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Christina's eyes shot open and she bolted upright. She was... she was...

Where was she?

She couldn't remember what happened and her mind had this fuzzy feeling that prevented her from thinking clearly. She took in her surroundings instead.

She first noticed the heavy shackles on her wrists and ankles. She looked around and saw several other unicorn mares with tattered clothing and all were similarly restrained. They were all confined in some sort of cage, she noticed, and they were packed together like sardines. When a sudden bump almost knocked her onto her back, she realized that the large cage was moving and a look behind her, past the bars of the cage, confirmed it.

She tried to think harder... What happened?... The memories came flooding back at once. She was with her father when the dragon, Kalin, suddenly appeared in her house. Her father tried to save her but... Her father! Where was he? She looked around, but she didn't see him, or the rest of her family. It appeared to be a cage exclusively for unicorn mares. She knew that he wouldn't leave her alone like this so that meant he wasn't in this cage with her. How long had she been unconscious?

As she gave the other caged unicorns a closer look she noticed that they all wore sullen and defeated looks on their muzzles. No one seemed to have the desire to speak so the entire cage was quiet except for the sound of the cage moving across the land. They were covered in bruises and cuts, much like the Council members that had been dragged into her house earlier, she recalled. She only saw a couple of unicorns that she actually knew, but they were more like acquaintances and didn't look like they were happy to see her anyway.

There was a loud clank that startled her and several of the other mares in the cage. The mares looked past her and moved to cower in small huddles. She turned around and was faced with tall, green lizard wearing leather battle armor. From the look of it, he had banged his mace against the bars of the cage, startling them on purpose.

The lizard gave out a chuckle, seeming to enjoy their fear, and looked directly at Christina. He displayed a wicked grin for her, showing his sharp teeth, and she recognized the look he was giving her. This lizard didn't scare her half as much as that dragon, Kalin, did. She shuddered at the memories of the dragon that came rushing in; she guessed that the lizard took that to mean that she was afraid of him and he gave out another chuckle.

"Can't wait to get you into those slave pins, Sleeping Beauty. Once you're there, it's fair game." He crudely licked his lips and gave her, what was supposed to be, a seductive wink.

Christina missed the true meaning of his words, oblivious to the way in which other furs and scales approached sex, but she didn't really want to know what he was talking about anyway.

Wait. Slave pins?

Shackles... Cages... Oh God. She was a slave!

She suddenly realized Kalin's words back at her house.

"I've got a much better job for you."

Did that mean... Did that mean that all of these other mares would share her fate? She felt sorrow consume her as she thought about all of these mares living the rest of their lives as slaves. She cursed her father and the rest of the Council, wherever they were, for allowing this to happen. How many more unicorns were taken? How many of her people would be made to suffer, what was surely, a fate worse than death because of the Council's foolish decision? What became of her mother and her brothers and sisters? Her friends? The more she thought about the people she knew, the more her heart wailed for them.

She could use her horn magic to escape, every unicorn here could, but she would tire quickly and they would find her eventually. She supposed if they all worked together using their magic they might be able to pull it off. But there was no telling how many guards there were and her mouth felt scratchy and dry, as if she hadn't drank any water in a while, so she probably couldn't speak very much to convey her plan. Plus, many unicorns looked down on the magic of their horns and scorned it, so trying to convince them to use it, even to save themselves, probably wouldn't go so well anyway. She guessed that the other mares in the cage had come to a similar conclusion and resigned themselves to their fates. There was nothing they could do to escape. Even if they did manage to escape, where would they go? How far away from Unicorpia had they come? Rocky, dry terrain stretched as far as the eye could see; the lush forests of Unicorpia nowhere to be found.

Defeated and hopeless, Christina huddled her limbs together and silently shed tears of anguish.

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The convoy (Christina learned there were several more moving prisons housing unicorns) traveled for days. The collection of lizards and mares traveled all day long, only stopping when they came across a river, lake, or another source of water to refresh themselves. When nightfall came, the convoy would stop for the night. The lizard guards would make camp, feed the unicorns (though the old, stale hay hardly counted as food), and eventually drifted into slumber, leaving the unicorns in their cages.

