• Published 10th Mar 2012
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Shisno Chronicles: Friendship is Magic - nightelf37



Basically, it's a 'retelling' of the popular "Friendship is Magic" TV series with an OC.

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Chapter 19: A Dog and Pony Show

(WCDDtEo) Chapter 19: A Dog and Pony Show

Daytime in Ponyville…

Taking the advice he received from the last Running of the Leaves into account, Mystic Shield began taking his students into jogging sessions. He had considered inviting Rarity to try and at least participate in one class, but she had recently received a request from the Pony of Pop, Sapphire Shores. The entire class had managed to see the Canterlot celebrity walk out of Carousel Boutique as they passed by.

Sapphire Shores was a long-legged earth pony mare with a light yellow-brown coat, eyes a darker shade of this color, lavender eyeshadow, and curly hair striped in two shades of bright blue. She wore four purple shoes with light green jewels, a ruffled white blouse/dress trimmed with light blue-gold-and-purple accents and a white-and-light-blue powder puff over the tail, and a small white top hat with a purple ribbon. She also either amazingly didn't have a cutie mark or had concealed it somehow cosmetically.

At the sight of her, nearly everypony gushed at the sight of her and immediately ran over to her presumably to get an autograph, much to Mystic's consternation. Thankfully for the class, who had brought out paper and writing materials for the autograph, the celebrity had the time to sign them. Chronicle also decided to get one as well if only to use as a trading material; celebrity fans usually accept signed autographs as tradeable goods.

Once they were finished, the entire class ended up following Sapphire until she reached a hotel she was staying in, and where her bodyguards barred them from continuing on. Mystic then got back his class's attention and they continued in their jogging exercise. As they did that, Mystic noticed that his co-teacher was sad and deep in thought, even when he was requesting for Sapphire's autograph.

Concerned, he brought it up. "Chronicle.", he called.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong? You've been like this since our exercise."

"Oh. You see…" Just before he could explain, he felt his eyes go very sore for some reason. He 'took out' a napkin from "hammerspace" and rubbed them, put it back, then continued. Of course, he did not tell Mystic everything.

C—MS—SS—C—MS—SS—C—MS—SS—C—MS—SS

Last night, in the dreamscape…

Chronicle was busy meditating when a ripple in the dreamscape came. Somepony was entering. When he opened his eyes, he saw it was Blue Diary.

"Chronicle. I have an urgent message for you.", the pegasus immediately said, looking a bit tired.

"A message? What is it?"

"You shall meet me in person in the future. But what I will eventually know now I will not when we meet."

Chronicle raised a hoof in a stopping gesture. "Hold on. Is this what I think it is? I will meet a past you or something?"

Blue nodded. "Yes. And the Elements of Harmony in my world will also meet yours."

"Oh dear, we're gonna have some trouble there. Hold on, since you already took care of it, could you tell me how it goes?"

"Sorry, but I don't recall all the specific details. And I wouldn't want to change how things go or have you follow events step-by-step. You know how time travel can give migraines to those who dwell in it too far or too much. And following things step-by-step have their own problems."

"Oh, right. Very serious problems. It may make you look…immoral, and we don't exactly have omniscient morality licenses."

"We aren't even on that level."

"I know." The unicorn then realized something. "Wait. If I can't do anything to change what will happen, why are you even telling me this?"

"I'd rather it be sooner than later. That, and I might probably forget. My memory isn't as strong as yours, where you remember nearly everypony you meet."

Chronicle blushed mildly at this. "Hey, I'm not that good."

"Sure you are. The only names I'm familiar with are those of the Elements of Harmony, their immediate relatives, their co-workers, and our foes, including that Duke Greengrass. Damn, I hate that politician."

"You and me both. I guess it runs in the family. Hate for politicians, especially—"

"Lawyers.", they both finished. "Because we can't fight them like we do other bad guys."

