Mask

One month.

It had been one month since the world was turned into ash and snow. The world outside would be unrecognizable, had anyone the strength or bravery to face it. However, despite how bleak and desolate the surface is, life still thrives, and when there is life, there is hope. Nearby, a deer walks through the snow, pushing some snow over and eating the wet, packed grass, not noticing the glowing sludge nearby. It perked up as it heard a branch crack, the bucks head twisting this way and that.

He strained his ears, listening against the howling wind and not noticing the feeling of poisons striking against it. Though, if any sapience was somehow brought forward by the strikes of the weapons, it showed no signs of it.

Another branch snapped, and the buck was already taking off. However, it mattered not, as a shadow from above swept down. It fave a throaty call of surprise, before its throat was torn out, blood splattering against the ground. It gave a gargled cry, trying to breathe, before the shadow struck again, swiping the poor deers head off and letting it flop to the ground.

A quick death. Merciful. Though, not brought on by any merciful being. The beast snarled, before spreading its wings and taking off into the sky, dragging the body with it. It gave a deep roar, ignoring the winds and cold as it carried off its meal.

Had it decided to stick around, it may have felt the earth rumble below it, giving a slight clue of what was happening underground.

The settlement, named "The Caverns", had been heavily modified whilst the citizens were trapped down in the caves. As they built and explored, it turned out that the caverns were far more expansive and held secrets. One such secret being that the caverns had an spring, which in a cave nearby. Here, people would gather drinks, bathe, clean clothes, and slowly set up their own sewer system, with clean running water and designated places to destroy waste.

Another such secret was a cave full of different colored gems. Spike particularly liked this new passage they discovered, but the air smelt strange to the other Humans, so they had walled it up for the moment, until they could figure out what the strange feelings and smells would come from.

Of course, they had created a housing structure, a school for the children (which, thankfully, someone had stocked up the books before the disaster, though did not think to CLEAN the place), a place to eat, a medical clinic (with dwindling supplies, unfortunately), and a few other places to help create metal and other such supplies.

Thanks to the magic of the the Magicbloods and the strength of the Earthbloods, they had made a farm. Although it was not much food, they still had some in storage and would use the seeds to plant even more.

Although being vegetarians, they did not turn down meat in a state of survival, and seeing the circumstances they were currently in, some Earthbloods had learned how to catch and trap animals, such as small rodents and bats and learned how to cook them.

One of the many drawbacks they experienced was that guards, only four of them, were not properly prepared to handle many issues. They could maybe fend off a beast at a time, but Mayor Mare still hesitated to even think about training others to fight.

They were simple folks from Ponyville, they should be worried about food, what little power they could generate, who liked who in class, not fighting off beasts or training so hard their very bones ached. That being said, she did agree that they need some form of defense. Maybe she could have volunteers on patrol start training with the guards and see how that turned out.

"Mayor Mare! We found something!" A voice called out, bringing her out of her thoughts. Her eyebrows perked up, before adjusting her clothes and standing up from the bed. She looked back at Spike, her mind wandering a bit.

She had learned much about Spike during the month (at least, they hoped it was a month.) they had spent together. First off, despite looking 9 years old, the young lad was actually 13, and was going through a growth spurt. It seemed dragonbloods, like Spike, could live for millennium and barely change in appearance, though would go through growth spurts every once in awhile, the strongest and most violent happening when they were young and settling down as they grew.

Second was that, despite his small appearance, he is quite durable and strong, which made her realize how he tore holes into her clothing by accident on that fateful day. At the rate he was growing, he would make a handsome, strong young man before she knew it. He would also make any lady he chose very happy.

That last thought brought a blush to the Mayor, who quickly stamped the thought and brushed it under the mental rug. She brushed a strand of emerald hair away from Spikes forehead and smiled, before standing up.

And third...he had nightmares. Bad ones. About Twilight and the others. He cried himself to sleep sometimes, or would thrash and scream in his nightmares, calling out the names of the six until he would awaken and would be settled down by a random person passing by or the Mayor herself. It seems the only times the nightmares would stop was when someone was close, which caused Mayor Mare to spend nights and mornings cuddling with the young dragonblood.

Yes, he could eat the toughest diamonds and take damage that would kill a normal person and brush it off with barely a scratch. He could even breathe fire and drink lava. However, he felt helpless in his own dreams, and some, small, motherly part of the Mayors mind loved that he saw her as safety.

