"Fasterrrr! Fasterrrrrr, poniessss!" A diamond dog paced over the deep pit of crystals, lashing a whip over the flanks of several sweat-stained stallions hard at work. "You wantttttt to eat?! Then dig harder!"
Josho grumbled, his horn aching as he levitated the power drill at a slanted angle and pounded away at the base of a giant, sapphiric shard. "What I wouldn't give for a can of kibble and some arsenic right about now..."
"Shhhh!" Eagle Eye insisted, squatting just a few feet away from the heavy-set stallion. The purple binding of their manacles shimmered between them as the petite mercenary continued chipping away at a cluster of crystals with his pick-axe. "I'm trying to clear out this wall here..."
Josho flashed an incredulous look to his left. "The heck do you think you're doing?"
"You heard those 'Thrillas.'"
"'Killas.'"
"Whatever. They're gonna punish us if we don't get this pit cleared out." Eagle Eye licked the edges of his lips as he carefully plucked one stone out after another. "I, for one, plan on eating before I die of not eating."
"It's been dark for over an hour now. Night has long fallen," Josho grumbled over the roar of his engine. He sweated and struggled with the device, his stubbly muzzle awash with sweat. "I seriously doubt they're gonna throw us a bone that they haven't chewed on already."
"Yeah, what's up with that?" Eagle Eye murmured aside. "Who enslaves ponies at this hour?"
"Jeee, I dunno. Why don't you go take it up with the bellhop in the damned lobby?!"
"No talkinggggg!" A passing dog slashed a whip across Josho's shoulder. "Only digging!"
"Augh... I hear ya, Fido! I hear ya!" Josho glared over his shoulder. "Why don't ya save it for a flank less blubbery than mine so that the pony can feel it?!"
The dog gave an indignant snort. He looked ready to whip the Enforcer even harder, when a wave of crystalline filament flew towards him. He immediately retrated, scaling the edge of the pit and slapping a breathing mask over his face. Breathing safely, he escaped the settling layer of glittering sediment.
Josho paused in operating his power tool, squinting curiously at that. "That's funny. These are diamond dogs. One would think they'd be used to the earth's farts in all of those mangy tunnels they dig..."
"Ungh!" Eagle Eye groaned as he inadvertently chipped a pristine crystal in half. "Didn't I say to stop yapping?! Now look what you made me do..."
"The heck is your deal, kid?" Josho hissed at him. "There's no need to be so damn exact! You're supposed to be their slave, not their homemaker."
"In your book, those two probably count as the same," Eagle Eye grunted.
"Oh, hardy har hary..." Josho spat and rammed the power tool deep into the rocky wall. "You can't afford to be delicate here, sissy saddle! All these drooling buckets of butt loogeys want is for us to break rocks, not practice sculpting. The moment they catch you wasting precious time, they'll have your guts for garters."
"Hmmph..." Eagle Eye smirked. "Bet that'd make your life a lot easier."
"Kid, I could have flattened you into a pulp hours ago if I so much as sneezed wrong."
Eagle Eye raised his pickaxe and glared over his shoulder at him. "Then what's stopping you?"
"I don't know the rules of this pathetic place!" Josho hissed, once again glancing at the patrolling canines. "These Killas aren't acting just like any normal pups! What's more, I think... I know it's strange, but I think they're scared crap-less by the rocks we're digging up. Who ever heard of that?"
"It doesn't matter," Eagle Eye spat, chiseling away at more pieces of reflective stone. "We're prisoners, and we'll probably die as such." He clenched his chin and paused in chiseling. "Is it such a crime that I wanna do so with dignity and my belly full?"
"Yeesh. No wonder you deserted the Queen's forces, ya friggin' wuss."
The air sang from Eagle Eye swinging the pickaxe until it rested against Josho's nose. "I didn't abandon the front because of cowardice!" He frowned. "To have given in blindly to orders would have been the mark of a true weakling. Thankfully, I had a marvelous, strong, family-devoted stallion to inspire me to greatness! But he's gone now! And everything that ever mattered to me is gone with him! All thanks to you and stupid jerks like you who value murder over... m-murder over..." Eagle Eye's lids fluttered as he tilted forward.
Josho actually gasped as he caught the teetering stallion in the crook of his left limb. "Spark's crapping, kid!" he wheezed as he flashed a nervous look behind him. "This ain't no time for the friggin' vapors! Get up or I'm gonna shove that pickaxe straight down your throat until it becomes a bookend on the other side!"
"I... I-I don't know what's happening..." Eagle Eye teetered back onto all fours, his eyes bleary. "The crystals..."
Josho cleared his throat, nodding. "Yeah. I think something's in them. I don't know what it's doing to us, but it's obviously something those Killas don't wanna get close enough to pee on."
"Why w-would they do this?" Eagle wheezed, summoning the strength to whack away at the wall with the pickaxe again. "Why run us into the ground?"
"Their prison is on tank treads. Whatever it is they're after, they're not sticking around in one place to clean up after themselves." Josho shuddered. "Or our bodies..."
Once more, a whip cracked nearby.
"Stupid poniesssss! We told you to digggg!"
Grumbling, Josho hammered away at the crystalline wall. "I'm not sure how much friggin' more of this I can stand."
"Well..." Eagle Eye nevertheless managed to sing-song as he swung the pick-axe once more. "You know what they say. 'Where there's a whip, there's a—'"
"Shut your banana hole!" Josho hissed, his eyes blood red. "You shut it right now!"