"Although Trixie has some experience in law, which me and my friends will most definitely need. Nearly everypony in the Night Court is a very corrupt politician or a puppet for them." Blue began to look desperate. "Each of them are making their bid on taking control of the Elements of Harmony for various reasons related to protection against Corona." Tears began to well up in his eyes. "I'm in over my head just thinking about it. And I can't not think about it because I know how the Night Court can ruin our lives, and that includes little Dinky and her mother Ditzy. I just can't bear the thought of a broken family being broken further."

What the pegasus did next was something Chronicle should've expected but still surprised him nonetheless; Blue threw himself into the unicorn's arms and started crying. The older brother could do nothing but pat Blue on the shoulder. Apparently, the knowledge of the Elements of Harmony in Luna Equestria is widely known while in Equestria Prime only Ponyville and Canterlot Castle (not the city as a whole) know. And because of that, no politicians—to Chronicle's knowledge at least—are on the move to take advantage of his friends.

Finally, Blue was done and broke off from his brother, still sniffling for a bit. "I'm sorry, brother. I shouldn't be burdening you with this. It's not like you have to face what I'm facing. I've said it before, and I'll say it again; you're lucky where you are, Chronicle."

"You're right. I guess I am." The unicorn seemed to have an idea. "Say, have you considered asking Mom or Dad about this?"

"No. You know Dad's not into much hard thinking and Mom's only has minimal tolerance for lawyers."

"What about asking any relatives who are in the political business? Or asking our parents of them?"

Blue lighted up a bit on this. "I guess. Thanks for the pep talk."

"It wasn't really. Speaking of which, could you teach me how to visit the dreamscapes of other members in the family I haven't been to yet once you're feeling better?"

"Why don't I teach you right now?"

"Maybe another time. I'm not sure I'll be able to listen after just seeing you cry like that."

"Okay." He brushed off a tear. And with that, he disappeared back to his own dreamscape.

Chronicle gave a sigh. "Poor Crais. So torn up from the politic interference in his friends' lives. I guess I really am lucky."

C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD

Back in the present…

Throughout the re-telling, Chronicle felt pressures on his body that usually came when he was pulled physically by something grabbing onto his body and trying to pull him back. He ignored this and did not show any obvious signs.

"So basically, your brother—who is also in the bodyguarding business like you—is having trouble coping with the fact that there are some corrupt political figures after his charge and her friends."

"Yes." He didn't tell Mystic that Blue Diary was technically no longer one, or that Blue's friends were the Elements of Harmony in a different universe.

"Wow. That must be really hard for him."

"Yeah. He's tougher than I am in a fight, but politics are out of our league, and it brought him to tears."

"I see."

"Thanks for listening to me."

"Hey, what're friends for?"

Just then, the class made its way to the town square pavilion, where Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie were. They were standing around, not doing much of anything until the pink earth pony noticed the group.

"Hey, Chronicle!", she greeted. "Mystic Shield!" She proceeded to name everypony else. "Greatstone! Bullseye! Chrono Cards! Tricky Books! Heartstrings! Twinkle! Lemon Hearts! Minuette! Amethyst Star! Dinky! Pokey Pierce! Sea Swirl! Holly Dash! Firecracker Burst! Comet Tail! Ponet! Written Script! Dinky!"

Just after she named the only foal in Mystic's class, there came a cry in the distance that was steadily getting closer. Everypony turned around to see a frantic Spike rushing towards them, arms raised into the air in panic.

He skidded to a halt right before them and quickly started pointing and gesturing in the direction he had just come from. “Rarity! Woods! Jewels! Dogs! Taken! Save her!”

Everypony shared a collective look of confusion but the little dragon’s panic made it clear something was wrong. Grabbing Spike with her teeth, Twilight tossed the dragon onto her back and rushed off in the direction he had been gesturing to. Her friends immediately followed close behind her.

