Dear Twilight Sparkle, Selene, and the other princesses,
I’m not even sure what it is that I want to write about this time but after the news I just received from Selene I felt I had to try. I’m not sure how much parchment I wasted in doing this but I felt it had to be just right.
Hearing about the passing of those three was not something I was ready for especially when I had just made the decision to return to speak with Scootaloo one last time. I sometimes think that I should have waited before leaving Ponyville on my trip but then I may not have even made the decision to tell her how I felt. In fact after losing the others I was scared of having to go through the same thing with her that I just ran.
I know now that this was a mistake and will have to live with the regret that she will now never know what I had come to think of her after all this time. I’m still not exactly sure how to put this into words as I don’t quite know what exactly it is that I feel. I want to say that because I helped her with her life and even helped with raising her that I’d consider her as a daughter but that’s not quite right really. I don’t believe it’s the same kind of situation her two friends have with it being a sisterly relation either. All I can say is that over time I had come to consider her as family and would have done anything I could have for her if she had just asked. Now that she is gone though I won’t be able to tell her any of this and it really hurts.
I still am going to be coming back through Equestria like I had planned as some other things had come up that I need to take care of. I’m not sure if I will be able to visit, and I will try my best to do so, but sometimes things come up that make plans change without it being planned for.
Just in case I don’t have a chance to visit then there is something else that I have to say that I don’t think can wait. Scootaloo wasn’t the only one that I had come to think of family since I’ve been in Equestria. Ever since I decided to bring her into my home I had grown rather fond of Selene as well. I’m still not sure why I did everything I did for her at first, and still don’t really, but I like to think it was the fact that I had found a kindred spirit that had also lost the only family they knew of. While the situations may have been different for each of us the end result was the same and we were left completely alone. Those early years will be some of my most treasured memories and I am honored to have been able to help reunite her with her family who otherwise may have never known she existed.
As for what came up that required me to come back to Equestria I’d rather not explain yet as it is mostly rumors that I am chasing and I hope they are just that. If they turn out to be true then I feel compelled to do something considering those that are said to be involved. Of course the other reason for this is that I finally found a hint of where the other kitsunes went and it was the opposite direction from where I was going.
Your Friend,
Flarenza
I wipe my eyes once again before considering if I should try to rewrite the letter again due to the teardrops on it but decide not to since I don’t know if I can do it again. It had taken me days to get this done correctly and it drained me each time I tried to do so. I was tempted to crawl back under a bush and sleep through the day as it had drained me that much. Maybe I should try and take the time to visit them even if something comes up. Celestia and Luna have lived so long that they must know how this feels and might know some way to help a little.
Sending off the letter I turn my attention to the town that the rumors had been coming out of, Amber Falls. Since I had arrived at this point late last night I didn’t have a chance to examine the town but now I could see that there may be some truth to the rumors. I was upwind from the town or else I would have been able to smell the some from the smoldering remains of some of the buildings. What was left was in a bad state as well as doors and windows had been busted in and left in disrepair. The worst thing about the town was the lack of any signs of life though the lack of bodies could be good or bad.
Searching the town revealed many diamond dog tracks mixed in with the ones of ponies that used to live here but no sign of anything else. “This is starting to look really bad as the rumors are starting to look like they are true. I just hope that the last bit is false or else things are going to get very ugly.”
I let out a growl at the thought of such a travesty and am surprised to hear a small squeak from nearby at the sound. Searching through the nearby area reveals a young red crystal pony filly hiding in the rubble. I could tell she was terrified from both her shaking and her muttering. “Please don’t find me, please don’t find me, please don’t find me.” Her coat is smudged from the smoke and soot while she looks to have been living off of whatever scraps she could find since the town was attacked and her situation strikes a chord in me.
Looking down upon the young filly in pity I lay a paw on her back which causes her to flinch before she turns her eyes up towards me in fear. “Don’t worry, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop the diamond dogs and save anyone they have.” The filly still looks fearful but I can see a bit of hope enter her eyes as well. Taking a towel from my packs to wrap her up in I also get out some fruit that is still relatively fresh for her to eat. Taking a moment to send of a letter to inform the princesses of the situation, I make my way in the direction that the tracks all lead.
