Iron Mare

"Okay, let’s go over it again," whispered Rainbow Dash, pointing to a sheet of paper in front of them.

Lines scratched out in pencil crisscrossed its surface, completely indecipherable to anyone without knowing their purpose. Rainbow tapped one end of the paper with her hoof, where two crudely drawn stick figures were scribbled.

"This is us," she said, sliding her hoof along the paper towards the opposite end, "and this is the exit we're going for."

"This all seems to be a well thought out plan,” Zecora interrupted, “but there is one thing I do not yet understand."

Rainbow didn't look up from the paper. "Yeah? What's that, Stripes?"

"What did you intend to represent with these? Are they some form of two-dimensional ponies?" Zecora asked, pointing at the two stick figures..

Rainbow sighed, rolling her eyes. "I didn't feel like going into huge detail, so let's just say for the sake of situation that, yeah, those are us. Anyways, once we get out of this room, we take about twenty steps down and then there should be a left turn somewhere... here."

Rainbow picked up a pencil in her mouth and scratched an “X” over the spot she referred to.

"Thirty five steps down this way, then there's going to be a right turn here," she said, drawing another “X” on the paper. "Then we take one more left turn here... And after that, it's a straight shot to the surface and WE. ARE. OUTTA HERE!"

Rainbow's voice cracked, as it always did when she was excited.

Zecora could hardly believe what she was hearing. Rainbow Dash had been dragged in, bloodied, bruised, and burned; her heart at a total halt; she was technically dead, and, yet, she was miraculously able to survive the ordeal. Not only that, but she had single-hoofedly managed to create an incredible device to keep her heart pumping out of nothing but a box of scrap, and thought of an even more amazing (albeit far-fetched) plan to escape. All on her own, Rainbow Dash had pulled herself from the edge of death and given herself an entirely new reason to live. It was incredible. Never in her life had Zecora seen such a strong mare who-

"You ready?" Rainbow's voice cut into Zecora's thoughts, something she had long become used to..

"For what?"

"To get out of here, of course! I don't know about you, Zecora, but after being trapped in a mine for... however long we've been here, eating only... this..."

Rainbow motioned to the platter of what could loosely be termed “food” on the cot behind them.

"…I’m more than ready to get out of here and get home."

Rainbow trotted over to her "workshop" where she found the metal mask lying exactly where she left it. She picked it up and looked into its empty eyes while the air around her slowly quieted down. Rainbow Dash sighed as she continued to look at the helmet.

"We might die today, Zecora. If we die... then we died fighting. We died trying. And we died showing these creeps that you can't keep a couple of mares like us down. So... Are you ready?"

Zecora took a deep breath before replying, "Ready as I shall ever be."

"Then let’s roll"

The zebra picked up one of the heavy metal plates Rainbow had forged and carefully began placing it on her back.

The dog carried the platter in his mouth down the hall and through the mines. On the platter was a small mound of a green and yellowish colored… form of sustenance. Supposedly, it was a mixture of hay, oats and grass, something ponies apparently ate all the time, but, as far as he knew, neither hay nor grass were so slimy and... Did the food just move? He shook his head a bit, shaking the platter and sending some of the slop flying off the platter and to the ground, where he was sure he could hear the slimy substance splat. He was eager to slide the platter under the door and to the pony and zebra, who were actually disgusting enough to eat this mess. The sooner he did that, the sooner he would be able to escape the horrible odor that came from it.

Eventually, he approached the door, where he could hear the sound of drilling and hammering coming from the other side. The dog opened the small opening at the bottom of the door and pushed the platter and its revolting contents under it, as was routine. Normally, the mares would drop whatever they were doing in order to scramble for their food like the pathetic creatures they were; it was a sound that the dog would often wait to listen for. Partly because it was to make sure that neither had died, but mostly because he found a sick sense of enjoyment in hearing them act so pitiful for just one bite.. But this time, the sound never came. The pair just continued drilling and playing with their metal. That was strange... normally, he would be able to hear them nearly pushing each other out of the way just to grab one bite. But not this time. This time, they just kept working on their.... whatever it was

...