She wondered what happened to Luna if she could not protect Spike or any others now. Perhaps she was helping Canterlot or trying to find survivors? Yes, that must be it. No room for bad thoughts in her head, no siree!

She started to walk away, though some small part of her yearned to hold Spike close and cuddle more. She spared his sleeping form a glance, before walking out of the room. She entered the main building, looking around the carved rocks and metal, giving a soft sigh.

It wasn't much, but it was home.

She looked at the guard, who saluted her, her giving a soft chuckle. At first, it was confusing and even embarrassing, though, it had been a common sight to see a guard with the mayor, usually relaying information or protecting her.

Not that she thought she was important enough for said protection, but apparently, having four, hunky, male and female guards tend to her every request had made her blush more than once.

So she swung both ways, deal with it.

She cleared her throat, the guard lowering his arm, and she seemed to sense something on his normally stoic face. "So, what's wrong this time?"

"We have good news and bad news. The good news is that whilst exploring one of the deeper caverns, we think a Skyblood found something."

Mayor Mares eyebrow shot up, before she asked, "You think or you know?"

The guard looked around, making sure they were alone for a moment, before continuing, "That is the bad news, ma'am, we have no idea what happened to him. He hasn't returned for his schedule check in."

Mayor Mare sighed, then rubbed her temples with her finger tips, trying to soothe the coming headache. She just knew sending that man out was a bad idea. "I'm all cooped up" he would crow, "I need to stretch my wings", he screamed.

Perhaps training the others under the guards was not such a bad idea. They walked by a field of edible mushrooms, one of the few things they could grow without near constant supervision, the guard gripping his spear a bit as they walked closer. Two more guards had been stationed near the hole, though it appeared one was dozing and the other was cleaning their spear, much to the irritation of the guard leading Mayor Mare.

"Excuse me, ma'am, I have to take care of something." He grumbled out, walking towards the two. It seemed they did not notice him, the other being too focused on cleaning their spear and the other dozing off. He cleared his throat, the one still focused on cleaning their spear, and the other having finally fallen asleep, before giving a smirk.

Time to teach these punks a lesson.

Mayor Mare noticed the mans smirk, covering her ears, the business of the evening should drown out the guard. However, these two unlucky women would not be in the business center.

"PRIVATES! ATTEEEEEENTION!!"

This caused the woman on the wall to scream and fall down in a panic, before scrambling back up and giving a salute, weapon forgotten on the ground. The one cleaning her weapon jumped out, accidentally clunking her helmet down with her weapon, blinding her. Not stopping her, she made a salute...the completely wrong direction, a 90 degree turn towards the other guard, still saluting, as if nothing had happened.

"So, private Meteor Storm. Mind telling me why, exactly, you were cleaning your weapon at this time?" He barked out, the Mayor peeling her hands off her ears and giving an amused smile.

Said private, Meteor Storm, was a beautiful young Earthblooded woman, probably in her early twenties. She had a scar across her lip, probably from some early life injury, light skin, and her hair under her helmet was a mixture of blacks, blues, and greys. Her beautiful blue eyes were filled with panic, making the Mayor chuckle at the sight.

"Well, sir, I was just -"

"You were distracted during guard duty! You did not hear me walk up, you did not notice my throat clearing, and you certainly would not have time to do that half assed salute if I was an enemy! If you must clean your weapon, do it on your own time!" He turned to the other guard a beautiful skyblooded woman, his gaze unwavering as he glared at her. "Private Storm Chaser!"

The woman in question tightened her grip on her spear, and Mayor Mare got a good look at her. The woman bore no scars on her face, but her helmet and chest piece looks like it was struck by some of the rocks when they were first setting up their settlement. Her hair was black with a few yellow highlights, her skin was an almond color, and she possessed wings, which were black with yellow primary feathers. It looks like there was a bandage on one of her wings, though the guard was likely too proud to admit she was grounded.

"Yes, sir!"

"Can you tell me why you look so tired?"

"Yes sir, I was guarding the food stores last night and ended up chasing a few rodents around to keep them away."

"I see, so when I sent private Steel Wing to guard the food last night, he never showed?"

"No sir, he did not."

Mayor Mare grew worried, though it seemed the leader of this group was unfazed, and then said, "Lazy ass, probably decided to go to sleep instead." He then cleared his throat, Meteor adjusting her helmet and standing the correct way now, adjusting her weapon. "Normally, I'd reprimand you and punish you both with some task to build character, like cleaning the latrines. However, we have a missing man at the moment, and the Mayor here is coming with us to check out the discovery."

