The Royal Princess Guard

Dive slowly regained consciousness, he felt a hot air surrounding him, and he could barely move his hooves. Slowly he forced his eyes open, they watered from the heat and what he could see was still blurry and out of focus.

"The pony is waking, yes." Came a squeaky Diamond dog voice from directly in front of him

"Good, good. See if he squeals like the others." Came a second, much deeper grating voice

Dive's vision was filled suddenly as something obscured his vision. This was followed by a crack and a split second later an excruciating pain from his wing, his mind was filled with nothing but pain, a red tide that swept through his thoughts and drowned out everything else.

Dive squirmed for a second in silent agony, silently screaming to himself in his mind yet not giving his captors the pleasure of voicing the pain. It slowly retreated from his mind, still present and throbbing however in a place that Dive could corner and isolate.

Suddenly the pain flooded back as his other wing cracked and a new tidal wave of excruciating pain flooded through him, he clung to consciousness as the pain threatened to turn all that he knew to nothing, he remained stubbornly silent throughout it all, locked in an internal struggle with his natural instinct to scream and escape the pain.

He could just about feel the sensation of movement through all the pain, eventually the movement stopped, bringing a new wave of pain with it as he was thrown to the floor below him. He lay there, slowly conquering the pain and pushing it to the back of his mind.

Slowly all of his senses came to the forefront of his consciousness, he felt the heat that surrounded him, and he could smell brimstone. e breathed in the stale air and very slowly opened his eyes.

He was lying on a floor of brass, scarred with scratches all through it and blackened around the edges. Surrounding it were bars leading up to a domed roof, similar to the bird cage that Celestia had for Philomena.

Slowly he rotated his head to look at his wing, and he instantly wished he hadn't. The feathers were slicked with blood which was flowing out of a whole through which one of the bones poked through, jagged where it had been snapped. He slowly tried to get up however the pain from the wing he was lying on was too much for him to be able to move effectively.

He decided to get his surroundings instead, he could see a row of nine other cages, exactly the same as his dangling from chains in the ceiling, and in each of the cages he saw a pony. The four closest to him were filled with the rest of his scouting party, the three unicorns looking panicked as they all looked around their cages for a means to escape.

The mare that he hadn't learnt the name of yet was sitting in a position with her hooves folded, meditating, seeming to be completely calm about their predicament. The other five cages were filled with a Pegasus in each, from the look of it the Diamond dogs had given them the same treatment as they had given Dive.

Slowly standing up, struggling through the pain Dive made a mental note to make the dogs that had done that pay for every single second those Pegasi had to suffer. Wings were the most sensitive part of a Pegasus' body, as was needed for the tiny adjustments that flight required, however it also meant any damage to them caused excruciating pain and could easily lead to weeks if not months of being grounded.

Diamond walked to the edge of the cage, looking over he saw a large broiling stream of lava, flowing like a river beneath them. About a couple of metres from the door to the cages was a precarious circle of rock which the lava flowed around.

There was a bridge of rock leading to a ledge where hundreds of tunnel entrances led from the rock, most likely through the Diamond Dog's lair and to the surface.

Dive stood there, wings hanging uselessly by his side, the blood loss would start to get to his head soon, so he used all the time he had to the best effect.

He examined the rusting lock holding the door closed, he put a hoof through the bars and touched it, the thing unlocked immediately. Dive hummed, he was expecting some challenge at least, but then by the looks of him and his companions he doubted they ever thought they would try to escape.

Dive turned to the closest cage next to him where Sparky was having a panic attack, huddled on the floor talking to himself, he didn't seem to notice Dive standing there.

"We're all going to get eating. I should have done what ma' always said and join the Canterlot Guard. But no, I just had to look for adventure. Getting eaten isn't adventure it's stupid."

As he was muttering he rocked from side to side gently eyes wide with fear.

"Ah'em" Dive coughed

This brought the panicking pony’s attention to the broken Pegasus, he seemed to stare through Dive before suddenly hurling himself at the side of the cage that Dive was closest to shouting

"YOU BASTARD!!!" The cage swung violently from side to side, never getting close to Dive's however that didn't stop the Unicorn from continuing shouting.

"You got us into this and now we're going to all DIE!" The unicorn continued to hurl abuse at the Pegasus, who just rolled his eyes and gently kicked his cage door open.

Sparky took a few seconds to realise this, when he did he stopped the shouting instantly and simply said

"Oh."