It couldn't hurt to look inside at what they were doing, just to be safe, he decided. The dog used his paw to lift up the metal flap in the middle of the door and took a peek into the room. There, on the opposite end of the room, was the zebra standing in front of a giant mass of metal where Rainbow Dash's head was poking out from the top, facing the wall opposite from where he stood. Wait, why would Rainbow Dash's head be sticking out of a pile of metal? As the flames danced along the interior of the room, he could barely make out two pairs of legs made of metal sticking out from the bottom of the strange cluster. That didn't look like a Rainboomer. That didn't look like a Rainboomer at all…

In a panic, the dog began to bark and howl in alarm. If the two of them were up to something, then it couldn't be anything good. With his paws, the dog began pulling at all of the latches that kept the door sealed. He pulled a knife from the sheath on his front paw using his mouth and unbolted the final lock before pushing the heavy metal door open. The zebra instantly turned her head over to the dog standing in the doorway, while Rainbow seemed to struggle to even turn her head halfway she would normally be able to..The dog was about to charge at them, knife ready to put an end to whatever they were doing, when he heard a small beeping noise coming from the ground directly in front of him. Rising up from the sand came a small, circular piece of metal with a blinking red light on its top and several blue and red wires all linking to a central green circuit chip. It stood on four little metal legs and began to crawl all by itself toward him, the beeping noise progressively becoming faster with each step it took. The strange little device continued to make its way between his front paws. Curiously, the dog lowered his head down to sniff at it when the beeping quickened until there was no discernable interval between-

There came one final beep, louder and deeper than the others. In the blink of an eye, the entire cave was engulfed in a blinding explosion that sent the dog flying backwards and into the corridor behind it.

Rainbow Dash snickered to herself as she heard the distinctive explosion. Spidermines; a classic from the Crystal War. Even today, ponies (and apparently dogs) could never see the explosion coming until it was way too late. She wished she could have seen the dog's face right before it went off.

"Did it work?" she asked as Zecora continued to piece together the suit of heavy armor on her body, drilling bits and pieces here and there in a struggle to finish the job before more dogs arrived.

Zecora looked over Rainbow's shoulder and saw the Diamond Dog lying on its back, slammed into the sandy ground behind it.

"I stand corrected; it worked far better than I expected," she said.

"What did I tell you?" said a very confident Rainbow Dash. "There's no problem a Spidermine can't fix in ten seconds flat. Even one made from a pile of junk."

Suddenly, the sound of several snarling and barking dogs echoed through the mine shafts, confirming that others had heard the noise from the Spidermine.

"Zecora,” Rainbow said, a hint of urgency in her voice, "time to hurry up...."

Zecora was fumbling with the multicolored wires with her hooves, desperately trying to connect wires from the heavy engine on Rainbow's back to the rest of the suit. She rubbed one open wire to another, waiting for the telltale sparks of flowing electricity. After what felt like an eternity, several small flashes of bright light jumped between the red and green cords. Zecora smiled in satisfaction and reached over for a piece of electrical tape, which she then used to fasten the two wires together.

"It is done," she said excitedly.

"That's peachy, Stripes. Now start it up!" said Rainbow.

Zecora searched for a moment before finding her target: A basic pull string, not unlike what one would see on a lawnmower stemming from the side of the engine-like machine. She lifted her head and clamped down on the end of the string with her mouth, giving it a tug, before letting go. The string reeled back in and the engine growled a bit but quickly died down. She reached up again and pulled the string a second time, causing the motor to growl again before dying down once more. The barking and howling only grew louder as the engine grew quieter. In desperation, Zecora jumped onto Rainbow's back, gripping the string tightly between her jaws, and gave a mighty tug, thrusting her weight backwards. With a small snap, the string broke right in two, sending Zecora flying onto her back in the sand. Seconds later, the engine began sputtering to life.

"Perfect! Now just hold tight, Stripes. It needs a few seconds to power up the rest of the suit before we can get going.”