Due to some kind of crowd instinct, Mystic Shield's entire class followed for a while before the realized one by one "What the hay am I doing?" and slowed in their stop before stopping. Rarity wasn't their friend, and her friends seem to have the situation handled, so why accompany them?

Mystic also stopped as well, to Chronicle's confusion as he paused in his run, leaving his friends behind. "Huh? Aren't you coming?"

"I just realized Spike mentioned dogs. I can't help you there."

Chronicle was about to counter when he remembered that Mystic was afraid of dogs. "Fine. May I go?"

"Sure. You're dismissed."

"Hold on. May I borrow your ascot?"

Mystic conceded as he 'took' it off and 'gave' it to Chronicle, who 'stored' it in "hammerspace". "Why?"

"I know a pinpointing spell, and I feel we might be going a very long way, so—"

"You're gonna use the spell on my ascot as a means to find your way home?", the teacher finished. "Genius."

"Yeah. Thanks." Immediately, the bodyguard cast a spell on his feet, then he was off after his friends, leaving a small wind in his wake.

Once he was gone, Mystic then turned to his students. "All right, class. Let's head back to the dojo. We'll take a 15-minute break, then we'll practice double-casting." The class groaned at this.

C—TS—T—M—LH—AS—LH—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—SS—D—MS—G–TB–B–CC—CT—FB—P—WS—HD

As Chronicle continued to run, he began to look back to remember just what Rarity had been doing during his jogging session. If he recalled correctly, Rarity had gone to the rocky woodlands (which were not in the direction of the Whitetail Wood or, Celestia forbid, the Everfree Forest) to find gems.

Spike had accompanied her to help dig, not to mention also help himself to some of them. Now that he thought of it, this was probably the reason why—without enhancements—he was weaker than Rarity in terms of physical strength; before Spike, she probably had to mine the gems on her own and thus would have had to build up a strong body for the task of carrying them back home.

And then another thought puzzled him; during the one time he went gem-hunting with Rarity, accompanied by Twilight as she learned a spell from the fashion designer, he noticed that the gems they dug up were not only bigger than he expected, they were also naturally flawlessly cut and perfectly shiny, even while they're still in the ground. From what he was taught, uncut gems are indistinguishable from ordinary rocks to the untrained eye. He then decided to chuck it off as magic. If the weather was manually managed, what other differences does Equestria have in comparison to what he was once familiar with?

He slowed in his step as he finally caught up with his friends. He could see Spike on Twilight’s back, hyperventilating into a paper bag. As he joined them, Applejack asked him, "What took you?"

"I was trying to convince Mystic Shield to come with us, but after hearing that dogs were involved, he stayed behind."

"Coward.", grumbled Rainbow as she flew above them.

"Hey. He might've been detrimental in our quest. And you remember what happens when we have to drag a phobic pony every step of the way." He nudged his head to Fluttershy—who flapped her wings as she ran with the others—as a silent reminder of the "dragon in the mountain" incident.

"Oh, right. Wait! By quest, you're implying something similar to our trip to the mountain?"

"Yes." Finally, they reached the rocky expanse where Rarity had been searching for gems.

"How did you come to that conclusion?", asked Pinkie.

He was about to answer, but was cut off by his charge. "Spike! Can you breathe now?"

The dragon lifted his face from the bag. "Yes…" He said with a pant. "…I think so.

"Good. Now tell us what you know."

"Yeah, ’cause all you said earlier was…", Rainbow began before Chronicle cut her off.

"Rarity. Woods. Jewels. Dogs. Hole. Taken. Save her.", he recalled. "Is that right?" Spike nodded.

"Not a whole lot to go on there, sport.", Applejack mused.

"Sorry. Rarity and I were in the woods looking for jewels, when these creepy guys showed up."

"Creepy guys?", Twilight echoed.

"They called themselves the Diamond Dogs. They grabbed Rarity and disappeared down a hole in the ground!"

"Well, this sounds mighty easy.", said Applejack. "Just take us to that there hole and we’ll save Rarity!

