Two
As soon as I turn onto the road that I lived on, something struck me as very wrong. There are freshly made tracks going onto the narrow route. They’re too big to be wolf or dog tracks, to be honest they’re about four or five inches across. Moving faster now that I have those huge paw prints to think about. I begin to look frantically left to right, searching for what I thought was inevitable. But something makes me stop. A small shovel on the ground and little smeared hoof prints in the midst of the bigger paw prints leading to one of the birch trees that lined the road. Looking up see that the little brown colt has got himself clinging to a swaying tree branch.
“Oh my... Are you okay?!” I yell at him.
“M..m...miss Autumn?” he squeaks.
“Red! What happened?!”
“B...big dogs!”
“How long ago?”
“Right after you left! Are they gone?”
“I don’t see em’. Come on down and I’ll take you home!” I yell to him. To which he gives a hesitant nod.
He shimmies down to the base of the tree branch and slides down the trunk. About halfway down he slips and falls into the mud. Landing on his back. He rolls onto his side, coughing up a lung. I help him onto his hooves as he begins to cry.
“Ah shoot, kid.” I sigh as he runs into my arms with tears streaming down his face.
“Here,” I say quietly. “Let me look at you.”
As soon as I look at his back it occurred to me that these animals aren't targeting livestock anymore. A large scratch draws down his left hind leg, no blood is drawn but it's swollen up, whatever it was took a good swing at the poor colt.
“When did this happen?” I ask quietly.
“When... when I tried to climb the tree.” he sniffles.
“Let me get you home then. The culvert can wait.”
I sweep my arm under his legs and lift the shaky colt up. I then look leftwards at the fencing and gate behind the thin treeline. Right beyond the gate lied the Oak’s property and corn fields. To our wondrous luck, it’s November, corn is in full swing.
“Is there any other road that we can take?”
He lifts his head up. “No...”
A sense of fear that I’ve not had in a long time returns to me.
“They’re probably gone by now...” I say trying to reassure myself
He looks at me, worried.
“Don’t worry Red. We’ll be fine.”
As we approach the gate I notice something dart into the cornfield. I whip my head around look towards where the corn stalks moved. The tips and stalks of the ripe corn loose their momentum seemingly as soon as I glance at them, dry silence consumes my thoughts as it does everything around me.
“What is it?” he asks.
“Nothing...”I mumble as the gate creeks open and we walk into the corn rows.
I decide to ease the tension with some small talk so Red doesn’t pop a gasket.
“So what’s the family up to these days?” I ask nervously.
“Tryin’ to make the property look nice.” he says, obviously playing along.
“How’s your mom?”
“She’s fine.”
The corn stalks begin to shake again. I can see the tops jerk left to right as something makes their way through them. I hold the kid close as whatever it is makes a B line towards us. Red buries his head into my shoulder.
“Hello?” I yell.
The corn stalks cease moving.
“Someone there?”
A large, rain soaked lab bounds out of the corn stalks wagging its bushy tail profusely and smiling at us. Red immediately lifts his head again.
“Ali!” He says as the dog gives him generous licks.
“...” I sigh. “lets get you home.”
It was a fun little walk back to his house. Picking up a decent stick every so often and chucking it down the road for Ali to fetch and bring back to us. The rain begins to clear up as well.
His house quickly comes into view and so does a Dark green stallion sitting on the front porch.
“Red?!” his dad hollers, getting up from his chair.
“Dad?”
He comes running down the steps and over to us.
“What the heck happened to em’?” he asks as I transfer his son into his arms.
“Dogs, wolves, I don’t know.”
“Thay ain’t wolves! Ain’t dogs neither!” Red says.
“Well then? What are they son?” Mr. Oak asks.
“They went around on two legs. But sorta stood on their arms too.”
“What the heck is he talking about...?” I say, confused.
“Son, that ain’t very helpful.”
His mother comes running out of the house with fear for her child painted.
“What happened?!” she yells, coming down the steps.
“Something chased the poor kid. I found him in a tree when I came back from the post office.” I explain.
“Is he okay?” she asks.
“He’ll be fine. Ah' just gotta get him inside.” his father says urgently.