The dogs were getting closer and closer by the second. Precious time was quickly running out. Zecora's mind raced as she struggled to think of a way to stall the dogs before they burst through the doorway and ended both their lives. Her eyes frantically darted around the room, and quickly settled on the dog's fallen knife that lay in the sand. Without thinking, the zebra ran over and picked the blade up between her teeth, darting out and into the dark tunnels ahead

"Wait! Zecora! Get back here!" she heard Rainbow Dash screaming behind her.

Ignoring her, Zecora raced down the corridor with the knife and a determined look on her face. Even if she didn't survive, she was going to ensure that Rainbow would. Just down the mineshaft, she saw the shapes of several dogs charging right at her, holding spears and one wearing what looked like a Saddle Gun on its back. Zecora tilted her head back and, with one swift flick of her neck, sent the knife flying at the dog bearing the gun. The sharp blade dug itself into the dog's chest. With a gasp, he fell to the ground on his side, the gun on his back misfiring from the impact, sending bullets flying in all directions and causing the pack to flee back down from where they came in a panic.

Zecora continued galloping after the dogs, yanking the knife from the fallen Dog's corpse and giving chase. Farther down, she could see them turning a corner off to the right. Pressing forward in her pursuit, Zecora ran on, determined to do whatever it took to allow Rainbow Dash more time. As she turned the corner, she stopped dead in her tracks, staring wide-eyed at the horrible sight in front of her: Several dozen dogs, all holding spears, large knives, and at least seven with Saddle Guns on their backs all looked right back at her. The ones she had been chasing snickered to themselves at their newfound backup. Outnumbered and disadvantaged, Zecora threw her knife forward one final time and sprinted as fast as she could back into the caves, not knowing or caring if the knife had hit any of the dogs. Up ahead, she could make out the fallen dog that lay on the ground and just beyond it was the doorway leading into the chamber (and relative safety) that she and Rainbow Dash had called home for a very long time. Zecora sped up and galloped faster than she had ever gone in her life, hoping that the heavy door would be able to keep the dogs at bay, at least for a little bit. Adrenaline ran through her veins as she continued her mad dash to what she hoped was a safe zone. She dove and landed on the sandy floor of the chamber, immediately jumping back up and pushing the door closed. As soon as she felt it click shut, Zecora sat down, leaning against the door, out of breath and throat dry as a result of her short crusade. Looking up, she saw Rainbow begin taking her first few steps inside the armor and picking up the metal helmet, placing it on her head.

"Open the door, Zecora," the Pegasus said, her voice echoing from inside her fearsome looking mask.

Rainbow took another step forward, the engine on her back sputtering and coughing. Before her, Zecora sat wide-eyed and unmoving. Rainbow Dash took another step.

"Zecora, open the door!"

The zebra shook herself out of her trance and managed to piece together a reply.

"But they wait to kill us on the other side! I do not think that-"

"Zecora, trust me! Just do it and get behind me!"

Zecora squeezed her eyes shut and turned around to pull at the door, jumping back as soon as it swung open. On the other side, Rainbow made out the shapes of dozens of Dogs rushing toward them, their weapons ready to either gun her down or tear right into her. She took in a deep breath.

"Let’s do this," she whispered to herself.

For a moment, several Dogs froze in place, surprised by this unexpected new target; they quickly pushed their confusion aside and continued their attack, snarling as they ran at her.

Rainbow Dash braced herself as they drew closer. The first dog to reach her was a skinny little thing carrying a long spear aimed at her chest, obviously intending to run the blade right through her. Rainbow Dash swung her hoof forward, hitting him with what could be described as an uppercut and sent him soaring through the air and towards the rest of the group. His body knocked down several of those standing in front, who slammed into those behind them and in turn, pushed them backwards.

"Sorry!" she shouted, "you were in my way!"