As I travel I make plans based on what I had come to expect from diamond dogs as well for what the rumors had been warning me of. I tried to contain my feelings as much as I could but after the news I had of Scootaloo, as well as what was in the rumors, it was very hard to do so. I had been feeling strange since I had learned of all this but I just attributed it all to the emotional overload.
It wasn’t that hard to find the entrance to the diamond dog lair as they made no effort whatsoever to hide their tracks which really pointed out how low the intelligence of the group was, or at the very least very reckless. With how obvious the tracks are a youngling of the most directionally challenged race would be able to follow the diamond dogs right back to their lair. I really hope that they are either dumb or reckless; otherwise they are probably directly challenging the princesses, which is just foolish. I highly doubt they found anything that could even come close to harming them even if they had a trap or ambush set up.
Not knowing what to expect from the diamond dogs I decide to play it safe by conserving my magic and using only the least power intensive spells to hide myself. I decide to go with a simple scent suppressing enchantment as well as one that diverts the attention of beings away from me. The spell may be easy to see through by not looking for whatever it’s cast on, but a simple glance is often enough to pull their attention to the target which then causes their vision to slide right off of it. Given the intelligence of the average diamond dog they will just assume that they were just seeing things and lose interest.
The caves that the diamond dogs were using was a few hours away which made me wonder if Amber Falls was the only town to be attacked or if there were others close enough for them to hit as well. They kept guards up at the entrance like most other packs but they seemed a bit off for some reason. I wasn’t sure what it was exactly since they looked just like any other diamond dogs and I could only assume it was my instinct or something giving me the vibe. I put my cloak away so that it doesn’t get caught on anything and casually walked into the tunnel they were guarding. I smile when they start to look a bit nervous as they caught a glance of me but then completely lost sight of me. That combined with my form was obviously doing a number on their nerves which was a pleasant side effect of the spell.
Like most other diamond dog dens I’ve been in this one was also set up like a maze if you didn’t know the trick to navigate it. It takes me a while but I eventually get the gist of how it is set up though I don’t exactly know where I am headed. After many twists and turns I eventually come out in what can only be described as the dungeons. Ponies are packed into cages and pens in this area with diamond dogs keeping watch over them with whips and spears. Most of the ponies look pretty cowed by all of this and I feel uneasy at some of the injuries I see on them. While they are mostly of the earth crystal pony variety I do spot an occasional pegasus and unicorn mixed in with them all. The latter two are often sporting the worst injuries in the form of plucked or broken wings and cracked horns.
It’s only when I enter the next room that the true horror of what is going on is revealed to me. The smell of smell of blood floods my nose which wouldn’t have bothered me if it wasn’t for the source of it all. Located in this room are a number of tables and upon them are the dismembered bodies of ponies, some of them looking to be no more than foals. Seeing this I am forced to retreat from the room in revulsion.
Ugh, I can’t believe the rumors are true. This pack has practically gone feral and is actually eating other sentient beings. Not even in the worst of the histories that I’ve read from the various tribes have they fallen this low. In my haste I lose track of where I am going and come to abrupt stop as my face meets a wooden structure that wasn’t there before. After a moment I shake myself out of my daze, make sure that my spells are still running, and look at what it was I ran into. Strange, why would they just leave a blue wooden box just sitting around in the center of a tunnel. Granted this tunnel does look to lead to a part of the den that hasn’t been used in a while.
Realizing that I got turned around somewhere I make my way back the way I came and try to find my way towards the Alpha’s chamber. It takes me a while, luckily without any more disgusting finds, but I eventually find what could only be described as a throne room. Sitting in a throne made of gems is an extremely large diamond dog who is flanked by a pair of guards. Around the rest of the room are gathered other diamond dogs, most that don’t give off the uneasy feeling I felt from the others, as well as a couple crystal ponies. A red crystal mare is at the foot of the throne cowering in the presence of the large Alpha.
Some of those in the room must have spotted me before the spell kicked in hiding me from their view as a wave of nervousness rippled through the room. Strangely enough the ones that didn’t give off the strange vibe had a different look go across their faces at first before they started to look disappointed. My attention is drawn away from the rest of the room when the alpha started to speak.
“Do you not believe in my strength yet? Pony town is ours and no pony princesses to stop us and the High Ones are but a myth. Only strength of diamond dog is what we go out and take. We need no High Ones to take back what is ours and even if they did exist we not need them.” I frown as he says this as I had never seen a diamond dog completely doubt their own histories to renounce their connection with my race. I wonder if this has anything to with that feeling I am getting from them.