"Sir, permission to speak."

"Granted, Storm."

The guard shifted on her feet, her spear still on the ground, then spoke, "Sir, do you believe it is wise to bring the Mayor along?" Mayor Mare blinked at the question, the guard continuing, "Perhaps it would be best if Ms. Mare stays here while we check it out. It may be dangerous."

The leader, whose name was Silver Spear, rubbed his cheek. It appeared the whiskers had grown back, though he either did not notice or care, scratching cheek in thought.

"A good point. However, seeing that the Mayor is already here, I assume none of us has big enough balls to send her back to her son at this time."

"Actually, Spike's not my-"

"That being said, an extra pair of eyes wouldn't hurt, and we are all armed. We can handle anything these caves throw at us." Silver sliced through her sentence, staring at the two guards. "Now get ready, we leave in five!"

Mayor Mare sat down on a rock stared at the three, checking their armor, helmets, weapons and other such things. She looked at the Silver, who was adjusting his armored chest plate and spoke, "She is right, you don't really need me, do you?"

"No, but you look like you could stretch your legs, and this seems like the perfect excuse." Silver admitted, before giving her a soft smile, "You need to keep your spirits up. You and that little dragon boy are keeping hope high whilst we live down here, you should be able to get some "me time", same as the rest of us."

"Thanks, but it's mostly Spike holding out hope at this point." Mayor Mare admitted, rubbing her cheek, staring down at the ground. "He still holds out hope that Princess Twilight will him and they can be a family again."

Silver stared at her, sitting down to readjust some straps to his boots and calves, before asking, "Do you not believe that?"

Mayor Mare sighed and leant back, her back pressing against the wall. If she was uncomfortable from her seat, she did not show it, and spoke, "I believe I want Spike to be happy. If the girls are alive, I know he will find them, and if they aren't then..."

They were interrupted by a sound echoing out from the cavern. It was faint, distant, though the guards shot up and aimed their weapons at the hole in the wall. It was a scream. Definitely human.

"Alright, let's move in. Everyone have your flashlights?" The guards adjusted and put on headlamps, Silver taking out a flashlight and handing it to the Mayor. "Okay everyone, let's try to come home safe, we don't need anymore dead heroes."

"Spike..."

Spikes hands trembled as he saw Ponyville in ruins, fires sprouting out of homes and businesses he once knew. He looked behind him to see Sweet Apple Acres, the trees barren and burnt, and the ground covered in ash. Turning his gaze he saw a pile of bones sitting on the porch, the broken remains of a rocking chair mixed in with the piles of ash.

He knew who it was, and couldn't bare to even think about it anymore.

He turned his head, starting to walk, his feet kicking up dust and snow, though it would stop in midair, as if frozen in time. He kept walking, the snow frozen around him midair, fires still glowing but unmoving. He peered into businesses, empty, broken, the insides a mixtures of flicking lights and broken in roofs.

He passed by SugarCube Corner, the roof was smashed in by a massive tree, likely uprooted in the blast, and a fire had broken out inside, though, like the rest of the town, was frozen. He peered into the broken window, pastries all gross and moldy, covered in flies, frozen mid flight.

"Spike."

He continued walking, his tail curling around in anxiety, peering around wordlessly. He passed by Quills and Sofas, giving out a heated breath, steam spilling out of his mouth and disappearing into the air, looking around, trying to spot it through the white snow.

He spotted his target, his heart sinking at the sight.

Home. Half of it was smashed in, gems lying everywhere, and some strange creature was nesting in the spire. He could spot the body of a deer in the nest, half being dragged in, and the base of the massive crystal home was cracked. No doubt it would collapse if something big were to hit it, and the thought of his home being more damaged upset him.

"Spike!"

He opened the door, dust flying out again, before settling in the air, frozen as well. He walked in, walls smashed and cracked, his eyes travelling over the crystal walls. Although once bright and vibrant, the gem seemed dull and lifeless, cracks cobwebbed across them, Spike giving a sad sigh as he brushed his hands along them.

He pulled his hand away and started walking towards the throne room, his eyes tracing over the chairs and cracked table. He walked over and ran his fingers over the thrones, before coming across Twilights throne.

He suddenly pressed his forehead against her throne, giving a soft whimper. He felt warm tears slide down his face, his squeezing the throne, not caring about the dust falling on him. His mind flashed with their possible deaths.