The dogs carrying the twisted Saddle Guns opened fire while Rainbow began pressing forward. The entire cavern lit up in a display of flashing light and filled with the deafening noise of gunfire. The bullets all hit their mark, but none of them were able to even scratch the thick metal. Seeing that their weapons were proving to be useless, most of the Dogs twisted their head and gave the strap a sharp tug with their mouths, letting the guns fall from their backs. The tables had turned and the dogs now ran from the advancing metal monster, the impenetrable shell of which protected it from even their best weapons.

Underneath her helmet, Rainbow Dash smiled as she watched them run away in fear. So far, the suit was proving to be just as effective as she imagined, if not more. None of them could even make her flinch, let alone harm her. All she needed to do now was follow the plan and soon they would be home free.

"That's right!" she yelled after them. "Run! Run, you mangy mutts!"

And run they did, pushing and scrambling over one another in their mad dash to escape. Some tried to flank her with their spears, hoping that one of them would be lucky and find a gap somewhere in the armor that would put an end to her rampage.

None of them did. None of their thick blades even left a dent before they were sent flying backwards.

"Oh yeah! I could do this ALL day!" she shouted, the cockiness prevalent in her vocal tones.

The armor clanked and crashed against itself as she moved along. Dogs continued running from her down the mine. All but one. The very same dog who had nearly choked Zecora to death stood unmoving, and directly in her path. In his paws, he held a thick, tube like object. As she got closer, Rainbow Dash could make out the shape of a Gem Launcher, another Dash Co. product. She watched as he dropped a glowing red ruby into the barrel and shut it tight before lifting it up and taking aim. Seconds later, the ruby was sent flying toward her, leaving a red trail of light in its wake.

Rainbow didn't even flinch when the gem exploded just inches away from her face and merely pressed onward. The Dog looked horrified and his body visibly tensed up. Even as she grew closer and closer, he didn't move. Soon, Rainbow was within a leg's reach of him. She extended one hoof and brought him up close to her.

"That..." she whispered in a menacing tone, amplified by the metallic echo that her helmet gave her voice, pulling him even closer, "Was a REALLY bad idea..."

Rainbow lifted him up and tossed him over her shoulder like a rag doll. She heard his body hit the rocky wall and slide down to the sand below.

Continuing down, she made a left turn and at long last found herself looking at the bright light of the outside world just ahead. Zecora walked up next to her, also staring down the path.

"Ready to get the hay out of here?" she asked, turning to her friend.

Zecora smiled and nodded, not taking her eyes off the exit.

"Then let’s roll!"

Rainbow began leading the way to glorious freedom with Zecora following from a safe distance. The motor on her back sputtered and spat with each step she took as it kept her metal-encased legs moving smoothly. Just a few more minutes, and they would be out of this nightmare...

Crash... Boom... Bang…

The sound of the approaching metal beast's stomping shook the ground underpaw, striking terror into all of them. Most of the Diamond Dogs who ran inside the mine hadn't returned, but those who did talked of a huge monster made of invincible metal that struck down dogs with one swipe of its mighty metal paws. Whether Rainbow Dash was still alive or not wasn't a concern to them. All that mattered was that they destroy this monster and find out what it was.

The ground shook more and more as the creature came closer. All of them lined up in front of the mine entrance with any weapons they were able to grab. Most had put a Saddle Gun on their back while the more brave (or perhaps stupid) ones stood directly in front of the mine shaft carrying spears and other bladed weapons, poised to attack.

Just then, the metal giant crashed its way out of the mine and stood in the entrance.  Its hollow and soulless eyes stared each of them down, no doubt plotting their demise.

From the back, one dog let out a howl and opened fire with its Saddle Gun; the rest soon followed suit. None of the heavy metal projectiles from their Saddle Guns had any sort of effect on her, just as she expected. Rainbow Dash couldn't stop herself from smiling underneath her mask upon seeing the looks on their faces when they realized that none of them had even left a mark.

The sound of gunfire slowly began to die down before stopping altogether, the air falling dead silent save for a gust of wind. Rainbow Dash brought her hoof up to her mouth and exaggerated a yawn, quite enjoying herself by now. She pretended to just notice that she had survived a bullet storm unscathed.