Me thinking about this distracted me enough that I missed the alpha grabbing the red crystal pony at his feet. What I couldn’t miss was her shrill scream of pain that happened moments later. Jerking my head up I see the pony writhing on the ground with blood streaming from somewhere on her head and a bloody mess in the alphas paw. My jaw drops open as the alpha shoves the mass into his mouth and starts to chew and I feel sick when I notice that the mass was once the pony’s eye when I see an empty hole peek out from under her hooves.
I’m not sure what happened next but something in me just snapped and I lose control of my body. “STOP THIS AT ONCE!” My voice booms out through the chamber, at levels equal to the Royal Canterlot Voice, even though I had no control of it happening. The diamond dogs around the room look at me in shock as the spells hiding me drop away revealing my furious form as my tails stream out in all directions. Most of the diamond dogs in the room cower away at my appearance and even the guards look a bit worried though the alpha seems unfazed by my appearance.
“Well, well, well. Maybe I was wrong about you things being a myth, but what is a little bitch like you going to do to stop me? There is only one of you and many of us.” He gestures to the many guards that are around the room but I can’t look to confirm this as my body is still outside of my control. “THIS ABOMINABLE ACT THAT YOU TAKE PART IN SHALL BE THE END OF YOU! BY YOUR OWN PAW SHALL YOU BE JUDGED WE ARE BUT THE TOOL OF THAT JUDGEMENT!”
I can feel my body begin channeling magic into a spell that I don’t recognize and it is centered on the poor mare for some reason. The alpha just lets out a cruel laugh at my claim and is joined by the guards, though they seem a bit worried. “Oh I shall be judged will I? When you can’t even stop me from doing this!?” With that he reaches down to the crystal mare at his feet yet again and pulls her up in front of him by her tail.
I try to move my body to stop him from doing anything else but whatever is going on still has control of me. My panic turns out to be for nothing as once the alpha’s claw comes in contact with the other eye of the poor mare he freezes in place. I look of puzzlement crosses his face which soon changes to horror as his entire arm turns gray and the color slowly spreads across the rest of his body. He drops the mare and tries to scratch off whatever is spreading but this only serves to speed up the spread to that arm as well. Everyone in the room can only stare in horror as the alpha is consumed leaving only a stone statue in his place.
“AND SO JUSTICE HAS BEEN DONE! LET ALL BEWARE THAT WISH TO FOLLOW BEHIND THIS CREATURE OF EVIL!” With that the presence fades away from my body leaving my shaking due to the aftereffects as well as the fear of whatever that was. None of the others in the room is paying any attention to me though as the guards are too busy fleeing the room being chased by the others that I assume had been against them and the alpha this entire time but lacked the courage to act until now.
I’m not sure how long I sat there trying to recover from this experience but it’s the whimpers of the injured mare that pulls me out of my stupor. Realizing that she still needs help I advance on her to give her what help I can and she watches me fearfully as I advance. “P-p-please don’t hurt me.” I pause for a moment at her tone of voice before once again advancing. She cringes back until she is pressed up against the now stoned alpha while clutching the ruined remains of her eye. I draw myself up in front of her and channel my magic into her eye socket and heal it to the best of my abilities, though easier than I expected for some reason, it unfortunately isn’t enough to replace the eye.
“I’m sorry that I wasn’t here soon enough to save your eye but I can at least stop you from bleeding and feeling the pain of it.” I was about to turn away and figure out what to do now with the rest of the den when I notice something familiar about the mare. Taking a guess that she is somehow related to the filly I found in that town I say one last thing before leaving the room. “I’m not sure if you know of this but I found a red crystal filly in Amber Falls that reminds me of you. The princesses should know about what is going on and heading there now.” I turn away from her but am glad to hear a sound of gratitude behind me as well as tears of joy.
As I move through the rest of the diamond dog den I am met with varied reactions from those that I pass. The dogs that I was getting the odd vibe from look at me in fear while the others look on in awe as they bow as I pass. Strangely enough when the ponies see me I was expecting to see fear but see hope instead which grows even more as I order their release. This is soon explained as one of them comes up to me with a sheet of parchment. “We thought that stallion was mad but you really did come to save us. I don’t know where he disappeared to but he told me to give you this before he ran off with that pegasus mare he was with.”