Life for Christina was certainly not pleasant, but compared to what she feared when she saw the fearsome dragon in her home it was tolerable. The mares were mostly left to their own devices. Of course, there were incidents: beatings and rapes and such, but significantly fewer than expected when dealing with slavery. Furthermore, Christina witnessed the beaters and rapists being severely reprimanded themselves, sometimes escalating into even more brutal beatings.

Many of her fellow mares joined together in small groups. Strength in numbers perhaps? Or perhaps it was easier to grieve with others who bore the same weight. Christina wasn't sure; she wasn't a part of any of the social groups. The somber tone that she witnessed on her first day of consciousness all but faded and seemed to intensify as they traveled across the Great Plain.

Christina couldn't help but think that she shared the blame with her father and the rest of the Horned Council. If I had just managed to convince my father... If I persisted just a little more... If I had thought of some other argument... Thoughts like these plagued her mind and bombarded her consciousness relentlessly. She could hardly think of anything else and being in a cage all day and night with no one to talk to and nothing to do gave her plenty of time to entertain these thoughts. And how could she not blame herself? She was the heiress, after all. Was it not her duty to protect her people? Was she not to devote her entire being to her country? Yet here she was, not only staring her failure in the eyes, but sharing in the suffering as well.

Christina knew that it should be her to stand up and rally the mares to fight for their freedom. Christina knew that it should be her to bear this horrific future and not these other, innocent mares. What did they do to deserve this? Even as these thoughts circulated through her conscious, she could not muster the courage to do the right thing. She didn't even try to barter for the release of the other mares. A large part of her knew that it would be hopeless. Only a fool would take a single unicorn over hordes of unicorns; even if she was a princess, she was only worth so much. With these heavy thoughts, Christina mulled in silence while she was courted off to a bleak future.

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A not-so-ghost of an idea formed when Christina first realized that she was a slave. She never consciously gave it thought, at least not at first. The implications were... depressing, and she didn't need that burden piled on her weary conscious. But now she stared at physical proof of her inkling.

She stared at the fiery mountains and ash-clouded sky in simultaneous awe and fear. The Mountains of Fire had been visible for a time (Christina lost count of the days what felt like months ago) and the gray clouds long before that. It was then that her mind started to agitate the notion of where they were being taken.

Drakor.

The fact that she was staring at the Mountains of Fire was enough to tell Christina that they were currently in Reptilia, but the foothills of the monstrous volcanoes were getting closer.

They were nothing but small blots and larger squares in the distance, but she could see other convoys headed in the same direction. Were those the rest of her people? Her father and the rest of her family? Or perhaps other nations were foolish enough to fall in the same situation as Unicorpia. She didn't know, and she wasn't sure if time would tell.

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The convoy finally halted at, what Christina guessed was, a Reptilian-Drakorian slavery outpost. It was an enormous place, filled with reptiles and enslaved furries. The lizards walked around while performing various duties and furries of all species were corralled in slave pins. They were all sectioned off by species and gender. Christina's group of mares was led to an empty pin.

Christina's mane erupted with pain and her head was jerked backwards with a firm grip not two seconds after she entered the pin with her fellow unicorns.

The husky voice of the green lizard from before reached her ear. "Finally. I've waited too long for this." He was so close that she could feel his warm breath fan across her ear, making it flicker. He shoved her down to her knees and forced her muzzle into the crotch of his leather armor by her mane. He was already sporting a bulge and Christina thought she was going to be sick. She might be oblivious to casual mentions of sex, but she was well aware of the mechanics. He continued to forcefully rub her muzzle into his crotch, not for the pleasure, but merely to see her in such a weak and helpless state. The thought brought a cruel grin to his muzzle and he gave a dark chuckle.

The young mare was suddenly jarred. The lizard was knocked away from her by some unseen force and she heard the thump as he hit the ground with a cry of pain. She looked at the lizard as he squirmed on the ground in pain, clutching his side.

"Don't touch the slaves, scum. You've done your job, now get lost."

Christina turned to look at the source of such a deep voice. Her bright green eyes widened as she took in the form of the tall, plump silver dragon. After her first encounter with a dragon, she never thought she would actually be glad to see one. She couldn't tell how tall he was, as she was on the ground, but he would definitely tower over the lizard lying on the ground. The green lizard leered at the dragon with hate-filled eyes, but he lifted himself and walked off, still clutching his side and grumbling to himself.