"Oh- oh you're done?" she said, taunting them. "Cool! Now it's my turn!"

Rainbow lifted her metal-encased wings, revealing the nozzles of two Dragon Breathers, both of which were connected to a separate tank of fuel on the motor she wore on her back. A pair of searing jets of fire erupted from the open end of both flamethrowers, setting anything unlucky enough to be caught in front of them ablaze. In a desperate attempt to escape a fiery death, the Diamond Dogs instantly scattered in all directions. As Rainbow began to make her way down from the mine shaft, she continued to spread the flames all around her, making sure that anything and everything with her name on it was turned to ash. Within seconds, the entire camp was caught up in a massive inferno.

"Play with fire, and you're gonna get burned!" Rainbow called out, mockingly.

Rainbow Dash looked at what remained of the dogs' crude camp, deciding that she was satisfied with her handiwork. With just moments before the flames reached anything explosive and the mutts nowhere to be seen, Rainbow turned to Zecora, who was pressing a piece of cloth she had brought from the mine over her mouth, trying to keep the hot smoke out of her lungs.

"Ready, Stripes?" she yelled over the roaring fire.

Zecora merely nodded in response, coughing as the oxygen in the air around them quickly burned away.

Rainbow lifted her hoof and pulled a second string on her back that instantly caused her armor to split itself down the middle and fall apart, allowing her to freely take off into the air. She quickly picked up Zecora and flew straight up into the blue sky, leaving the horrible mine far behind.

Rainbow felt the wind blowing through her mane as she soared above the ground, carrying her friend with her to freedom. Behind them, she heard a thunderous explosion, the unmistakable sound of fire flirting with gas cans and dynamite.

"Aw yeah!" she shouted in victory, her voice cracking.

They were out! She could hardly believe that her crazy plan had actually worked. Now all she needed to do was find a safe place to land and-

Rainbow felt the shock wave from the explosion hit her like a freight train from behind and knock her off balance. With Zecora in her hooves, Rainbow Dash struggled to readjust her positioning, dreading the possibility of crashing into the sand below. A fall from this height would mean either serious injury or even death under normal circumstances. Holding Zecora meant that they would BOTH be injured and stranded in the middle of the desert with no food or water. The two tumbled around through the air, yelling all the way.

"No no no no!" shouted Rainbow Dash, realizing that they were, as she feared, plummeting down to Earth.

By this point, adjusting her balance was impossible. The window of opportunity had long since closed for good. The ground came closer and closer as Rainbow fell face first out of the sky.

Any experienced Pegasus pony would tell you that, in the case of an unavoidable crash from high altitudes, the best thing to do was to turn upside down. Your wings would be crushed but the soft feathers would cushion you from most of the initial impact, protecting your spine from any crippling damage. And even if you found your wings injured to the point of being unable to fly, your hooves would still be able to move, meaning that you would be able to get yourself back to safety.

As far as Rainbow knew, no Pegasus had ever fallen from this height and lived, let alone while carrying a wingless pony (in this case zebra). Nonetheless, she twisted her body around and put her belly up, facing the sky. If she was right, then there wasn't much space left between her and the ground. Since she sure as hay didn't plan to be holding Zecora when she hit the earth, she yelled to her friend over the rushing wind around them.

"I'm gonna let go of you now, Zecora. Please don't be mad at me later for this!"

With that, Rainbow Dash loosened her grip on the zebra and twisted her body off to the side.

"Have you gone-" Zecora began.

Rainbow let go and Zecora began falling on her own.

"MAAAAAD?!" she heard her scream.

With that out of the way, Rainbow twisted her body back around as fast as she could. If she could just manage to fix herself just right before she hit the ground-

Rainbow Dash felt the wind knocked out of her as she crashed into the sand. Her entire world spun around while she did her best to pull herself together. Groaning, she lifted her head and put her hoof on her forehead, taking a deep breath. That's when the pain hit her. An unbearable screaming pain on her underside began spreading like wildfire all around her body. She grit her teeth.