"Sounds easy, but if I know my adventures well, it very well won't be.", warned Chronicle as they soon arrived at an empty patch of woods, stopping short on a ridge with a round of gasps. They overlooked a wide stretch of earth pocked with dozens of holes.

"Holy moley, that’s a lotta holeys!", Pinkie said as Twilight and Spike passed everypony else.

"Come on, girls, boys.", the bookworm said. "Let’s get started."

Everypony went to a hole and started checking them. "Hellooooo?", she called down a hole.

Chronicle, on the other hoof, took out his Surveillance and furrowed his brows at what he saw. While the 'camera' on Rarity was still functional, all he got was gray random dots and white noise, the combination of which he called static. "Darn, I pinpoint her location.", he said. "I think there's interference somehow."

"What do you mean by interference?"

The stallion then realized that his friends probably don't know what he's talking about. "It means something's preventing me from seeing what Rarity's camera is seeing. Maybe she's deep underground in some caves below."

Suddenly, as he failed to pay attention to the hissing growl, the hole he stood in front of spewed a geyser of earth spewed up into his face, covering it and leaving the shaft blocked. The same happened to the rest, one after another and as they started to fill, Twilight—having gotten a face full of dirt herself— shook herself clean.

"Quick! We gotta get down one before they’re all filled up!", she said.

"Easier said than done!", growled Chronicle as he—after cleaning himself up too—saw open tunnels block themselves off around Fluttershy. "We may eventually have to do our own digging!" Around him, he could see Pinkie get hoisted by an upwelling of soil, Applejack was pushed off from one geyser in spite of her efforts to bulldoze her way through the soil splattering out.

"We can’t muscle through it!", Applejack said as she got up without her hat but with a fresh face full of muck.

"We’ll see about that.", Rainbow dared.

"Rainbow! Pick me up! I got an idea!", Chronicle said.

Without a word, she went over to him, picked him up, ascended for a bit, then went into a screaming vertical dive straight toward one of the last two open holes. As they began to pick up speed, Chronicle teleported out of the pegasus's grip and straight for the other hole. The unicorn stallion began to spin "like a drill" as he 'drew' his "magic horn blade".

Eventually, both holes began to fill up. Rainbow hit the brakes just short of the fresh dirt pile and ending up lying atop it on her belly before rising off it with a winded gasp. As for Chronicle, he continued into the pile and managed to dig through part of the dirt before stopping, dangling upside down in the air thanks to his "horn blade".

"Dammit!", he cried out as he 'dismissed' his blade and landed on the dirt pile horn first. "I thought I could pull it off."

Applejack cleaned herself up again and donned her hat. "Whoo! Heavens to Betsy! Now I’m used to pickin’ myself up and dustin’ myself off, but Rarity won’t even touch mud ’less it’s imported."

The girls and Spike all looked up worriedly. "Oh, Rarity…", Twilight said.

"I hate diggers…", cursed the stallion as he got up and rubbed his head. "I wonder how Rarity's faring. I certainly hope she isn't fussing over dirt. Hopefully, it'll be rocky."

"We gotta save her!" said Applejack.

"But they blocked up all the holes!", Fluttershy pointed out.

Applejack jumped onto a dirt pile. "Don’t mean we can’t dig ’em out! Come on!"

"Just what I had in mind.", said Chronicle. "Pinkie, you got a shovel?"

"Whyever would you assume I have one?", she asked as she and Fluttershy joined in the digging in separate piles.

Just then, before he could answer, he saw something pop out from a pile behind the pink earth pony. It was presumably a Diamond Dog. This one wore a dark gray vest whose pockets bulged with gems and have diamond-studded black collars. he also had brown fur, had black eyes, and was slightly smaller than an average pony.

The stallion's eyes lit up in recognition as he identified the canine. Months ago, he had taken up a rescue mission in Canterlot's Request Board. From his experience in the mission, the culprits were a trio of Diamond Dogs he had identified by the names Rover, Spot, and Fido. The one he was seeing right now was Spot.

