Fluttershy told the troopers to put her down. She was still hurting, but she couldn't stand the idea she was draining what little strength they had left.
A few tunnels later, they arrived in the largest cave so far.
In the center, there appeared to be a big metal sphere, connected to a hole in the ceiling through countless cables and pipes.
On the floor all around the sphere, there were suffering diamond dogs, in a similar bad condition as the others they had encountered along the way.
The metal sphere started rotating on its axis. Now the ponies could see that it had a big opening, so one could look into the control room inside. Or rather: The roost. Because the gem lord was an adult dragon. Sitting, as adult dragons often do, on a giant pile of gems.
"Quit whining, you spineless mutts! I already told you: you can either go back digging OR you can go back to the LOSER's cave and DIE. Either way, be QUIET! Do I have to roast you? Ah, why bother..."
The dragon was pushing a red button inside the sphere. There was an acoustic signal somewhere in the neighborhood, and armored dogs appeared.
"You called, gem lord?"
"It's clean-up time again. You know the drill. Get these rejects back to the tunnels. And don't let them slip in here again! Oh wait, this one looks pretty dead. I'll keep him for lunch."
Though the guard dogs were less numerous than the miners, they had no trouble rounding them up and throwing them out of the cave.
"Here. For your trouble."
The dragon reached into his treasure and tossed the smallest gem he could find into the paws of a nearby guard dog, immediately causing the canines to fight among another.
"Now that's just dandy", Applejack said, "Just what the doctor recommended. An evil dragon."
Rainbow Dash grinned.
"If there is a boss battle coming up, count me in!"
"Believe it or not", Spike said, "I actually know this guy."
"Any chance for a diplomatic solution?", Twilight asked.
"I'll see what I can do."
"Hey, SPINE, old buddy! Whassup?"
The other dragon frowned as he brought his large head to ground level.
"Well, well, well... What do we have here... If it isn't little Spike. And I mean LITTLE Spike. I swear, you haven't grown an inch since we last met. I, on the other hand... But I suppose you can tell."
"Yeah. Haven't really been practicing greed recently. Would have been a little... you know... anti-social."
"That's rich..."
"Listen, Spine, there are a few things you should know..."
"I'm all ear. After all, you're the least boring thing happening down here so far. And stuff."
Spike told Spine how they had managed to destroy several sectors of the facility, and how they had found the passage to this mining site.
"So in short... We're looking for a way out of this joint. Why don't you come with us, instead of pushing around drug victims?"
Spine was leaning back and put on an expression as if he was pondering about the proposition.
"So you have betrayed our masters..."
"You know, some masters deserve to be betrayed..."
"True, true. I guess your little story adds up. They haven't been sending supplies down here for quite a while now... Ah well. The best option would still be to keep you and your little friends in custody. Maybe I'll get promoted once things go back to normal! I have enough gems and food to last me for a little while..."
He was staring at the ponies, licking his lips.
"Though I must say, I'm starting to get sick of all the rotten... dog meat. Your friends look mighty tasty, pipsqueak. I bet the masters won't mind if I have a little bite."
"Why, you...!"
"Quiet down there. I am picking lunch. Let's see... They say pegasi were the least valuable..."
Hearing this, Rainbow Dash started groaning and pumping steam through her nostrils.
"Oh, don't worry, little dyke. You'd probably give me indigestion anyway. Par contre, your little friend here..."
He was looking at Fluttershy now.
"Hello there. My, my, do we look delicious today..."
Fluttershy squeaked. All two dozen dark troopers moved into a defensive formation around her.
"Isn't that the cutest thing. Too bad your pathetic little friends are unarmed..."
"Oh yeah?", Rainbow Dash yelled, "Well, WE happen to be PONIES!"
"My sentiment exactly", Applejack said, "It's bucking time."
But Spine just grinned, leaned back and pushed a button.
From one second to the other, the cave was filled with crawling, hissing, zombie-like diamond dogs.
"Boys, it's gems for everyone who can bring down a pony."
Applejack groaned.
"Once again, abundant doom. That's not a cliché..."
Except for Rainbow Dash, the ponies had brought only part of their armour and weaponry, since this was supposed to be a scouting mission. Rainbow Dash tried pushing through to the dragon, but diamond dogs were crawling on the walls as well as on the ceiling, jumping or simply dropping on her back.
Fluttershy was paralyzed in grief. Not again! Why all this pain, why this slaughter?
She snapped out of it, grabbed a random nearby dog and threw him to the floor. She brought her face close to his.
"...Why are you DOING this? It's just gems! They're not worth to kill for! They're not worth to DIE for!"
He wasn't listening, of course. As tears were running down the pony's face, he was actually grinning. He was obviously amused by something going on right behind her.
A shadow fell on the pony.
When she turned her head, she saw the dark trooper who's leg Rarity had sewed back on. The arm of a diamond dog was sticking out of its chest. Apparently, the huge dog had tried to spear Fluttershy with his claws, and the trooper had jumped between them just in time.
Its blood was dripping on the pony's face.
The drone didn't have a face, but had this been the case, it would have smiled.
The ponies were a shrinking island in a sea of roaring junkies.
"That's it. We're dead."
Seemingly out of nowhere, Pinkie produced a large celestial map resembling Twilight's gala dress, unrolled it and put it on the cave wall. Then she put a record on a turntable which had appeared just as mysteriously. All of this happened so fast that even the diseased dogs paused, puzzled.
"Pinkie, what on... or under... Earth are you doing?"
"You'll see! Oh Dashie! C'm Here!"
She hoofed her pegasus friend a cardboard box painted to look like some generic food item.