Burning, pained screams, mangled bones, cooked flesh. Their screams seared into his mind and he grasped onto the chair harder, hot tears streaming down his face, the salt burning his eyes, leaving them red and puffy.

"Twilight, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry..."

"SPIKE!"

Spikes head shot up and he looked to his right, a bright light erupting out of the wall. He shielded his eyes, giving a loud hiss of pain, before adjusting a bit. "Hello?"

A black hand extended, slightly longer than a real human hand, black and clawed, although he felt no fear from the strange sight. He held his hand out to it, before it gently grasped

The surroundings around them melted into the snow, the hand squeezing for a moment, before pulling away. Another hand reached through, trying to grasp Spike, obviously female.

"Spike! I see him! Spike! If you can hear me, never give up! Keep going!"

The voice was so familiar, but eventually, even it and the hand phased into the white. He thought he recognized the voice, but his dream state quickly wiped away those thoughts. He sat down, feeling tired, and slowly drifted off into the first peaceful dream he had in a month, his body settling in real life, nuzzling into the pillow, still smelling of Mayor Mare.

Safety. Home. Love. He would be having good dreams tonight and be well rested.

If only Mayor Mare were so lucky.

The Mayor Mare stared at the walls, spotting the occasional gem and outcropping, some stalactites dripping water onto the floor below, gathering onto stalagmites and ever so slowly causing them to grow. Her flashlight was spanned around, peering at walls, noticing odd shaped holes. She peered at them, thinking they might have been claw marks or teeth, but quickly dismissed it.

"Sir." Meteor called out, making the guard huff out a noise as a response. "Perhaps we should split up and -"

"No." Silver cut down her thought with such a simple word. "If we split up, more chances for us to be attacked. We stay together, in a group, and that may drive off any animals or threats that may enter our circle. Remember, private Meteor, we are doing rescue first, fighting only if we need to."

Mayor Mare heard something behind them and panned around. She saw a flash of grey for a moment, before it disappeared into the wall. She backed up and pressed against Storm, who gave her a glance, before looking at the wall, seeing some claw marks near the hole they had just passed.

"I don't think we're alone."

Storm tapped Meteor and fave a head tilt towards the Mayor. She nodded, before twirling around and giving a soft breath through her nose. "Miss Mayor, we should keep moving."

"Yeah."

As they walked, the walls started to become further apart, before the group finally reached a cavern. Silver Spear inspected the ground, seeing some silver feathers, picking one up and inspecting it. It was covered in blood, but he hummed, handing the feather off to Storm, who inspected the feather as well.

"This seem familiar to you, Storm?"

"Yeah, looks like Steel Wings feather."

"Sir?" Meteor called, Mayor Mare walking over to her, before giving a soft, inquisitive hum at the sight. Silver and Storm both standing up and walking over, seeing a blood trail lead the way to a large, heavy looking metal door. "What do you make of this?"

"Well..." Silver began, only to hear a sound behind the door, like scratching on the metal door. He quickly brought up his spear, Storm and Meteor acting and pressing up against the sides of the door. "Mayor Mare, get behind some cover. Meteor, power still on in that thing?"

"Yeah, thermal probably, like The Cavern. It'll keep running until the planet is gone." She said, peering at the buttons near the door. She adjusted a bit and looked at Silver. "Got a plan?"

"Meteor, open the door and get ready for a rush. Storm, I want you to be defense and keep an eye out for anything that rushes out. Mayor Mare, stay behind me. I am going to throw down a light spell and blind whatever comes through, chances are it is used to the dark." Silver barked out, the others taking positions. Mayor Mare grasped her flashlight and squeezed it a bit, her knuckles turning white, ready to use the heavy object in her hands as a club if need be. "Three. Two. One. Mark."

Meteor slammed her hand on the top button and knelt down, preparing her spear and adjusting to give herself better footing. Storm took a stance, spreading her legs out a bit and adjusting her spear, and Silver allowed a bright white orb to form in his hand. The door screeched loudly, before slowly moving up, gears grinding loudly as it slowly opened, dust falling from the ceiling as the ground vibrated a bit at the moving door.

Steel threw the ball of light down the hall of rocks and the two steeled themselves, waiting for a rush. Steels eyes hardened, before his grip tightened on his spear, his eyes searching. No screams, no cursing, no roaring or growling, not even so much as a peep from the hole they opened. Steels eyes searched as he saw minecart tracks and a rusty minecart sitting there, blood caking its side, and slowly moved forward, Mayor Mare still holding her flashlight like a club.