He rushes back into the house with his son and their dog in tow. Missus Oak looks back at them and then to me.
“Thank you for bringing him back to me Autumn.”
“Aw heck... It was nothing. Just glad Red’s okay.”
“Celestia only knows why you never became a mother Miss Darlin’.” she says smiling.
“I guess I jus’... jus' never thought about it before.”
“Ah’ personally think you’d make a great mother.”
“I ain’t in much of a position to have a family you know.”
“Well ah’ wasn’t neither, but ah’ made it work.”
This woman is about as stubborn as she is sensible, to a certain extent of course. But what she said made me think that, if there was a stallion in my life things would be a heck of a lot happier than it is now.
“Ah' hope someday you'll know the blessing of a child, Autumn.” she says warmly.
Our heart to heart is cut short by Mr. Oak hollering for his wife out the window.
“Honey? Can you come in here please? I need some help with this.” her husband calls, poking his head out their door.
She turns to him. “I’ll be right there!” then back to me.
“I’mma have you take the path over there back to the road.” she says putting her hoof on my shoulder and pointing to a small path down past the far end of her house, trailing alongside the cornfields.
“Wheres that go?” I ask.
“Should get you out farther down the road. Don’t want whatever chased Red to come after you, now do we?”
“No we certainly do not. Thank you.”
“You get on home safe now.”
Leaving off on that small adventure I begin following the path that skirted the outer fields and back to the road. Sure enough, about a couple hundred feet down the side of the fields, the road and the birch treeline surrounding it spring up over the corn stalks. I made myself a mental note to tell the Oaks that they needed to fix up their fencing. Most of it is starting to look dilapidated. More than I could really say for my own fencing, but as they say 'Do as I say, not as I do'.Something told me that the harvest this year aren’t going to be too happy sitting in a foot of rainwater.
The day began to settle down as I brought firewood from the shed behind my house storing several cords of wood. There is nothing I love more than a cool evening, sitting next to my quaint little fire while the night drags on. All of this seemed so much better than that of the life that I actually lived, for I knew that waking up the next morning meant back to the horrible hours of my dead end job tilling fields and picking local crops. It had begun to rain again some time after I got home.
A soft tapping comes from my door.
“Gotta be kidding...” I groan, getting up.
Opening the door once more I discover that the company that was about to attend my house was in fact, much taller than I. Four of them, standing on two legs wearing robes and cowls. A smaller member of the group is looking nervously from side to side. One of them was carrying a small bundle in their arms.
“Uh...hello?” I ask apprehensively.
The one in the very front pulls back his hood. Revealing a very unexpected face. At first I thought that this is the worst joke that a pony can pull... Dead wrong. As the hood slides off his head it reveals a long face, resembling a dog. Green eyes, mottled brown fur, and an absolutely exquisite collar with a small green jems.
“Don’t be alarmed.” he says in a smooth tone of voice.
I almost immediately jump back, screaming, and try to scoot away.
“There is nothing-” he tries to calm me down. Disregarding this, I keep screaming.
He finally gets fed up with this and puts a very large paw over my mouth, effectively shutting my screaming up..
“Thank you” he says pulling back his paw, relived.
“What do you want?!” I yell.
“To talk!” he growls.
The slimmer one walks up to him, and hands him the bundle. "You were never good at socializing." She says to him after she pulls back her hood.
"Wh...what is going on?..." I mumble, trying to find the right words for this kind of situation if any.
She bends down and gently helps me back onto my hooves. Nothing has ever had me more confused then this moment right here.
"Who are you?" I ask them, shaking in my place.
One of the group begins to look worried as the female contemplates answering me.
"Should we tell her? She can't-" he is stopped mid-sentence by the female holding up a finger in his face. Ordering silence. She fixates her eyes on me with a dead stare, but speaks to her group.
"You will do as I say. Nothing more, nor less." she says, monotone.
After she utters these words, the room is silent. Apart from the dwindling fire. She hasn't taken her eyes off of me, which sends shivers down my very spine.
"I do believe we can act somewhat civilized and sit down perhaps?" she asks.