Dive rolled his eyes. Sparky looked round to see all the other captives staring at him, he chuckled in embarrassment.

"Maybe I over-reacted."

Dive hopped out of his cage and landed on the rocky outcrop above the lava, walking along the line of cages opening them, each time he had to hop over to the cages and cling on precariously with one hoof while picking the lock with the other. The locks on the three Unicorn's cages were the most difficult, clearly the Diamond dogs had previous experience with Unicorns.

Finally he worked his way to the first cage holding a Pegasus, it was a Mare who was clearly undernourished and had a mournful look, both of her wings were broken at the ends in multiple places.

Dive felt an uncontrollable rage build up inside him, he opened the cage and helped the Pegasus out, where she was then taken by the other four ponies.

Each cage he opened built up the anger inside him, he could handle them doing this to him however seeing others being hurt like this sparked something in him that was buried deep.

When he had helped the last injured Pegasus down he assessed their injuries, they had all been bandaged poorly, stopping the bleeding but not reducing the pain. It was clear the Diamond Dogs wanted to keep the ponies, however Dive didn't care if it was for sport or food he was just happy they were free, and furious they were captive in the first place.

He turned to the Mare he had rescued first and asked

"How did you end up here?"

The Mare took in a deep breath, clearly holding back the pain from her wings and started to talk

"We were the patrol that Commander Sharpe sent out nearly a week ago, we were flying above the ground when we noticed the metal machine that the dogs had been using to attack the fort. We flew down to investigate but we were ambushed, they gave us enough food and water to survive by but I don't think we would have lasted much longer."

She looked with concern at Dive's wings. "You should really get them bandaged."

Dive just looked stubborn, he could feel the effects of the blood loss now, it had mostly stopped however there was still a constant trickle that he could feel running down his flanks. He shook his head. "We need to get you out of here first."

He turned to the rest of the Pegasus captives and asked if they were all fit to walk, this was replied by a series of grunts and nods, all of them headstrong and stubborn, like most Pegasus he knew.

"Ok then, we need to get out of here asap and mark where it is so we can come back later with a large force to finish the job."

"Yessssssss, but that would mean you would leave here, and we won’t let you do that." Came a raspy Diamond dog voice from over the rock bridge, Dive turned round to see a host of the creatures crowded on the opposite side, wielding various makeshift weapons

All were looking at the ten ponies clustered above the lava, staring them down, they all wore makeshift armour, seemingly made of whatever they could scavenge, there were changeling carapaces, sand worm plates and a host of other protection that they had stolen from various creatures.

The one who had spoken however was covered in a cloak made from the scales of a golden dragon, he had a strange headdress that was on top of his head that contained a ring of pony feathers, they clearly thought that Pegasus were worth fighting because they dared not cross the bridge while Dive stood ready.

Dive stared down the host, the anger rising in him again as he saw the occasional Pegasus feather and what he could only believe was hide armour one of the dogs was wearing.

The leader of the pack took a step forward and shouted across the gap. "You are outnumbered poonieesss. You can't escape."

Dive kept up his façade but he secretly knew that he couldn't fight that many at once in his current state, his entire side and flank would be a liability, he racked his mind for plans but nothing came to mind. Eventually they would build up enough bravery to cross or Dive would black out from the blood loss, neither scenario was going to end well.

"That's big talk coming from you. Seeing as you're cowering on the other side of the bridge."

Dive whipped his head round in surprise, seeing Sparky standing nonchalantly by the others, walking up to Dive he put a hoof round the Pegasus, being careful to avoid his wings.

"I'm guessing you're the boss of this operation?" He directed this at the dog wearing the dragon scaled armour. "Well then how come he isn't dealing with us himself?"

He turned to the rest of the host, addressing them in turn, looking down the line.

"Surely he deserves to be in charge because he's the best fighter, correct?"

The diamond dogs started to mutter amongst themselves, some looking expectantly at the leader who wore an expression of fury.

"How dare you questions my power?" The dog stood up tall trying to look as imposing as possible

"Then come and face us," Sparky then practically shouted the next words he spoke so that all of the Dogs could hear. "Or are you too AFRAID?"

This sent a ripple of chatter through the mob, ending with the commander bellowing

"I am not afraids! I shall destroy all you pitiful ponies."

He started to march across the stone bridge, followed by the other dogs whooping and hollering at the prospect of their leader tearing these ponies to shreds.