"What am I even supposed to do with this?"
"Put it on, silly! It's a costume!"
"A costume of what? And besides..."
"Do it!"
Pinkie was suspiciously cheerful, given the situation. Then again, Pinkie was a pony who blossomed in impending doom.
"What now?"
"Rainbow, I want you to run in front of the map! I want to see your mane and your tail waving in the air! And look at the audience! Smile!"
"Pinkie, how is that going to help us?"
"Trust me on this, you guys! This is going to be great..."
And then she was playing the record. It was the strangest song Rainbow Dash had ever heard, and it was playing in an endless loop. It actually had a hypnotic quality to it...
"What is that even supposed to be?"
"I think the lyrics are 'NyanNyanNyanNyan'..."
"Look! Whatever Pinkie's plan is, it seems to be working!"
The Diamond Dogs in the cave were staring at Rainbow's performance, dazzled. Slobber was dripping from their mouths. All intentions to attack the ponies had been erased from their minds. As well as everything else, it seemed.
"Ooooh... rainbow-colored..."
NyanNyanNyanNyan...
"What is this?", the dragon protested, don't watch this! It is rotting your brains! You have to obey me! I... I'll put an end to this!"
The dragon prepared to roast Rainbow with his fire breath. But without even leaving the blue pegasus with their eyes, dozens and dozens of dogs jumped their former master and held him down.
"Hey! No fair! You're supposed to be MY peons!"
Rainbow laughed.
"Great job, Pinkie! Now when can I stop doing this? I'm getting kinda dizzy!"
"Stop it?", Pinkie said with a smug expression on her face, "What makes you think you could ever stop, Dashie?"
"That's not funny! It's starting to freak me out..."
"Muhahahaha! Endless Nyan-Dash!"
She was rubbing her front hooves together.
"I've been waiting for this way too long!"
"I'll get you for this, Pinkie!"
"ENOUGH!"
With one last, powerful move, the dragon was able to shake off the dogs.
"One tray of roasted ponies, coming up!
"...Hey, Mr. BigBadDragon", Fluttershy said.
Twilight felt a shiver running down her spine. She had never seen that kind of expression in the yellow pegasus' face. Or heard that kind of chill in her voice.
It even made Pinkie lower the volume of the horrible Nyan-song.
"...You might notice there is something unusual going on in your ears..."
Spine stopped. The pegasi chick was right. There WAS something in his ear. He hadn't noticed since the last few minutes had been so chaotic... But now that he knew, it was obvious. Something was scratching, and itching, and snickering...
"Waaah! WHAT IS THAT THING?"
He was beating against the side of his head, even trying to reach into the auditory canal with his ungainly claw. To no avail.
"...Why, it is Mister Scratchy. And if you would shift your attention to the left ear, you will find that Miss Toothy has also moved into position. Are you feeling how their little clawed hands are massaging your eardrums?"
"Oh odd... Oh odd..."
"...That's right. See, these little cuties are BURROWING animals. I've seen them dig through frozen soil. I think flesh is a lot softer. Not to mention... brain tissue."
"Please... I..."
"...Tell me, Mr. BigBadDragon, how does it feel to be helpless? To be at the mercyof others? Are you wondering whether you have been a bad, bad dragon, toying with the lives of others? Are you wondering whether someone is finally in position to give you your well-deserved punishment?"
Fluttershy was coming closer, and incredibly enough, the big dragon was trembling.
"...Now, you might wonder whether I could actually give my cute animal friends an order as cruel as boring into someone's brain.
I could not.
But should they think you were a threat to me, or my friends... They might come to their own conclusions."
"Please... Not my brain... Please, m-make it stop..."
And then he was actually crying.
"...There, there. You're going to be a nice dragon from now on, right? Yes you are. Yes you are. Down, boy."
The dragon fell flat on his belly.
"...Good. Now, get rid of these horrible gems."
"But..."
"Ahem."
Crying more than ever, the dragon pushed the self-destruction button of his command capsule. He was able to climb out just in time, before it turned to ashes with everything inside, in a surprisingly unspectacular manner.
Almost immediately, he started shrinking, until the rodent's tails were visible, hanging out of the dragon's ears.
"...That's a good boooy. Now what do we say when we've done horrible things?"
"I... I'm sorry..."
"Louder!"
"I... I'm sorry!"
"Louder..."
"...S-Sorry...!"
"LOUDER!"
"I Am Sorry! Please... please don't hurt me..."
Mister Scratchy and Miss Toothy were jumping out of the dragon's ears just in time. Spine was still larger than Spike, but a pretty scrawny reptile none the less.
"...There we go. That wasn't so bad, now was it?"
It was quite bad, actually.
Fluttershy was caressing the severely wounded trooper's head.
Rarity had done her best to fix the creature once again, but weak as it was, its chance of survival was obviously slim.
Even those of the troopers who had managed to avoid major injuries were now sitting or laying on the floor. Their short lives were coming to an end.
"...You were so brave", Fluttershy said, "And I couldn't save you..."
"But you have saved us, Miss Fluttershy", the trooper said, "We were only there to die. But you gave us words... and feelings."
Fluttershy was shaking her head, struggling with her tears again.
"There will be others like us..."
The dying drone tried to wrap it in words its feeble vocabulary could provide.
"You have a mission... A prime directive... As long as you stay on your path... things will be the way they should be..."
One after the other, the dark troopers were dissolving, going out like candles.
When Fluttershy finally started crying, her first tears were dropping on the trooper's helmet, and the last on the cave floor.
Then she got up. She had dogs to look after.