Steels headlamp moved to and fro, painting the walls with light, slowly stepping forward, the light from his spell slowly fizzling out further in the tunnel, showing the blood trail continuing on into the tunnel.

"Check holes and corners, don't want any surprises." He told them, slowly moving into the hallway of rocks and stones, carefully scanning the walls.

"Claw marks on the right wall and a bloody handprint." Meteor said, brushing her fingers against a bloodstain, rubbing it between her thumb and index fingers. "Still pretty fresh. Couldn't be more than an hour old."

Mayor Mare saw something flash in the distance and pointed towards it silently, Steel and Storm quickening their pace, Meteor watching behind, keeping Mayor Mare in-between them, protected in case something happened. They kept walking down the rocky area, coming across claw marks and different minecarts, full of rocks and strange tools.

"These were used recently." Mayor Mare said, seeing Steel spare her a questioning glance. "I was friends with a woman, one of the Elements of Harmony, Pinkie Pie. She said her family owned a rock farm, saw her keep tools like this and would point out their uses." She traced a hand along the pickaxe, bringing her hand up to show some dirt. "No dust on them, just dirt."

"Maybe Diamond Dogs?" Storm offered, before looking at the walls, covered in claw marks and blood. "Or...somethin?"

"Couldn't be, Spike told me about Diamond Dogs, they use their paws to dig up jewels like with his hands." Meteor said, gaining a look from the other three. "What? The little guy used to live in Canterlot, we would talk at Pony Joes sometimes. He recognized me, been having lunch every Thursday to catch up."

"You've been having lunch with Spike every Thursday? Why didn't he tell me?"

"No clue. Guy seems scared though." She looked back at Mayor Mare again, giving her a soft look. "Afraid of losing you, I think."

"Sir, we got a body!"

Steel, Mayor Mare, and Meteor walked over, spears at the ready, Mayor Mare rolling her wrist to help stop the crick developing in it. It was definitely a body, skyblood. "Oh Celestia, is it Steel Wing?"

"No." Silver answered. He lifted the body up, giving a grim look. "Appears to be man, early thirties, face is mangled beyond recognition. Body is cold and blood pool is dried, he's been dead for awhile. Claw marks on his chest and bite marks on his neck indicates he was bitten and clawed, likely to death."

"Cutie mark?" Mayor Mare asked, before giving a sick look. She held her hand over her mouth and backed away, the stench of death already making her sick.

Silver moved the mans tattered pants down a bit, looking at the right side of the hip, before responding, "Looks like a...wing with some fog around it?"

"That's the man we're looking for. Name's Foggy Flight. Got his cutie mark flying through the fog in a race, I remember." Mayor Mare spoke, scratching her neck. "Got drunk once and bragged about it...right before flying into a pole trying to do it again."

"His wings are a different color than the feathers we found, and the trail of blood continues on into tunnel." Storm pointed out, before adjusting a bit. "Movement!"

They shot up, spears at the ready, searching the darkness, headlamps and flashlights flicking to and fro. Mayor Mare decided to shine her flashlight, seeing something being dragged into the darkness, the sound of metal scraping against the rocks.

"What was that?"

Silver walked forward, before throwing another spell of light, making it flash out. This time, there was something; a grey mass dragging something fleshy and metal. Silver started walking, hearing rumbling echo down the hall, then used his magic to levitate a rock. He threw the rock at the grey form, eyeshine from the light being flashed to him, before a growl. He threw another rock with his magic, the beast yelping and scrambling back, running into the darkness, claws scraping against the track.

Silver ran over, using the light from his spell into the hallway, the beast giving a snarl as it backed up, powerful claws being shown for a moment before it ran into the darkness, huffing loudly. Silver looked down and sighed, before taking a defensive stance, aiming his spear at the darkness.

"We got Steel here!" He called out, hearing scraping in the darkness. He threw up another light spell, sweat pouring down his forehead. So many spells in an hour, he was starting to get tired.

Meteor ran over, kneeling down and sighing, saying, "Steel Wing, you stupid bastard, you owe me a barrel of cider after this one." She mumbled out, checking his pulse. She sighed and smiled up to Silver, saying, "He's alive. Let's bring him to the docs."