I nod rapidly, not even questioning the fact that bi-pedal dog creatures just barged into my home. All of them take their seat, the two who could not find one pulled up stools from the kitchen counter. The female is sitting directly across from me. She gazes to her comrades, then to me.
"You are curious? No?" she asks.
"Kinda, yeah...." I say cautiously.
"Well... it is no secret. We are what your kind calls 'Diamond dogs'."
Diamond dogs... I've only heard about them on warm summer nights by the campfire when I was little. And those stories never turned out well...
"Our little group we have is the last of our family line. You are looking at what is left of the once great Anaki'iri bloodline. The respectable portion anyways. I am Nakara, and my husband Naz'ar." she says, pointing to the dog she just handed the bundle to.
"I jus... I just don't understand."
"We are nobility from Strosu'uma." one of the dogs says.
"Strosu-ah what now?" I ask looking at him, in utter confusion.
"A city far to the south of your great desert." the woman adds.
"How come none of us ponies have ever heard of it?" I question.
They all look to one another.
"Do you not know how we live?" she says.
"No...?" I say.
"All of our towns, cities and villages are underground." one of the dogs says pointing downwards.
I stare oddly at him.
“Then why are you here?” I ask.
The smallest of the group pulls back his hood and starts in on the conversation.
“We're passing through really, our destination is much much more to the northwest if I do recall.” he says adjusting the small pair of glasses resting on his snout.
“Where to?”
“One of our cities.” He continues. “North of Vanhoover, as you call it.”
“Wait...” I say as my mind connects the dots.
“What?” they say in unison
"Are you the ones who chased my neighbors kid up the tree?"
"Chase? We do not chase... We especially do not go after ponies..." she says.
"Then what on Celestia's green earth walks on two legs and looks like a dog? Other than you?" I angrily object.
Naz'ar leans over and whispers.
“You think they may have gotten fresh wind of our scent?” he asks.
“Impossible...”
I begin to grow impatient.
“Is there something you're not tellin' me?” I jut in.
He slowly looks to me.
“It's nothing to be worried about.” he says to me.
Nakara grabs his arm and pulls him down
“Naz'ar... I shall not lie to her. Neither will you...”
“We have already told her too much!”
“I will not put this one in danger!” she retorts.
His face contorts and he storms out the front door. She takes a deep breath, and looks at me with a miserable stare.
"Nobility is a very sought after possession in our culture. Some go to great lengths to ensure others do not lay claim to their rightful place..." Nakara continues
“And we so happen to have a claim to nobility. I've learned this only recently. My family has not had a very respectable past, by that I mean it is divided. Half took to being feral nomads due to their disagreement with living under pony kind, what is left the other half is what you see here. Dysfunctional as it may be, it is civilized at least. ”
“What happened?”
She pauses for a moment, gets up with the small wrappings in her arms and moves over to the blinds. Parting them and staring at her husband on the front porch.
“When the family split, both sides desired regency. We are extremely familial you see. No matter what position you are in, if the blood of a noble runs in your vanes, you are a noble. Now that it has been revealed that we may have these ties the ferals have been hunting us down nonstop ever since we stepped foot outside the stone door of our city.”
“Wait wait wait... What is they're after?” I ask.
“Our family gem... Every family has one, mostly to differentiate from those of a lesser pedigree... I see why your kind has taken to the name 'Diamond Dogs'?”
“Guess so...”
Her husband comes back in through the front door.
“They're definitely out there... The air reeks of their scent...” he says.
“What are we going to do?” Nakara says.
“Do the neighborly thing Autumn... It's the right thing.” I think to myself.
“I got a spare bedroom...” I mumble.
They both turn to me, surprised.
“You could stay until tomorrow.” I continue.
“No. We-” He is stopped by his wife jabbing her arm in his side.
“-would love to stay for the night.” correcting himself.
I nod towards the stairs behind them.
“Up the stairs, first room on the right. Bathroom is to the left.”
The shuffle to the other side of the room and begin to climb the stairs.
“Thank you... I never caught your name?” she says.
“It's Autumn Darling, Just don't go about makin' a mess? Please?”
“I will keep them in line. Goodnight.”
“G'Night.” I say as she makes her way into the guest bedroom. As soon as they are out of sight I fall face first of the couch and pass out.