Sparky walked back past Dive whispering.

"It's all up to you know mate."

"Thanks, that's really helpful" retorted the Pegasus.

Secretly Dive knew that the pony had just saved them all from certain death, he could easily take down the leader of the dogs, which would break their moral and leave them a disorganised rabble. However Dive wasn't about to make this quick, because he knew that the dog approaching him now would know more than any other dog and mostly because he planned to make the dog pay for every Pegasus that was captured.

Dive stood up and relaxed, wings still hanging uselessly by his side, he took a deep calming breath and let every muscle loosen. His opponent however swept back his dragon scale cloak and revealed a long sword carved from the tooth of a dragon, he took a low stance and faced the Pegasus.

Slowly the dog tried to circle around Dive, however Dive matched his every move, blocking him from the nine other ponies on the rock, forcing him to square off against the Princess' personal Guard.

Finally the dog accepted this fact and charged the pony, Dive just stood there waiting. The dog lunged with the sword outstretched aiming to pierce the breast of the equine, however at the point where it seemed too late to move Dive stepped sideways and out of the direction of the sword hitting the dog over the head with a downwards swipe of his hoof.

The dog plunged to the ground sliding along the stone floor with a series of crunching sounds, the dog slowly stood up and turned around, he spat out a globule of blood from his mouth and cursed at the pony.

This was followed by a quick smile as he realised he was now on the same side of Dive as the injured Pegasi and Unicorns. He turned round and made to slice at Farsight who had a look of horror on his face. Dive could do nothing but start to run, he might be fast enough.

Suddenly the Mare who had yet to speak appeared as if from nowhere and bucked the dog in the face, knocking him over Dive who had halved the distance.

The dog sailed over Dive and landed in a heap behind him, the dog didn't move. There was an audible gasp from the horde of dogs as they saw their leader fall.

Slowly Dive walked up to the body and used a hoof to nudge it over. The dog grabbed one of Dives wing and stood up. Dive Let out a scream of pain as the dog stood up.

"I'll make you scream like the others, you pathetic pony!" the dog triumphantly claimed.

Suddenly all of the pain he felt was gone, he couldn't feel anything. The only emotion he felt was anger, a pure unhindered unchained anger, he felt it course through his veins as though his blood was boiling and he looked up at the dog that was clutching his wing.

Its face turned from an expression of victory to one of surprise and then pure terror. Then for Dive everything went dark.

Dive regained his senses less than three minutes later, he had his hoof pressed against the dog that had caused him and his companions so much pain keeping it pinned to the ground. The dog's coat was torn to shreds, the headdress he had been wearing was nowhere to be seen and all over its body were large cuts and bruises.

The dog had lost all of its teeth and one of its eyes was completely blocked by swelling, it had a broken hind leg and it could barely breath. Dive looked up in surprise, he could hardly remember the fight, vaguely recalling throwing punches and kicks but not much else.

He looked around and saw the nine of his companions watching him with expressions of astonishment and horror on their faces, all slightly recoiling at the sight of the Pegasus standing over the dog.

The rest of the host of dogs had long since scattered, fleeing to safer parts of their lair where the berserk pony wouldn't be able to get them.

Dive looked back at the dog under his hoof, pondering what to do with it next. He ground his hoof harder onto the chest of the beast and growled.

"Why were you attacking the fort?"

The dog whimpered a little, it then went silent for a while before starting to chuckle slightly, it grew louder until the beast was laughing, and it only stopped when a lump of clotted blood blocked its throat causing it to cough violently. When it had finished it replied softly.

"We ran from the storm pony. As will you and all your precious PONIES!" It started coughing again "You will soon see. All you love will be lost and then when you have nothing you will know what I have gone through."

The dog suddenly started to spasm, Dive stepped back letting it finish, when he approached the dog again it was already dead, it had succumbed to the injuries caused by Dive.

Dive took a moment of silence for the dog in respect. He turned towards his fellow ponies and gestured towards the tunnels.

"Come on let's go."

They all recoiled slightly however followed suit soon after, keeping distance between Dive and the group, each pony helping another to make it through.

Dive chose a random tunnel and started walking down it, at regular intervals there were torches placed along the walls, the sides of the tunnels were smoothed and carved with twisting patterns. Whoever had made these tunnels were masters at tunnelling, it definitely wasn't the Diamond Dogs, who used brute force and ignorance to dig through rock. Whoever had made these were masters of cutting through solid rock.

