. A glance at Jifar told him she was feeling the same way. They were all stuffing their faces like there was no tomorrow.

A strange sound drifted to his ears over the sound of eating, so he glanced back and noticed that the zebra and okapi had taken up a place on either side of Twilight, holding hands across her as they chanted or sung something too soft to hear. He had no idea what it meant, but he was pretty sure they had to be saying some sort of prayer or chant for Twilight, so he went back to eating stew. The stallion figured he'd just have to ask them about it later.

After all, he couldn't let his future wife outdo him in the eating department, and her glance indicated that it was surely an unspoken eating contest between the two of them.

But as he glanced about the room, he noticed that almost all of the nursing bitches had paired up with one of the dog miners, and were sharing their bowl of stew with them as some kind of bonding activity. He could tell by the way they would lean over the bowl to kiss the other, or lick some stray stew off their muzzles.

Then Jifar leaned in and licked something off his cheek, and that snapped his attention back to her. He smiled back and licked a bit of food from the end of her nose.

But the chant grew louder and something made the hairs on the back of his neck stand, so he turned to see just what was going on in the corner. He noticed that Opa and Zecora were resting their heads on the shoulder of their love, their eyes and cutie marks glowing brightly. It also seemed that Twilight's body glowed softly as well.

"What the hay are they doin ta Twilight?" he asked.

Jifar's head snapped around as she looked. "I do not mean by words to scare, but I know that spell they now dare!"

"What spell?!"

"They mean to end Twilight's strife," she answered, "by giving her some of their life!"

"Well just what kind of risk is they takin?!"

"If they should fail when they try," she said fearfully, "then they should ALL surely die!"

"Then we gotta stop..."

"That time has gone as it's too late. Now only their will can decide their fate."

"OH NO!"

By now, basically everypony and dog was looking that way. Opa and Zecora coughed violently as glittering smoke shot from their mouths like clouds of starry night, and the clouds of strange sparkling gas both entered the nose and mouth of Twilight. Then they both closed their eyes and collapsed across Twilight while still somehow holding hands.

Several, including him and Jifar, rushed over to their sides. He grabbed Zecora by the shoulders and shook her, but she was not responsive. Jifar had done the same with Opa.

"BY CELESTIA LET THEM BE ALRIGHT!" he begged the higher powers.

"Look," said Applejack, "Part of Twilight's horn has grown back!"

He looked at her head and realized that indeed about half of her horn had been rebuilt. One time, Zecora used a potion to rebuild one of Apple Bloom's teeth, but he figured she could only do so with a potion that she surely didn't have with her. He figured that the mysterious Opa must have had something to do with the miracle he had just witnessed.

"HEY BIG MACINTOSH!" called an oddly familiar voice. He looked up to see that last mare he'd ever figure he'd see down in the mines with them: Pinkie Pie.

"I keep telling you not to go ahead!" hissed another familiar voice. Rarity stalked in with Rainbow Dash in tow. Or at least it looked something like Dash. She was on a leash and wearing a collar, her feet were now paws, her muzzle was canine, and he couldn't help but notice she was on all fours.

Spike and Bakabaka came in after them.

"Look at all these dogs!" scolded Rarity, "Any of them could have jumped you and taken you down!"

In her hurry to scold Pinkie, Rarity had let go of Dash's leash, and she began bounding around the room like a playful pup. He raised an eyebrow as she went from one butt to the next sniffing each in turn, and occasionally giving them a lick or two. Then he lost sight of her under one of the tables. He would surely have to ask Rarity about what was going on later.

Then Fluttershy came in behind the others. For some reason, she had one hand clamped down over her skirt right over her crotch, and she was blushing. He almost choked when Jifar shoved a spoonful of stew into his mouth by surprise, so his attention went back to her.

Big Mac almost jumped out of his hide when he felt something cold and wet against his balls, so he reached under the table and grabbed somepony. Hauling them up, he found that her grabbed the canine Rainbow Dash under her armpits.

"WHAT THE HAY IS GOIN ON AROUND HERE?!"

"Ah," sighed Rarity as she realized she was no longer holding Dash's leash, "It's... complicated... but let's just say that the Shaman of the dogs was interrupted..." She paused to glare at Pinkies as she continued, "in the middle of some kind of transformative spell." Pinkie seemed oblivious to the stare. "Now she seems to be stuck in a state between Pegasus and dog. She also seems to be stuck in the mindset of a pup."