Christina was still staring at the dragon when his cold eyes landed on her. She held his gave for a few seconds until she couldn't take it anymore. Something about it was... unsettling. She lowered her eyes so that her gaze landed on his muzzle. She felt even more unsettled when his mouth split into a toothy, fanged grin.

The young mare was roughly grabbed by her horn and the dragon led her to some unknowable place for some unknowable reason. The shackles that constrained her ankles and wrists prevented her from walking normally, doubly so when she was being pulled by the horn, so she stumbled and fell often, at least when the dragon wasn't dragging her through the dirt.

Christina was led to her own little cage. The slave pins were just wooden posts with barbed wire connecting them, but Christina's new resting place was more like a prison cell with iron bars. She stayed there for no more than a day, merely watching the going-ons of the outpost and pondering her situation. Thankfully, they did give her some fresh water and some semi-fresh lettuce, which was much better than the dry hay that she was forced to eat on the journey.

When the silver dragon came back the next morning, Christina began to feel the fear creep up inside her. What would the dragon do this time? Where would he take her? The dragon opened the cage and motioned for her to exit. She did so, dragging her shackles with her. She was blindfolded and the cloth gag placed in her muzzle was foul-tasting. She assumed that the gag had been soaked in some sort of drug and was proved right when, not long after it was placed, her vision began to blur and she passed out.

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After a while of fading in and out of consciousness, Christina was finally able to make sense of her surroundings. She was lying face up on the hard ground. Some kind of stone or crystal, maybe, but it wasn't cold. In fact, it was rather warm, like it had been heated previously.

She opened her eyes and tried to sit up. Before she was even able to support herself with her elbow, her world started to spin.

"Lay back. You should rest some more," said a soft, kind, feminine voice. She didn't recognize the voice but when she turned to look at the stranger, she recognized her.

She was a mare, not a unicorn, of the palomino breed. Her pale, straight hair might have been truly beautiful if it wasn't caked in dirt and grime and her fur wasn't any better (after going so long without bathing, Christina thought she probably wasn't in any position to criticize her). Despite her unkempt appearance, her kind smile seemed to wash her body clean, leaving only beauty.

Christina recognized this mare. She couldn't figure out where, though. She tried to remember... What did she remember? The memories were blurry at first, but eventually cleared. She remembered the slave pin and being drugged. She remembered the caravan that carted her across the continent and she remembered the dragon entered her home to capture her and her family. The meeting... The meeting! That's where she'd seen this mare. She was the meek delegate with that servant that insulted her father at the meeting.

How did she get here? Christina pondered, referring to the mare.

Where was 'here' in the first place?

"Where are we?" she asked. Her voice came out hoarse and dry.

"Here," the mare said as she offered a small cup of water. "We're in some sort of cave, somewhere in Drakor, I guess. I don't remember how I got here either. The dragon drugged me before I was moved here. We have some water, at least," she said as she offered another smile.

"Is the unicorn awake, my Lady?" asked a new voice, also feminine, but lacking some of the kindness of the palomino mare.

"Ms. Shirley, I told you that you don't have to be so formal with me," the palomino said. Her tone wasn't harsh, but merely teasing.

"Forgive, my Lady, but I could never treat royalty with such disrespect."

Christina turned her head to look at the newcomer. She was vaguely aware of the riddle "is a zebra white with black stripes or black with white stripes," as she looked upon the strange female zebra. Christina was no expert when it came to zebras, but the majority of her body appeared to be black, at least what wasn't covered by her meager rags. Her white stripes zigged and zagged along her body, reminding her of lightning and the pattern almost resembled that of the dragon that caused. Her "mane" also looked like lightning, spiking and falling as it traveled along her neck. Christina never would have thought that such a look would have been the least bit pretty, but the strange female zebra managed to pull it off, along with an aura of power that commanded respect.