She grasped him, standing him up, before slinging him over her shoulders. She grasped her spear and slowly started to walk back with him, before looking back. "Sir, the lights-"

"I know, just quicken that pace."

As they walked back, the group stiffened when they heard something; a howl. Silver turned back to see the light flickering, and in its light, he saw multiple pairs of eyes, shining in the darkness. Mayor Mare started to back up, her light flashing onto the beasts.

Diamond Dogs. At least, they had once been Diamond Dogs, as she saw them with random tufts of fur. Their faces had sunken in looks, fur was mangled, jaws ready to eat flesh, and powerful claws ready to pounce.

"Everyone, run." Mayor Mare said, the light flickering again, much dimmer now. "RUN NOW!"

They started to sprint now, brushing past minecarts and jumping over boulders. Meteor spared a glance backwards, Steel giving a groan on her shoulders, though stayed unconscious.

"Wouldn't happen to have another in you, sir?"

"Would it surprise you to know that's not the first time I've heard that?" Silver joked, though his face was stone cold. He suddenly flipped around and struck, a Diamond Dog howling in pain. It seemed the beasts were no longer phased by the lights and were charging one by one. A fatal mistake.

He struck again, stabbing his spear into the beast, its howls of pain quickly dying out. He pulled his spear out and stabbed another in the skull, kicking the body off as he started backing up.

"Come on, sir! We gotta get going!" Storm called out, ushering Mayor Mare out, staring back at them.

"Go on! I'll protect you!" He started to walk backwards, stabbing another beast in the arm, ignoring its roar as he stabbed its throat, making its roar turn into a bloody gurgle. He started running in the lull of the attacks, ignoring the deep, gutteral howls behind him.

"I thought Diamond Dogs didn't eat humans!" Meteor called out, ducking when she heard something scratch along the walls, missing swipe from one of the beasts, who had scrambled out of a hole.

It made for another swipe, only for Storm to smash its teeth out with a staff. It yelped, only for Silver to stab his spear into its head and vaulted over. They passed the body, Mayor Mare giving a loud gasp as she saw it dragged into a hole, before Silver tapped her with his hand.

"Focus on the door, get it closed, I'll fend them off for as long as I can." Silver said, before stopping in front of the door, slamming his spear in. He beat his chest with his hands, his armor clanking loudly. "Come on! I'll teach you mangey mutts a whole new meaning of pain!"

The first beast jumped him, meeting its end as he slashed its throat, lopping off its head. He twirled his spear around and sliced through a beasts head, spilling its brains onto the floor.

As Mayor Mare pressed the button, she felt something. She stopped, then slowly put her hand up, giving a shocked gasp at what she felt; an air current. She could feel air moving out of the passage way, giving a soft noise at the discovery.

She pressed the button again, the door making loud screeching sounds as it slowly lowered. Silver Spear stabbed his weapon into another beast, only to get knocked off of his feet, his spear sliding to Mayor Mares feet. He gave a strangled cry as his chest piece was raked by claws, damaging the gold armor even more. His helmet was knocked off, and in response, he pulled a knife from his hip and slammed it into the mutated mutts side. He twisted the blade, kicking the beast off, before another took its place, raking its claws off of his face, making him scream in agony, his arm being bitten by the beast.

He couldn't bring his knife up, so, he looked towards Storm and Meteor, currently fending off a dog. He looked back as the beast raised its arm, ready to strike him and end his life. He closed his eyes, accepting defeat, ready to meet his end with honor.

Suddenly, a spear was shoved into its eye, blood splattering onto the wounded leader. He looked up to see Mayor Mare, gagging at the sight of blood, but pushed the spear further into the beasts face. It screamed, before slumping, the Mayor ripping the spear out and tossing it outside the door. She grasped onto Silvers shoulder pauldrons and started tugging him in, giving grunts of exertion. She pulled him through the doors, panting as she closed them.

They could hear scratching and deep barks, though none broke through. Perhaps The Caverns had a far tougher walls than she originally thought, or maybe the smell of all the people freaked them out?

"Hey...piece of cake, right?" Mayor Mare joked, sliding next to Silver on the wall, panting loudly with him. "And look, you got some scars now! Spike told me the chicks dig those."

"And what did you say to Spike?" Storm asked, holding onto her knees and panting loudly.

"Told him to go to bed."

"Not a bad idea. We'll head back home and get Steel Wing to a doctor, then get some real sleep." Silver spoke, rubbing his shoulder, before standing up unsteadily.

"Amen to that."