"Okay... okay," she said to herself, laying her head back down on the sand. "That one hurt...”

She groaned again.

"...a lot!"

"Rainbow Dash!" she heard off to her right.

She turned in the direction of the voice and saw Zecora galloping toward her. Soon enough, her friend was standing over her.

"I thought for sure you would not survive, but thankfully you are still alive,” she continued.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't exactly call this a whole lot better..." Rainbow groaned.

"Perhaps you can pull yourself to a stand? Or would you rather keep yourself buried in the sand?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes and lifted a hoof up for Zecora to take. Soon, she was leaning against the zebra and the two of them began to slowly make their way through the desert.

"You know something, Stripes?" Rainbow Dash said as she limped along. "Next time, you can fly us out of there..."

The pair chuckled and pressed onward into the seemingly infinite sandy world ahead.

Spitfire flew high above the desert, two other Wonderbolts at her sides. It had been three months since she came to Saddle Arabia. Three months since she last saw her best friend. Three months of dragging five or so different teams of Wonderbolts out into the searing heat to fly around all over the desert. Just about everyone had told her at some point or another that her efforts were in vain, that all she was doing nothing but draining her energy all day, every day.

"She's gone, ma'am. I don't think there's anything to find out there," they always said.

"No," she always snapped back. "She's alive. I know she is, and we're gonna find her even if it takes until the end of time."

Thus far, she had kept her vow. Because she was the leader of the Wonderbolts, and therefore head of all military operations involving Pegasi, no one could object. The only one who had the authority to do so was Princess Luna herself, and even then, Spitfire wasn't sure if that would stop her.

"Ma'am," she heard from behind and off to the left.

Spitfire pulled her eyes away from the desert landscape long enough to look at the light purple Pegasus pony fly up next to her.

"It’s been nearly 5 hours..." she continued. "With all due respect, maybe it’s time to... to..."

Her voice trailed off as Spitfire turned her head to stare her right in the eyes. The look in her eyes alone, even behind her goggles, was enough to silence any protest.

"We'll head back to base... when I say we will... until then. We're sta-“

"Spitfire ma'am, what's that?" the other Pegasus on her right exclaimed.

She darted her head over and looked down where the sky blue pony was pointing.

Far below in the endless sand were two small figures slowly crawling through the desert. One seemed to be leaning on the other and limping. Even though they were at least six hundred meters below them, Spitfire was able to spot one striking feature about the limping one.

A bright, Rainbow colored mane that she recognized anywhere...

Without a word, Spitfire dove headfirst to the earth, ignoring her confused partners' shouts behind her as she flew faster and faster.

It was her! It was Rainbow!

Rainbow Dash looked up when she heard the sound of wings from above. She nearly jumped when a mare dressed in the standard Wonderbolt uniform landed in front of her. Rainbow instantly recognized her best friend before she even removed her goggles.

Both mares simply stood where they were for what felt like several minutes, before Spitfire suddenly rushed over and wrapped her hooves around Rainbow Dash, her eyes watering up.

"I knew it! I knew you were alive!" Spitfire said in between sniffles. "I just knew it!"

Rainbow Dash could feel a few tears of her own welling up in her eyes as she hugged Spitfire back.

"How did you know we were here?" she asked, a tear slowly sliding down her cheek.

"I didn't. I haven't stopped looking for you since you first disappeared."

"Spitfire... you're the best."

"I know I am…"

Rainbow turned her head to look at Zecora, who slipped her an approving smile in return. She turned her head to look back at Spitfire, only to catch a quick glimpse of her best friend leaning in toward her. Before she knew what was happening, she found herself kissing Spitfire, who still had yet to let go. Time froze and the pair looked at one another before quickly pulling apart and sitting awkwardly in the sand across from one another.

Rainbow felt a flush of red take over her face and nervously scratched the back of her head.

"Sorry... that was... that was meant for your cheek..." Spitfire said in a hushed voice, also blushing.

"Don't, uh, don't worry about it..."