As the canine grabbed Pinkie's tail and pulled it, Chronicle let loose a 'shuriken' and it hit the canine. He yelped in pain as he let the tail snap back, knocking Pinkie down her pile.

He then turned to where Fluttershy was, and saw another Diamond Dog. This one also had black eyes and was rather large. This one was Fido. As he picked her up by the rump, this act blew a fuse in Chronicle's mind as he swiftly charged straight for him and drew his "horn blade". As the canine dropped her, the equine swung the "blade" as the Diamond Dog went underground, striking the pile, but there was no howl of pain.

This irked him further as he saw Spike trip up thanks to Fido sticking a leg up. As he slowly began to lose patience, he saw Fido and Spot come up just behind Twilight and Rainbow. bracketed between the two as they realized it.

"Get ’em!", the pegasus yelled as the three charged on hoof and wing, but the enemies plunged away just in time. While Twilight and Rainbow slammed squarely into each other and tumbled down, Chronicle swung his blade again at the mound below them, but did not get any cries of pain either, further shortening his fuse.

As he turned to Applejack, he saw a third Diamond Dog come up for a look. This one had red reptilian eyes with yellow scleras, a yellow gem attached to a diamond-studded black collar, a short, warty tail, and a red vest whose pockets were stuffed with gems. It was their leader Rover.

Applejack threw him a glare and stretched out one foreleg to hit him. He ducked down and popped up in a hill behind her, so she swung across to hit that one instead—still no good. This happened twice more, after which Applejack glanced to one side and voiced a surprised gasp.

Pinkie jumped to where Fido was, only for him to drop out of sight, then grab her tail, dragging her away to slam into an earth pile. The ensuing tussle got entirely chaotic. Chronicle's friends were tripped up or had their tailed yanked while he missed every single attack he pulled off. In the end, the Dogs were gone and, they were all sprawled-out and exhausted and lay among the blocked holes, but they were soon up again.

"All those scary monsters popping up everywhere!", Fluttershy said. "Oh, poor Rarity must be terrified!"

Twilight moaned at this. All this was too much for Chronicle as he closed his eyes and screamed skyward at the top of his lungs in frustration. Then, to the surprise of his friends, a blue aura burst around his body and the force of it blew his mane and tail upwards. This aura also sent out an invisible force pushing outward from it, blowing away stray dirt and knocking down everyone around him as they stared in shock as they got up. Ten seconds later, Chronicle calmed down, the aura faded, and his hair fell back into place as he breathed heavily.

His friends gave him a few more seconds to regain his composure, then Rainbow started the question. "What. Was. That?"

He turned to the cyan pegasus. "Sorry. I just hate those guys! Cowards, that's what they are."

"So you're familiar with them?"

"Yeah. I once took a rescue mission from the Canterlot Request Board."

F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"The kidnapped pony was Banana Fluff, who is a gem collector and jeweler.", Chronicle said in the present. "The Diamond Dogs are experts in digging and are gem hunters but I don't know their motives for it. They're also not particularly smart."

The unicorn freelancer (as he was back then when without a bodyguard contract) was walking down the underground tunnels the Diamond Dogs use, which were thankfully lit by orange covered lanterns.

"The pack I encountered were led by a trio I eventually identified under the names Rover, Spot, and Fido. They were the ones who attacked us earlier."

Chronicle stopped for a moment and gazed at the tunnels, wary of attackers.

"Wait! There were just three?!", Pinkie interrupted. "It felt like there were a lot more than that!"

"Believe me, it was just three. Like I said before, they're experts in digging. Now no interruptions, okay?"

"Okie-dokie-lokie!"

After deducing that the coast was clear for the moment, he 'took out' a "Missing" poster from "hammerspace" he was provided to help in finding his target.

