* This story takes place after the events in the Crystal Empire *
After the fiasco of ponynapping Rarity, the Diamond Dogs had teetered on the brink of destruction. Discouraged that Rarity and her friends had taken so many gems, the Diamond Dogs had been ready to give up. Trying to keep them together, Rover had said that he was sure that there were more gems in the tunnels that hadn't been explored yet. After digging for weeks without any results, they had compromised the structural integrity of their tunnel system so much that the entire network had collapsed on them, killing everyone except for himself and his two pals, Spot and Fido.
Faint with exhaustion, Rover, Spot, and Fido had spent several strenuous and painful hours digging their way to the surface. They argued the entire way up, blaming each other for what had happened. Once they reached the surface, they had fought for a good while, and once they had calmed down, they realized that their home and only source of income had just been destroyed, so they had each decided to go their own separate way.
After doing several odd jobs all over Equestria, Rover had heard that some place in the north called the Crystal Empire had recently returned, so he had jumped on the earliest train in the hopes that he could find rare gemstones.
Upon arriving, he had just sat down for a quick lunch at one of the many cafés when he overheard some crystal ponies talking about a long-lost tunnel system full of royal jewels and treasures. His interest piqued, he quickly finished his lunch and began his search.
After several days of searching the city, Rover had stumbled upon the hidden entrance to the tunnel system by accident. He had been walking along the outskirts of the city when he had come across several boulders arranged in a strange pattern. He climbed on top of one and looking down, he noticed a peculiar-looking hole in the center of the boulders. Excited, and hoping that this was the entrance to the tunnels that he had been searching for, he hopped down to the hole and peered inside of it. He couldn't see anything, so he stretched his neck as far as it could go, and before he knew it he slipped inside. Tumbling down the steep slope, his head slammed into something hard and he blacked out.
He woke up a couple hours later with a throbbing headache and a sore back. Looking around, he realized that he had found the secret entrance that those ponies had been talking about.
"I did it… I DID IT!" he exclaimed in joy as he began his search.
After several hours of searching the many tunnels, he had not come across a single gem, and he was pretty discouraged.
Talking to himself, he said, "Once I find that treasure, I will be set for the rest of my life!" His stomach grumbled from the lack of food, and he said, "If I don't find some gemstones to sell soon, I'm going to starve to death…"
Thinking of his empty stomach, which grumbled in distress again, he thought he heard some ponies arguing. He cocked his ears towards the sounds further down the tunnel, and after not hearing anything more, he assumed it was just his stomach. He walked further down the cave, and then suddenly doubled over in pain.
Groaning in pain, he said, "Sweet Celestia, please help me…" He knew praying to the princess wouldn't help him in the slightest, but it still felt good to try.
Once again, he heard those sounds, and he could make out the sounds of ponies arguing from further down the cave. He turned and asked himself, "Wait, someone else is down in these caves with me? Maybe I can snatch some food from them... Thank Celestia; she heard me!"
Slowly making his way down the tunnel, he emerged into a small cavern that branched off into seven different tunnels, each adorned with an intricate archway. The tantalizing aroma of cooked food wafted down from the middle tunnel, so he chose to go that way.
As he passed under the archway, he felt his body start to tingle. He thought it was his stomach again, so he disregarded the irritating sensation. Little did he know that he was approaching an invisible force field that was protecting the cavern from intruders.
Rover distinctly heard voices coming from around the next bend in the tunnel, so he slowed to a halt and peeked around the corner.
"So, this is where those smells are coming from, huh?" he muttered to himself.
He saw eleven ponies hunched over a crudely constructed table, violently arguing amongst each other. Magical torches lined the perimeter of the cavern, their yellow glow casting just enough light to faintly illuminate the hooded ponies.
"Maybe we… Maybe we should just give up…" one pony tentatively suggested.
"No, we must seek our revenge against those who killed him!" one pony exclaimed.
"No, you're both wrong! We should keep worshipping his name until he returns to us!" another replied.
What he saw slightly unnerved him, but thinking with his stomach, he decided to sneak in, snatch some food that he saw laying in the corner, and sneak back out before anypony noticed him.
As he silently approached the entrance to the cavern, he walked straight into an invisible wall and was thrown back several yards, a massive electrical shock coursing through his body.
He yelped in surprise and pain as he slammed into the ground. Not knowing what hit him, he laid on the ground, disoriented. His fur smoking from the sudden outburst of energy, he tried to get back up but immediately fell back to the ground, his muscles clenching uncontrollably. Looking back at the group feasting in the cavern, he realized that nopony had noticed him as they argued amongst themselves.
"Thank Celestia…" he groaned.
In a smaller cavern away from the others, the leader of the cult, Lord Anthautu, was speaking to his second in command when they heard something out of the ordinary; something yelling out in pain.
"My lord, did you hear that?" Mordronous asked with concern in his voice.
"I did. Capture the intruders and bring them before me!" Lord Anthautu ordered.
"Yes, my lord…" Mordronous said while an evil grin spread across his face. He left the cavern and started to gallop towards the source of the noise.
As Rover struggled to return to his senses, he heard somepony galloping towards him from the farthest tunnel on the right. Panic gripped him and adrenaline filled his veins, which allowed him to regain his footing. He picked a random tunnel and began to sprint as fast as he could.
Hearing somepony chasing him only made him run faster and faster through the dark tunnels. Panting madly, he careened through the tunnels, not caring where he went, trying desperately to throw off his pursuer.