" 'Royalty' is a title in my homeland but nothing more than a concept here. There is no need to cling to such meaningless things anymore. We are in Drakor, not the Great Plain. We are dealing with dragons now, not furries. We are all slaves now and titles like that mean nothing in the face of that reality. The dragons will not hesitant to remind us of that should we forget." Her words were calm and determined and her muzzle was downcast, heavy with the truth.

She wasn't scolding the zebra, but the words were harsh as the sunk in. She couldn't deny the truth of her words. They were slaves now. It didn't matter who they were in the outside world. Here they were all equals and here they all knelt at the feet of the dragons.

"Well said," uttered a voice that made her blood run cold. It couldn't be...

The Drakorian Commander strode into the cave through an opening Christina failed to notice. Light shown through the dimly lit cave, glistening of Kalin's dark scales and illuminating the presence of several other females in the cave. All of them were dirty and what little clothing they wore was in tatters, much like herself.

The dragon wore a haughty grin as he took his time approaching them. The other females began to cower in their respective places, except for the strange zebra. That dragon bastard must have captured them personally as well. Christina couldn't stop her own fearful reaction, recalling the memory of her own capture.

"As you have just been told, all of you are now slaves," he said as he made sure to look at every individual in the cave. Another fanged grin spread across his muzzle. "My slaves, in particular."

Though the first part was obvious, what followed was a shock and many terrified gasps bounced off the stone walls of the cave. Christina's big, green eyes widened and she quaked in her spot, anger clutching her will. It was despicable: that a person would go this far just to spread fear and feel good about himself. She stood up on her hooves and stormed over to the arrogant dragon, knowing that the one thing she had to lose wasn't worth anything anymore.

"How dare you! You are the absolute lowest of the low!" she shouted as she approached him. If she was to find her end here, she would be damned if she let it come so easily. "You lied to us at that accursed meeting and took advantage of our generosity! How many lives have you ruined? How many more must you destroy until you're satisfied?!" she raged, visibly shaking from the inability to contain her anger.

"I did not lie at that meeting," Kalin said calmly. He was staring Christina in the eye and it was obvious that he enjoyed the confused look she gave him.

"W-What?" Christina stammered, completely stunned.

"I believe I said that I "needed help" from the furries in order to defeat the orcs in the west. I wasn't lying. I do need your help, just... not on the battlefield."

Christina's head snapped back in disbelief, wearing an incredulous expression on her muzzle. "You disgust me, causing such chaos with a mere technicality. Have you no honor?"

"None to be wasted on a bunch of pathetic furries," Kalin snarled, finally fed up with her outbursts. His anger disappeared after she quieted and his grin was back in place, unsettling the young mare. "Since you're here, you might as well be of use to me. I'm glad I didn't have to ask for volunteers; given the situation, I don't think I would have found any takers," he chided as he produced a dagger from his belt.

Though she gave up any claim to her life when she decided to take a stand against the tyrant, something like that was much easier said than done. She couldn't help her naturally fearful reaction to get away, but the dragon's grip wouldn't let her escape. She continued to struggle until the dagger's handle was forced into her paw. Her eyes widened and she froze. She stared at the dragon, wondering what he was up to.

Kalin took a step back and spread his arms out. "Go ahead. Hit me with your best shot. I promise you won't be punished," he challenged.

Christina hesitated with more than a little confusion. She wondered what the dragon was playing at. He didn't have any weapons on his person, but he was certainly more than capable of handling her. Eventually, she decided that she had nothing to lose and attacked, driving the dagger into his chest as hard as she could.

... At least that's what she thought happened. She stood there, still trying to force the dagger through the skin of his right pectoral muscle. When she retracted the dagger, there was a small cut, no bigger than a paper-cut, and only a small trickle of blood.

"Well done," the dragon stated after a couple seconds. "I might have gone for the neck or the abdomen, but no matter." He turned to face the other females in the cave, who all wore confused expressions. "Yes, that is a real steel dagger, in case you are wondering." He grabbed Christina by the arm and strong-armed her closer to him. He clutched her paw in his and placed on his arm. "Tell them all what you feel," he ordered.

She took a second to process the strange command and gave his arm a few tentative rubs and squeezes. "Um... The scales are packed in tightly and tucked together, almost like they were woven together. They also feel hard and tough, but smooth as well."