He paused when he realized that Winona used to behave just the same way.

"What's up with these three?" asked Pinkie.

He turned to see that the miners had arranged stretchers for Zecora and Opa, so they all laid side by side now.

"Miss Opa and Miss Zecora gave up part of their own lives ta save Twilight," he replied, "and now they all seem to be at risk. I didn't want to lose no one no how, but now I could lose all three of them." He paused before he added, "It was a fool thing ta do! They shoulda told us what they wanted ta do afore they did it!"

"Please do not look for anger or blame," said Jifar as she leaned her head against him, "If you could you would have done the same."

"Yer right, sweetums," he replied, "but I can't help feelin I shoulda done more fer all of them."

Applejack smacked him in the back of the head as she said, "Yah can't fix everythin by yerself, big brother! Ya gotta let others do what they can too!"

"It's the stallions rightful job ta look after every mare," he replied softly, "It just is."
...

Princess Luna fell behind the others as she towed the two dog apprentices behind her. With the echoes in the tunnels, she began to wonder if she had taken the wrong path as well. It was only the fact that she was Princess of the Moon that she could see well in the poorly lit tunnels, but even she couldn't see that far ahead. If she were the least bit curious, she might have at least glanced into the caves they were passing to make sure there was nopony or dog waiting there to ambush them.

"It seems we need to backtrack and see if we can hook up with the others," muttered Luna.

The bitch whimpered against her rope muzzle.

"We surely need not bother big sister about a matter as trivial as this! One path or another shall return us to the group soon enough!"

She turned them around and started back. Unfortunately, the tunnels were not marked, and she was not known for her ability to navigate mazes. She just didn't have the eye for detail that would have told her one section of passage apart from the next. They turned one corner after another with no sign of anypony she knew, nor any sound of the same.

The leashes suddenly went taught behind her just as she was turning another corner. She looked back and saw that glowing eyes were looking back. Before she could utter a syllable, the two of them were body checking her into the wall. She felt the side of her skull slam into the rock before she collapsed with the dogs on top.

"That's gonna leave a mark," said an old and strong voice.

Luna looked from under the pile to see an old wrinkled dog leaning on a staff as he looked them over. Her vision was blurring, and she knew she wasn't going to remain conscious much longer.

"It's lucky I keep a tight grip on you pups. I woulda been around sooner, but some schmendrick of a pony made me screw up a really big spell! Oy, I'm so gonna turn her into a TOAD for that!"

She faded fast. The last thing she heard was, "Welcome to the kennel, bitch."

The dog apprentices whimpered as if they knew that they had done her wrong even though they had no choice.
...

Princess Celestia led the troops down the tunnels in search of their leader or whoever was the most powerful wielder of magic. While a number of dog warriors were beaten down before them, she allowed none to die from their injuries. But she didn't mind leaving them bound and gagged in their wake. She also used a few discreet phasing spells to leave their weapons mostly buried in the stone tunnel walls as a sign that she did mean business.

A conscious dog warrior was brought before her.

"Tell me where your chief is!" she ordered.

"You mean that no good cur Rover?! He left us here to delay you! He claimed he had better things to do than rally the troops against invaders!" The words were spat from his mouth with the force of contempt.

"Help us get our friends back, and I shall see what I can do about fixing your leadership issues. If you agree, I shall treat you as a guest rather than a prisoner."

"Very well. I have a rough idea just where he went."

She nodded.

"But I need your word that it shall be the dogs living here who shall pick the new leader?"

She nodded again.

"Then until that time, you shall have my full and devoted attention."

She smiled. Then she paused before she asked, "And who is the most powerful wielder of magic in the mines? Where might they be found?"

"The Shaman?" he asked, "No one really keeps track of that crazy old coot. He's a little out of his mind from old age, so none of 'us pups' want to be around him any more than we must. But we must also respect his age, wisdom, and mostly his really scary magic. I wouldn't mess with him if I were you."

"What do you think, little sister?" She looked around. "LUNA?!" Turning around in a full circle, she asked, "Has anyone seen Princess Luna?!"

Everypony shook their head no.