Glancing over his shoulder, he realized that nopony was behind him anymore, nor could he hear anypony else. Careening around a corner, he ran straight into the end of the tunnel, crippling his front right paw in the process. He slowly got back up and had to lean against the wall because his leg wouldn't support him. He gingerly put pressure on his leg, but winced as pain shot up it.
Mordronous knew that there was only one intruder based on the sounds that he heard. Looking at the tunnel that the sounds were emanating from, he knew it was a dead end. Laughing to himself, he calmly made his way into the tunnel, knowing that his prey was trapped and could not escape.
"Agh, crap, I must have sprained it!" Rover cried out in despair. He worriedly glanced over his shoulder as he heard somepony approaching from further down the tunnel. He looked for someplace to hid, but couldn't find any.
As soon as Mordronous heard the intruder cry out, he galloped towards the source of the noise, knowing that he was close. Turning the corner, he came across the intruder. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was a dog of some sorts. Using his magic, Mordronous lifted him into the air, who yelped in surprise as he suddenly rose into the air.
"What are you going to do to me, you bucking freak?" Rover asked in fear. He tried to escape, but he couldn't move because Mordronous' magic held him tightly.
Mordronous slyly replied, "Oh, don't you worry about that; my master has plans for you…"
He brought the mangy mutt back to his master and threw him at his hooves.
"Well…well…well, what do we have here?" Lord Anthautu asked slowly.
"It seems we have some sort of mangy mutt." Mordronous replied with disdain in his voice.
Irritated that he had just been called a mutt, Rover indignantly said, "Mangy mutt?! I'm no mutt; I'm a Diamond Dog!"
"Silence!" Mordronous said as he smacked the diamond dog on the side of the head. "Tell us, how did you find your way into these tunnels? Speak!" He drew an evil-looking dagger and brandished it in front of Rover's face.
Fearing for his life, Rover whimpered in fear and didn't respond as he timidly glanced between the two menacing ponies in front of him.
Disgusted, Mordronous asked his lord, "What do you wish for me to do with this waste of space, my lord? Torture it? Kill it?"
"Throw him in the cells for now… I'll decide what to do with him later… Once you do that, meet me in the main cavern and we'll go address the cult." Lord Anthautu ordered, furious that someone had discovered his cult's place of worship.
"Yes, my lord; it shall be done." Levitating Rover with his magic again, Mordronous said, "Come, you!"
He brought the mutt back out to the main cavern, and walked down the adjacent tunnel on the right. They walked for a few minutes in silence until they came across several crudely constructed cells. Opening the closest one, Mordronous tossed the mutt inside, slammed the door, and locked it.
Quickly returning to his master, they began to walk towards the rest of the cult, and as soon as they reached the entrance, Mordronous lowered the force field and paused as his master said, "Listen to those ponies bicker amongst themselves… such imbeciles. We should shut them up before they do something stupid."
"I agree, my lord. Please, after you…" Mordronous bowed respectfully as he allowed his lord to take the lead.
As his lord neared the table, Mordronous knew that nopony had heard him approach, so he drew in a deep breath and barked, "CEASE!" which startled everypony into silence.
"That's better… " He dryly said as his lord slowly approached the table.
Lord Anthautu took his place at the head of the table, and told the group before him, "While you were arguing, my right-hoof pony was capturing an intruder that had somehow breached our defenses. How is it that none of you heard or saw him?"
Nopony responded, fearing that any response would result in pain. Lord Anthautu sighed, and said, "Ever since our king was slain, we have been without a leader; without a direction. We must exact our revenge on those who killed him. My right-hoof pony has come up with a promising plan, and I'll allow him to speak now. Mordronous, you have the floor."
Mordronous slowly made his way out of the darkness to stand beside his lord, and the unicorn pony replied, "Thank you, my lord. I have read from our sacred book, the Ponynomicon, and I have read of a way to resurrect the fallen." He pulled out the old and heavy ironbound book, and reverently laid it on the table. "From what I have read, it says that we must have a piece of the fallen, such as a horn or a feather, the blood of a baby dragon, and most importantly…" He paused for dramatic effect. "The sacrifice must take place on the eve of the midsummer solstice, which just happens to be in two weeks."
"But how can we get anything from King Sombra? He was utterly destroyed in his attempt to retake the Crystal Empire!" one pony exclaimed.
The group murmured in agreement for a few moments, and then the newest member, Zeo, an earth pony, said, "I move that myself and two others kidnap the baby dragon known as Spike from Ponyville. We'll be able to resurrect our fallen King with his blood and we'll also be able to take our revenge for his death! This way, we'll kill two birds with one stone. But we still need something from King Sombra, otherwise all of our efforts will be for naught."
Lord Anthautu said, "I concur. Both Mordronous and Garath will join you in the foalnapping. As for something from King Sombra…" He pulled out a small object wrapped in worn leather and carefully laid it on the table.
Mordronous approached the object and slowly unwrapped it to reveal the severed tip of King Sombra's horn.
The rest of the cult gasped in amazement, and Garath, a pegasus, asked in disbelief, "How did you get a hold of something so sacred?!"
Lord Anthautu covered up the horn and said, "That does not matter right now. What matters now is that we must make our move on the baby dragon. Mordronous, plan the attack with Garath and Zeo, and we will reconvene and perform the ceremony on the eve of the midsummer solstice."
He slowly rose from his chair and said, "This concludes our meeting. Garath, Zeo, and Mordronous, I wish you luck in your monumental task…"