"Thank you. Anyway, these three and their pack are not above kidnapping anyone whose gem-finding abilities prove to be better. And Banana Fluff was one of their many victims. She isn't from Canterlot by the way, but a friend of hers—the one who posted the request—is."

From what he could tell by looking at the picture, Fluff was a unicorn mare, bore a pale yellow coat, purple hair with a streak of a lighter shade, magenta eyes, and the same cutie mark as Lemon Hearts; three hearts, two of them blue, and one of them green. It was awkward to call her Banana, especially after hearing a certain rumor about them that involved Princess Celestia. He then 'returned' the poster and continued walking.

"Unlike Rarity however, Fluff doesn't use a spell for her gem-finding but instead owns a special dowsing device. Due to their…mediocre intelligence, rather than just steal the device, they decided to kidnap her as well."

After exiting another tunnel, he stopped short at what he saw. Right ahead, wearing a large, dirty harness chained to a cart filled with gems was Fluff. She looked like she hadn't eaten or washed in days. Held aloft in a magenta aura was a piece of iron that held on one end a blue crystal ball, most likely the special dowsing device she owns. Surrounding her were not only Rover, Spot, and Fido, but also large canines clad in armor and wielding spears. He would later identify these as Dig Dogs, the grunts of the pack.

"When I found her, she was tired and hungry, although they still gave her water. "

Everydog sensed him and immediately turned to face the intruder. Sensing a battle, Chronicle 'drew' a sword hilt from "hammerspace", then used a spell to form the blade. This was his "magic horn blade" spell before he began implementing it on his unicorn horn. Rover then ordered the grunts to charge and Chronicle followed suit.

"Of course, they weren't about to give her up so easily. That or they were gonna make me one of their workhorses. I gave them what for."

It had been a grueling fight and he wasn't experienced in fights as he is today, receiving scratches and slight wounds on his body. In the end, all of the Dig Dogs were incapacitated, Rover and his cohorts were cornered with Chronicle's 'sword' pointed at them, and Fluff was set free. After revealing that the Dig Dogs weren't actually killed but could easily have been, he was allowed to leave with Fluff and her "dowsing wand".

E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"In the end, the mission was a success. I managed to get Fluff back to her friend, who sent her to a hospital since in case of other traumas I failed to see, I got my pay, and what happened after that is no longer relevant."

There were various murmurs, oohs, and aahs. After that, Pinkie had a question, but not related to the Diamond Dogs. "Say, about that burst of magic you pulled off earlier. What does it do?"

"I've never seen anything like it before.", remarked Twilight. "And I don't think it's something that just happens when a unicorn gets angry. I should know, since I've had greater outbursts than he did and I never pulled that off."

"We can talk about by mysterious outburst another time.", Chronicle decided to change the subject. "Right now, Rarity's been ponynapped and we're no closer to rescuing her.

"You're right. I'll just look it up later." She then gave a sigh as Spike moved to the fore. "Poor Rarity! What are we gonna do?"

Just then, the dragon's reptilian green eyes flicked to one side—and spotted across the heaps of topsoil a single unfilled hole. "I got it!", he gasped, then dug in a "pocket"—unusual, since he is not wearing any clothes—and produced a blue gem bigger than his claw. "I’ll save you, my sweet!" As he then ran off, the ponies looked at each other in confusion.

"Huh?", they said.

"So dragons have access to hammerspace too?", Chronicle added in wonder. "That's new."

C—TS—S—A—RD—F—PP—S—F—R

Eyecatch (video-type) - A whack-a-mole game is in play, but in place of moles are Rover, Spot, and Fido. A hammer is telekinetically moved in an attempt to whack the Dogs. The screen then pans up from its view of the playing field to the score board, which shows the show's logo in between the score of 23 and high score of 42.

C—TS—S—A—RD—F—PP—S—F—R

Shortly after…

Pinkie provided a fishing rod, where Spike tied the gem to where a hook would usually be. Everyone was at the hole, Spike at its edge as he worked the reel while Twilight watched. Chronicle however then wondered why would ponies even fish. Then, as an image of Opalescence came to mind, he realized that the fish they catch is probably for fish-eaters like griffons, cats, etc.