I look at the pony oddly as I turn my attention to the item in question that I was given. On it is a list of names that mean little to me but from how they read I suspect that they are diamond dog names. I ponder the meaning of this but am interrupted by a shout echoing down the tunnels from the surface. “DIAMOND DOGS! WE KNOW YOU ARE IN THERE! RELEASE OUR SUBJECT AT ONCE OR WE WILL BE FORCED TO USE DRASTIC MEASURES! YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES!”
I smile as I recognize the voice and the ponies seem to cheer up as well as well though the diamond dogs seem to be in a panic now. I take a minute to calm the dogs down which still leaves me plenty of time to lead some of the ponies up to the surface while ordering the dogs to prepare to escort the rest up behind me. It didn’t take me long to reach the surface now that I had proper directions and I smiled again when I heard the voice again. “That’s four minutes now Captain with no answer, be ready to send in the first group.”
Seeing as the problem is already solved I hasten my steps and soon reach the entrance. “Now, now, Princess Cadance, there’s no need to do that anymore, they should be leading the ponies out soon enough.” My appearance causes the guards that the princess brought with her to point their weapons in my direction but I was more focused on the look of shock on the pink alicorns face. “What? Didn’t you get my message that I was in the area as well as the one about what happened at the town?”
At that moment a pegasus came flying in at top speed to the princess with a message satchel. I just bring a paw up to my face as I suspect that it is the message in question. “Captain you can have the other go into standby for now, she’s a good friend and if she says things are being handled then I believe her. Though send a pair of your fastest runners to Amber Falls as there is at least one filly there and possibly more we don’t know of.” Turning back to me she stays in her princess mode as she motions for me to follow her to a nearby tent that had been set up.
Once inside she drops her act and turns to me with a smile on her face. After I catch her up on everything that happened here, minus the bit about that presence that possessed me somehow, she calls in a guard and gives him orders to get things organized. It was during our talk that she pointed out that I now had five tails which I hadn’t noticed yet. One of these days I’ll figure out why I keep getting more as well as how many I’m supposed to have in the end. While this is being done we catch up a bit on things and I find that she had been on the move for a few days now here so was unable to hear about my latest letter. Talking with her about it helped a lot and when we finished I remembered the parchment I was given.
After a bit of research we find that it was a list of names that had taken care of the ponies the best they could and refused to eat any of the meat harvested from them. The princess was shocked to hear what had happened here and I was afraid that she would do something drastic at first but she just sighs wearily. With a bit of effort we manage to separate out the diamond dogs that had partaken in the abominable actions of the former-alpha and gathered them in an area to deal with later. The rest were allowed to stay in the den while under the watch of Cadance’s Crystal Guard while I picked one of those named on the list as the new alpha. I even had them send to the Bloodstone Pack for a dog to come as a teacher for the pack to work with and that are sent by the princess to improve things there.
Soon enough I wave to the princess as I leave to head deeper into Equestria for one last thing before visiting with the other princesses. It takes me a couple days, made faster by the means of train transit, when I arrive at Ponyville once again. I took care to avoid those in the town as I wasn’t ready to meet anyone else right now when I finally arrive at the graveyard for the town. It doesn’t take me long to find the gravestone I was looking for as the soil was still relatively fresh for the three plots beneath it. I move to sit by the rightmost of the three.
“Well I’m finally here but I wish I could have been here for you before you passed on. There was so much that I wanted to tell you but it’s too late now. If only I didn’t let my fear of seeing you go control me then I could have at least been there for you in your final days. The only consolation I guess is that you were at least with your friends at that time so you never really were alone.”
I pull out a special gem that I had been working on for a while now and let out a sigh. It had taken a lot of work but I had managed to combine three gems into the image they once used for their club. I added a little bit of my own to the design though as the center gem was a yellow topaz alicorn, surrounded by a blue sapphire shield inside of a red ruby field. I look at the gravestone and find a blank space beneath the words ‘Three friends together for all eternity’ and with a flash of magic embed the gem into the stone.
With my final tribute to the second family member I had lost complete I turned away and made my way to visit the friends I had not seen in years.