“Wow, I guess that does make sense,” Spike replied hopefully, “Sure the situation is pretty bad, but if I give up now, then defeat is all but assured.”  
“Yeah, thats a nicer way of putting it than the way Garble did.” Mangle chuckled, , but hes great, he probably just doesnt want me breaking down while he figures out a way to get out of here.  
“Yeah, that Garble sounds like a smartwaitwhere have I heard that name before?” Spike asked.  
“Do you know my brother?” Mangle asked. Spike looked over at Mangle thinking that the red scales seemed familiar, with the orange on top, and a beige belly scales. He didnt know that many dragons, which is why he had gone on this journey in the first place. The only dragons he knew by name were the ones from his last attempt at a journey during the migration.  
“YOUR GARBLES BROTHER?!?!” Spike exclaimed, thinking back to that mean jerk that put him through the gauntlet and ultimately tried to get him to break a phoenix egg. The dragon that made him swear off ever trying to be a dragon and instead act as a pony. How could that guy be the one that Mangle looked up to?  
“Oh wow, so you have met him before, what a coincidence.” Mangle happily replied.  
“Uh, yeah, weve met before at the great dragon migration years back.” Spike replied, not wanting to give off that he didnt particularly like him.  
“Oh cool, you were there too? I was the youngest of the group, so I used the time to find other dragons my age, we mustve just missed each other. Mangle recounted more pleasant times.  
“Huh, I guess we just did,” Spike suddenly feeling a bit disappointed that he hadnt tried harder to look for dragons closer, and just went with the first group he saw. He wondered if he wouldve had a different impression of dragons had he met Mangle instead of Garble. He decided to not dwell on it, what was past is in the past, and he was with Mangle right now, so better late than never.  
“So, has Garble come up with an escape plan yet?” Spike asked, bringing the topic back to their current situation.  
“Ummwellno,” Mangle solemnly answered.
 
“You see, he thought about fighting our way out, sneaking our way out, even just digging our way out, but these bindings are stopping any type of escape.” Mangle pointed out to the shackles on his legs. “And theyre not even as bad as the collars. These things are enchanted with some kind of magic that the diamond dogs control. They can stick together like magnets and can drag you to the floor just by the whim of a dog overseer.  
Spike noticed that there werent any chains linking his cuffs together, so he tried to pull them apart, but Mangle was right, any distance he pulled apart, they stuck right back together. The green runes swirled on the metal, and were glowing a magic aura signifying that they were enchanted somehow.  
“So, youre saying the only obstacle to getting out of here, is taking these things off?” Spike asked.  
He nodded, If we could just get these things off, wed have the numbers, the surprise, and the strength to overpower the diamond dogs and get out of here, and warn the dragon council of whats been going on.  
“Warn the dragon council?” Spike questioned.  
“Yeah, I mean no one knew why dragons were disappearing or how dangerous, but with this knowledge, the elder dragons could finally make a plan to rescue the missing dragons and prevent any more from being forced to work down here.”  
Spike thought about that course of action. That was something he could do, send a message to the dragon council. Hed already gotten in over his head thinking he and his friends could save the dragons all on their own, but this was something achievable. By getting this info to the council, hed definitely be helping out the dragons in the ridge. But he needed to get out of these cuffs.  
“Hmm,” Spike pondered as he examined his bindings. “This type of aura looks familiar, like the same kind that the demon dogs were giving off, could they have been enchanted by the same magic dog?”  
“I think they would be, not many diamond dogs can use magic,” Mangle agreed.  
“Then I wonder” Spike said.
 
 
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