Eagle eye is new best pony.
Curiouser and curiouser. For whom do the Killas work, I wonder.
mystery. lots and lots of mystery.
Here we go again. Time for another awesome jail break!
ACϟDC - Jailbreak
Methinks someone has linked some animated hobbits and orcs a little too often, it's starting to wear on ):('s mind.
When diamond dogs are afraid of rocks, you know those rocks are probably sealed evil in a can.
This brings back memories of that Minotaur gang.
2272807
Same here. There's no way they'd be extracting gems that scare them witless of their own volition. A more sinister question, though, is what their employer plans to use those stones for...
I have a feeling that EE and Josho are gonna be the best of comrades.
Better not hit an Infernite deposit. That shit's bad luck.
These two are just getting better and better! Wonder what those crystals are. And look, another new mystery!
As long as they don't dig out the Cotton Candy Ore, I think they'll be fine.
The Killas use ponies to dig crystals, but are afraid of them. The local crystal ponies shoot anyone who so much as sympathizes with them on principle. Hmmm...
where there's a whip there's a what?
that's a new one on me.
Anyone care to enlighten?
Moar! Moar I say!
OW!
Forty situps. Knock 'em out!
Another day another chapter.
2272807 who says they work for anypony... Or anybody for that matter.
This chapter was... bizarre, to say the least. Some funny moments in there (that last line ), but it didn't really stand out. It does raise a lot of questions, though. As Pilate said, who are the Killas actually working for? What are they having the ponies mine? Why are they so afraid of it?
I'm expecting answers to these questions in about 70 chapters.
Hmm, I predict them making an escape attempt in the near future. They know that the Diamond Dogs are scared of the rocks they're digging up, so they might be able to use those in some way, but will they actually manage to escape? The Diamond Dogs probably don't want any slaves escaping, and I doubt their mysterious employer does either.
Gah!
All this interaction, it's too good!
You really know how to create a dynamic between characters.
'Cause this is
night...
At any rate, looks like EE and Josho are having a good time. I wonder how they'll escape?
noooo not that song!
it is going to get stuck in my head
'CAUSE THIS IS THRIIIIIILER, THRILLER AT NIGHT! NO ONE'S GONNA SAVE YOU FROM THE BEAST ABOUT TO STRIKKKKEE!!!!
Also, Eagle Eye is now an orc.
Best Frenemies.
Uhh...any ideas on those crystals, guys?
Or, for that matter, what the hell just happened?
Yikes.
These rocks sound bad.
But fear not, as I have peach rings!
Hmm... I wonder what those crystals are, and who needs them... And for what purpose... We'll probably find out in... I don't know, maybe 50-60 chapters?
Also, Finally caught up!
Could those crystals somehow be made of chaos or something? Like those weird stuff in early Austraeoh?
Good chapter! The orcs... I mean dogs.. Have shown that they are scared of something... Not a good move In front of prisoners.
I think someone spiked the gems. The employer obviously scares these dogs more than the gems. I suspect those ancient dragons like Axan are involved. Whos with me?
Blarg. I am always late on weekends.
Seems that upon acquisition of these gems they're so dead-set on procuring they piss themselves and leg it. Making an inference that their bosses are a urine monsoon if they're still digging for it.
love the banter between the two and 'Thrillas' made me lol
How the hell did nobody pick up on this?
sweet asslicking celestia Honeytiger beat dashie.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Whoa. Diamond dogs that are afraid of rocks? What is this madness?
Granted, they're not regular rocks, judging from that one Killa's gas mask. What with the tank and these faint inducing rocks, it's not hard to imagine the Killas planning an assault on someone or something. I actually think that might be it. Also, I feel like Josho and EE's relationship is going to progress to wondrous amounts and will be really fun to look at as it develops. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. Again, the new FimFiction sucks on mobile. I turned my iPod back right side up and instead of flipping the screen, Safari crashed. That's right - crashed. Please do something about this, Knighty.
I love the dynamic between these two - they're perfect foils for each other. And what could these mysterious/(lethal?) crystals be? Something the two hostages are gonna take advantage of to escape, perhaps? Also, the pun
Diamond Dogs, afraid of diamonds. Weird. My first bet would have been the Crystal Ponies, but that doesn't sit right, not with the gas mask and the vapors obviously being the problem. But what kind of stone steams? Since we don't know how far beneath the surface they currently are, those might well be connected to the world machine.
Fascinating...
Oh, these two are going to be hilarious later on, I can already feel it. I laughed my ass of at this part.
So much hilarious banter. I wonder what the Dogs could be doing with these rocks? We'll see eventually.
-Spirit
They will be best of friends.
So these two are holding...up. I think they'll end up being friends before escaping somehow. Onto the next chapter!
ship ship, double ship?
Down in the crystal meth mines, a pony can go mad...
I'm pretty sure they are above ground, they can see the sky. (I know, I know. there could be a hole in the ceiling of the tunnel/mine/cave)
Fun fun fun
Some kind of poison crystals. Interesting.
So, they're being forced to mine something that all the dogs are carefully wearing face masks to protect against, but none of the miners have been provided PPE? This operation is definitely not OSHA compliant.
Yay I got the reference
Wait wait wait! Hold up! Fido?! As in the diamond dog named Fido who captured Rarity along with Rover and Spot in season 1 episode 19?! (vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/4/44/DD_Fido_ID_S1E19.png/revision/latest?cb=20130708223427 )
Or is it just another Fido, or a random nickname Josho called that Diamond Dog?