They looked around to see that the two other Wonderbolts had apparently found their way over to Spitfire and were now staring at the pair with a "we know what you were doing" look on their faces. Zecora shared their expression, having not heard Spitfire say it was an accident.

It didn't take more than a second for Spitfire to return to her normal self and for the Wonderbolts to wipe the grins from their faces.

"What are you two looking at?" she barked. "Get going!"

With that, the two Pegasi grabbed hold of Zecora and began lifting her away. As soon as they were gone, Spitfire turned back to Rainbow Dash.

"Can you fly?" she asked.

"Well, not really... I'll tell you all about that later. If it makes you feel better, I probably dropped like fifteen pounds while I was gone."

"I'll believe it when I feel it."

Spitfire fluttered over to Rainbow Dash and wrapped her hooves under her friend's front legs. With a grunt, she began lifting her off the ground and soon enough they were making their way back to the Wonderbolts outpost.

"Yeah... I still don't believe it" Spitfire poked.

"Shut up, Spitfire," Rainbow said with a chuckle.

Several Diamond Dogs were pawing through the smoldering remains of their campsite, looking for anything they might be able to salvage. Over the course of two and a half hours the only things their entire search party found were pieces of the metal suit that Rainbow had used in her escape.

Rover toyed with the glowing ruby hanging from his neck as he watched the Dogs dig through the wreckage. It was his idea to allow Rainbow Dash to live in the first place, believing that she would succumb to her failing heart at some point or another. He hadn't counted on her overcoming that, much less escape.

Perhaps, he thought, allowing Rainbow Dash so many resources was not the best course of action.

Just as he was about to bark at the dogs for being slow he heard a chilling voice behind him, causing the hairs on his back to shoot up instantly.

"I see that your plan has failed," it whispered. "Just as I knew it would..."

Rover did not turn around, too terrified at what stood behind him. Instead he merely looked down at the earth underneath his paws and spoke in a meek voice.

"I did not think-"

"And that is why you are worthless," the voice cut in. "You never think."

"I thought she was going to-"

"Build your precious Rainboomer? And simply drop it at your paws? To comply wholeheartedly?"

"She resisted at first..."

The voice became harsher yet remained a whisper.

"You never questioned her sudden cooperation? You never suspected her of anything when she demanded such a large amount of supplies?"

Rover shifted his eyes up to look at the dogs sniffing through the ashes.

"No...." he said.

"Clearly you are as clumsy as you are stupid. Your weakness has cost the lives of several others."

Rover growled to himself, though not loud enough to be heard by his master.

"You are a pathetic waste o-"

"I did what I thought was best!” Rover snapped. “I made a choice. Which is more than you have EVER done for us. You make us do your dirty work, and yet you give us nothing in return! The Diamond Dogs are my family! I wanted my family to have something more for once! I had my family's best interests at heart!"

"And now nearly half of your family is dead."

"I know," Rover growled, a bit louder this time. "But I will prove to you, and to my pack, that I can do right. With or without you, I will make things better."

Rover heard the voice snarl behind him, an animalistic sound that caused him to shudder. He felt something on his shoulder and looked down to find a blue paw resting there, with four different colored glowing gems in the place one would normally find claws. A silver gem on the nearest digit began glowing even brighter than the others, causing Rover to squint his eyes.

Seconds later, Rover found himself turning and bowing down to the being before him. All protesting thoughts faded away, replaced by unending and infinite loyalty to his master. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, like the servant he was, unworthy to even look at his Master.

"I will give you one more chance, Rover. One final chance to prove yourself worthy to lead the Diamond Dogs," he heard his Master say.  "If, however you fail... If you make one more mistake, one single misstep... You will not live to see the next day."

Rover took a deep breath and closed his eyes as the voice faded away like a breeze on a silent night. He opened his eyes and looked up, finding nothing but a depression in the sand where someone had been sitting moments before.

"Yes... Ahuizotl..." he whispered, staring at the spot.

He turned to look back at his pack of Diamond Dogs.

"I will not fail you again..."