"Very good, slave," he said. Christina's mind recoiled at the term, but Kalin continued before she could protest. "These scales are much harder than steel and are virtually impenetrable with ordinary weapons," he announced. He once again seized her hand and moved it to his chest. "Now what do you feel?"

Once again, she felt up the domineering dragon. "It feels like skin, but it's tough and leathery, probably really thick too."

"This skin comes from the underbellies of our drakon ancestors. Over time it has hardened, mimicking the properties of the scales that adorn the rest of our bodies. As you all have seen, it is incredibly tough. It takes a powerful strike to pierce the skin on a dragon's chest." It was obvious that Christina was supposed to return to her place on the cave floor now, and she did just that. "No doubt you're all wondering why I'm telling you all this. I'm sure that all of you have thought of escaping by now; after all, it is only natural. But what you might not have realized is that escape is futile." He snapped his clawed fingers and light poured into the room.

Several burly, male furries were revealing with the influx of light. They all wore stern expressions and little clothing: hardly more than a loincloth. Many species were represented in this new group. There was a bear, a rhino, an elephant, and more species sharing the same large frame adorned with muscle. Each was standing beside a large window with a thick curtain that they pulled back, resulting in the flood of light from earlier.

Several screams reverberated across the room. Outside of the window was a chilling and mind-numbingly frightening sight. There were no trees, no blue sky, and the last bits of hope escaped from the hearts of the captured females.

They were inside an active volcano.

It appeared as though whatever room they were in was suspended in the mouth of the volcano, far above the lake of magma. They could see a large pillar of smoke and ash rising from the bottom, obscuring the view of the other side of the mouth of the volcano.

"The reason no furry has ever found a settlement of dragons is because they all think that we live at the foothills of the Mountains of Fire. However, as you all can see, we actually live inside the volcanoes," Kalin started to explain. "Dragons have always been immune to the extreme heat and lava that the volcanoes produced, so it was only a matter of time until our ancestors discovered the precious crystal found inside them. We call this crystal 'redsteel,' because of its immeasurable durability and naturally red color. They eventually found that this crystal occurs naturally inside every one of the volcanoes in the Mountains of Fire. Later, it was discovered that the magma inside the volcanoes is so hot that it would have melted through the rock long, long ago. The redsteel lining the volcanoes is the only thing that has prevented this due to another incredible quality it holds: redsteel will absorb amazing amounts of heat. So much so that even the super high temperatures inside these volcanoes aren't enough to melt it. Using this knowledge, our ancestors eventually found a way to carve this new crystal and built elaborate cities in the deposits found inside the volcanoes."

He turned to one of the burly furries. "Hand me my swords," he ordered calmly. The slave obliged without complaint and handed him two unsheathed swords. The dragon only picked up one. The sword was only had a single edge and was crystalline red color. There was no guard and the hilt was merely a wrap of white leather wide enough for a single hand. "Recently, we have been working to construct weapons out of redsteel using the superior crafting skills of Reptilia. My swords are made of redsteel. As I mentioned, redsteel is incredibly tough, even more so than diamond. It is among the few materials capable of piercing a dragon's scales. Killing me will be no easy task," he said as he handed the sword back to the slave.

"You will all do what I say when I say it from this point on. If you disobey, you will be punished. It is that simple. Now, you might be thinking that disobedience begets death, but you're mistaken. This would provide far too easy an outlet for slaves, so I will give whatever punishment I feel like giving. This might range from some sort of torture to a verbal warning." He made eye contact with every female in the room. "How your life goes from here is up to you. I have told you the rules and all you need to do in order to live a peaceful life, devoid of the pain and discomfort I can inflict, is to follow those rules."

He paused as he let that information sink in.

"You," he said, pointed at one of the male slaves. "Prepare a bath for these ladies. They're all filthy. After you finish that, you can all help the cook prepare dinner for everyone. I'm starting to get hungry. Make sure the cook remembers the new instructions I left him pertaining to the diet of my new slaves."

Christina and the others felt a wave of relief wash over them. They might be slaves for a tyrannical dragon, but at least they wouldn't be denied these simple pleasures. Maybe this dragon did have some compassion hidden under those scales after all.