Embers of Hope, Part 5
"Diamond Dogs, attack!" The alpha male barked angrily. "Destroy the intruders!"
Diamond dog and grundels tore into each other, fist meeting paw in a vicious struggle down in the darkness of the mines. One mongrel slashed across a grundel's chest with his claws, only to have a massive spiked club come crushing down upon his skull. Another diamond dog bit one of the intruders in the back of the neck, who responded by prying him off and hurling him into a nearby wall. The diamond dogs had a numerical advantage, to be sure. But the far sturdier and stronger grundels more than made up for it with vicious blows and powerful strikes. As the grundel king smashed two of the dog's heads together, he turned back to the two ponies.
"You go! Get your friend out of here!" He roared, jumping to attack another dog. "We grundels stay, and fight stupid mutts off!"
"You got it, your highness!" The two other kids helped her back up onto her hooves. "Ember, can you stand? We gotta get you outta here, before-"
"Racer, behind you!" Ember called out suddenly, her eyes going wide.
The colt ducked just in time, to avoid a dog taking a swing at him with his paw.
"Get away from us, you drooling mutt!" The colt sorted, as he and Paws kicked the canine away with their back hooves. "Go find a toilet to drink out of, or something!"
"Wow Ember, those powers of yours sure do come in handy!" Paws added, as the two dragged the injured filly back up the shaft.
On the other side of the mine, the alpha female growled in anger at her companion's stupidity.
"Bah, insolent male!" She sniffed at the air in disgust. "Did not see a good deal when he smelled one!"
"What we do now?" A dog loyal to her asked, bowing and scraping. "We help ponies and grundels fight?"
"No, smart diamond dogs no fight against other smart diamond dogs." She signaled all the canines in the pack loyal to her to hold back. "We let ponies and grundels do all the work for us, then take control of pack once they gone."
In the center of the mine, the alpha male was dashing around and chasing a white Pegasus to and fro. The giggling mare was zipping to and fro through the air, barely avoiding the diamond dogs claws as she pranced about like a lunatic.
"Whoo hoo!" She shot upward, as he dove at her again.
"Missed Me!" She zipped downward, as he leapt high into the air
"Too Slow!" She flew to the right, avoiding a paw swipe.
"Try Again!" She Whipped to the left, avoiding a sharp bite from his fangs. "Better luck next time!"
"Araghhh! Stupid flying pony!" The Alpha male roared, shaking a balled up paw at her. "Came down here, and fight like diamond dog!"
"Aww, where's the fun in that?" Surprised cackled. "Why don't you just come up here, and fight like a Pegasus?"
As the alpha continued to try to bring the laughing pony down, three diamond dog grunts surrounded Twist, causing the terrified unicorn to hunker down in fear.
"Oh dear oh dear oh dear... I'm a baker, not a fighter!" She whimpered, levitating one of her baked goods out of her bag. She timidly offered the salty treat up to the dogs in front of her. "N-nice doggies...w-would you like a p-pretzel?"
Curious, one of the canines grabbed the baked good out of he air, and quickly devoured it. Without thinking, she levitated to more to the other two, who chomped them down within seconds. Much to her shock, Twist now discovered she had three mutts, all happily wagging their tales at her.
"Pretzels... good!" One declared, his tongue hanging out.
"Give more! Give more!" Another responded happily.
"Awww, you're cute little puppies!" Twist patted them on the heads with her hoof. "Here, you most certainly can have more!"
Meanwhile, Surprise had looked up, and noticed the three pony children had made their way back up the shaft.
"Hah, look like your precious gem finder just got away!" The flapping mare boasted. "Looks like another win for the awesome equines, toilet breath!"
"NOOOO! Stupid ponies ruin EVERYTHING!" The alpha roared, finally leaping into the air, and bringing the white Pegasus to the ground. "Now, I tear stupid pony wing from limb!"
"AIEEEEEEE!" Surprise cried out, as the drooling monster kept her pinned down. "Twist, help me!"
Seeing her friend in trouble, the unicorn galloped over, and tossed a bunch of salt and crumbs from her bag all over the alpha dog.
"Hey lookie, doggies!" She called out to the grunts. "Here's a big yummy pretzel for you all to share!"
The grunts were on him in an instant, their fangs bared as the jumped on the surprised leader. The white Pegasus barely had time to zip out from under his grasp, as the feeding frenzy began.
"No, what you stupid mutts doing?!?" The German shepherd wailed. "You no eat me, I am- AGGAHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhh......"
"Yum, meaty pretzel!" One declared, ripping and chomping.
"And lots of it!" Another agreed.
The other dogs jumped away from their fights, and leapt in to joining in on the feast. The grundels and ponies present, could only look on in horror, watching the diamond dogs devour one of their own.
"Oh well, me never much like him, anyway." The collie who was now solely in charge, declared. "Now you grundels and ponies wanna try that deal again?"