Their Prison

>How many days, no, how many WEEKS have you been trapped here?
>It was easy enough to get your way and all you wanted from the three dogs that captured you, but once they returned to their foreman, you were completely put in your place.
>To think the brute would strike a lady, let alone multiple times was enough of a shock in itself.
>After that moment however, came your true misery.
>Being forced to haul those rusting mine carts with their rotting wooden sides along the dirty, muddied rails was completely degrading.
>Besides, such labor is no job for you, but once the complaints left your mouth, the foreman's answer was a swift crack of his whip that came into contact with your back almost as much as the floor beside your hooves.
>He knew exactly when to scare you, and when to, as he put it, "motivate" you.
>Days later you didn't even have the strength to stand, let alone haul the carts and once his motivator finally failed to do it's job, you were thrown in a prison cell and hung up by your forehooves in shackles that have left rust stains in your coat and dig into your joints when your hind legs feel too weary to support you.
>Oh how badly you wished to cry, but with the stark amount of food and water that they kept on hand, you were lucky to be kept alive this long.
>You dare not ask why they've bothered to keep you alive at all for fear of the worst.
>You miss your friends.
>With how many miles of tunnels you've seen let alone traveled, you have no idea when or if they'll ever find you.
>You can only hope they don't meet the same fate as you.
>The sound of approaching guards silences even your thoughts as they make their way down the corridor and stop in front of your cell.
>The door is opened and the guard makes way for two others who toss a large body into your cell before shutting the door and leaving without so much as a word.
>The smell of blood, sweat and dirt hits you immediately and memories of your days hauling carts come back to haunt you.
>The creature is almost deathly still except for it's shallow ragged breathing.
>If it's in the same situation as you, maybe you can find some small comfort in sharing this cell.
"E-excuse me. Are you quite alright?"
>The creature draws in a long painful breath before responding.
>"Do I fucking look alright?"
>While that may have been a silly question in retrospect, it's no reason for him to be so immediately rude to you.
>But you honestly don't have the strength to berate his actions, nor do you wish to push away what could be your only companion in this particular hell.
"I'm sorry..." If only Fluttershy could hear how softly you've learned to speak since you've been down here.
>Rolling over to face you, he looks up at you in your shackles while you use your tail to maintain some semblance of modesty.
>"You're different. Thought it was always gonna be those weird gorilla dogs. The name's Anonymous, what's yours?"
"Rarity, if you haven't even seen a pony then I'm assuming you're not from around here."
>"Right you are, I was doing some cave diving on vacation back home when a sudden thunderstorm flooded the caves and sent me over the edge of a particularly deep hole. I coulda sworn I drowned, but instead of that I washed up in one of these caves and after trying to find my way out for what felt like days is when the dogs found me. To keep a long story short, I've been hauling gear and gems ever since."
"From the look of you, I'd say you'd been down here for years."
>"Heh, certainly feels that way but it's only been a couple months, I was brought here because their work horse broke down, I'm assuming that's you?"
"First of all I'm a pony and I'll thank you to refrain from using the H-word in my presence. Secondly, I'm far too delicate for this line of work."
>Anonymous just manages a short chuckle that's broken up by a cough as he tries to ease his aching body.
"Still, I'm amazed you haven't been worked into the ground if you've been doing this as long as you say you have."
>"Whether it's lucky or not is debatable in this situation, but I'm not exactly the delicate sort. It helps to fake breaking down before I've actually hit my limit, but considering the living conditions here, I doubt I can keep this up forever. Just knowing that there's more than those dogs in this world is enough to give me a bit of energy though. Unless of course you ponies getting caught up like this is a common occurrence."
"I would hope not. I know my friends must still be searching for me frantically, but I have serious doubts about ever being rescued."
>"Sounds like you've got some good friends. Being a damsel in distress might be your kind of thing, but that's not me. I'd rather risk it all breaking out than waiting here for either hope or my body to die first. Well talk about this later though, it wasn't exactly a sunday drive for me getting here and I'm sure they'll put me to work again as soon as possible."
>Even with his battered and bruised body, he has this air of confidence that fans the flames of what was once a dying hope in your heart.
"Good night Anonymous, sleep well."
>He simply nods his head before his eyes close and he falls asleep with the smallest hint of a smile on his face and as you let yourself drift off after him, you can feel a small smile of your own.