The tunnel they were in was gently sloping upwards, giving every pony a sense of hope, soon they would be on the surface and returning home.

The tunnel ahead started to level out until the group were walking along a flat surface, ahead Dive could just about make out  the walls disappearing, he thought he could see the sun in the distance and started to trot, desperate to get into the open.

What he found was much more sinister, the tunnel opened out into a gigantic cave, easily a mile along, they could see the entrance at the far end of the cave through which the sun was shining.

Along the walls of one side of the cave were hundreds of the tanks, each with dozens of boulders carved and ready to be used.

On the opposite wall was a large sloping pile of gunpowder stretching all the way to the entrance, easily enough to blow a large chunk of Equestria into the sea. He stood there mouth hanging all the way open. There was enough fire-power here to overwhelm the entire Guard.

"There are at least five dogs guarding the cave entrance." Farsight said suddenly. "They don't seem to know what you did to their leader." He looked at Dive then with an unsure look.

"How can you tell?" Dive said, he then noticed the unicorn's horn glowing with magic energy. "Oh, well that makes sense I guess."

He led the way again, taking the group through the giant cave, past the rows of tanks and the mound of gunpowder. Dive had all but forgotten his injuries now, they were still present however the adrenaline was enough to keep him going, for now at least.

Dive took out the five guards with relative ease, eventually allowing the party to emerge into the brilliant sunshine. The sun had just come over the horizon and was slowly heating up the dry cracked soil of the badlands, Dive couldn't see any real point of reference. He turned round to see that they had emerged from a lonely mountain in the middle of the badlands.

He stood there, yet again stuck for ideas. He was unsure how to find his way back to the fort and he was definitely not in any fit sate to just wander around the place, plus they had no food and water so they wouldn't last a day.

"I bet if we light the gunpowder somepony would notice."

Dive turned round to Jock who had just had this revelation.

"Now why didn't I think of that?" asked Dive

Commander Sharpe was standing at the opening from the thin valley passage to the badlands, he was using a pair of binoculars to scan the desert, looking for any signs of the ponies that had been sent on patrol three days ago. He eventually sighed as the sun rose above the horizon and turned round to walk back to the fort.

Suddenly the ground under them shook violently, Sharpe whipped his head around and looked out over the badlands, over the horizon a giant cloud of black smoke rushed into the sky.

"That's them, Harper get a combat patrol ready. We're going on an extraction mission."

The Stallion next to the commander saluted and galloped back to the fort, leaving Sharpe to watch the black cloud billow over the arid landscape, he smiled as he watched, reminiscing over his similar exploits as the fort behind him bustled with activity of Guards readying for the patrol.

Hayseed hadn't seen Dive for the past three weeks, she wouldn't let it show to her family but she was worried, she kept thinking that she had just been kidding herself when she thought the Pegasus would like her. I mean she was just a farmer and he was an important Guard.

She mentally kicked herself at the stupidity, feeling slightly empty inside, she returned to tend to the field of wheat that they were currently harvesting.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught the glimpse of a pony walking down the path to their farm. She dismissed it and decided to let one of her brother’s deal with them, she was in no mood to greet a customer.

She stopped working as the pony walked up to one of her brothers and greeted him with a hoof bump, she sighed as she conceded with the fact it was probably one of their many relatives. She went back to work head down doing as much as she could to forget everything.

"Well you're determined today aren't you?" Came a familiar voice.

She turned around to see Dive standing there, wings bandaged firmly to his flanks, various cuts and scrapes healing all over his body.

She gasped when she saw the state of him. "What happened to you?" She walked up to him and gingerly touched his wings, he flinched back at the contact.

"Not so rough, they're tender." He said smiling at her, she smiled back without knowing it.

She suddenly realised what she was doing and blushed returning to work quickly.

"If you want to buy something then Barley's the one you want to talk to."

"I don't want to buy anything today."

Hayseed looked up in surprise at this, giving him a quizzical look.

"Then why are you here?" She slowly said

"To see if you're free for lunch? I know a good place."

She stood there stunned for a second before her brother replied for her from somewhere near them in the wheat field.

"She is!" this was followed by a bunch of snickers.

Hayseed gave the direction of the noise a sneer before turning back to Dive

"Apparently I am."

Dive gave a sly smile

"Well we wouldn't want to disappoint your wheat now would we?"