"Spike, it is very noble of you—", his charge began.

"Shhh!"

She resumed in a lower tone. "—to sacrifice the gem Rarity gave you."

Spike began to smile dreamily. "Oh, Lady Rarity, my damsel in distress."

Chronicle looked up and imagined along with the dragon, implementing his memories of his own encounters with the Diamond Dogs.

V—I—S—I—O—N—T—I—M—E

In the middle of a dungeon was Spike, but he was heavily muscled and most likely adult, though not by the standards or style of a regular dragon. He wore a red cape, armor plating on his arms and belt, black leggings with red boots, and had a lance on one hand.

"Show yourselves, you dogs! You curs!", he called out. Three glowing-eyed, roaring silhouettes rose to face him. "Ah. There you are, you mangy mutts!"

The three Dogs stepped into the light and Rover retorted, "Who are you calling mutts?! Unleash the hounds!" He then pulled out a dog whistle and blew a blast so high-pitched as to be nearly inaudible. Behind them, three large canines clad in armor stepped forth with a loud growl. The chivalrous dragon did not stir a scale as these and many more began to barrel toward him in a howling, gibbering mass.

It took them nearly ten seconds to get to his end of the cavern, and when they did, that was when Spike made his move. He lifted his lance for a mighty strike, sending yelping dogs flying backward. He then got his tail swinging to knock a few others out, then began to flick the lance back and forth, effortlessly batting more away from above. As a fresh wave came at him, he casually let go with a blast of fire aimed straight at them; a last-second duck let them keep their heads but singed their tails to a crisp. A quick bit of side-to-side flamethrower action clears the place out in a hurry, he soon cornered Rover, Fido, and Spot to a wall, pointing his lance at them.

"Now, where is Lady Rarity?", Spike demanded. Three paws pointed in unison, sending Spike into a run that ended with him smashing a cell door off its hinges. Here he found Rarity, standing in a single gold/blue/violet striped shaft of light and dressed in a fairy-tale princess outfit in these three colors; blue body, violet shoulders/chest, blue shoes and pointed cap, plenty of lace around the hem, gold trim.

"Spike!", she gasped happily. "I knew you would save me!"

"Nothing could stop me, my lady."

Her voice began to tremble a bit. "Oh, Spike, you are my hero." She batted her eyelashes at him and puckered up for a kiss. Spike leaned down and did likewise, the two faces inching ever closer to lip contact.

E—N—D—V—I—S—I—O—N—T—I—M—E

The blue unicorn suddenly snapped out of the vision as he heard the puckering of lips, then saw the real Spike about to plant a big wet one on a very perturbed Applejack, who smiled once he realized that the dream is over.

"Ho-ho there, lover boy.", teased the farmpony.

What the hay was that?, Chronicle wondered as he completely shook off the strange vision.

Just then, something below the surface threatened to rip the fishing pole out of his hands. "Huh?" Spike tried to haul it in. "Whoa!", he gasped as he was dragged toward the hole. "Wh—whoa, whoa, whoa-whoa-whoa! I got a bite! I got a bite!"

Applejack grabbed his tail in her teeth. "Hold on there, little fella!" However, both of them were hauled down.

"Applejack!", Twilight gasped as she rushed in and got a mouthful of tail hair.

"Twilight!", Rainbow gasped as she does the same as the unicorn went goes down.

Fluttershy then moved in. "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!"

She bit onto Rainbow’s tail as the latter got yanked into the hole. Chronicle soon followed and grabbed her tail by the teeth as well, then cast a spell on his feet to try and keep himself steady. Pinkie then hoped merrily over to the site of this very weird tug-of-war.

"Wait for me!", she said as she her teeth then locked onto the short orange-yellow tail as they began to get pulled in.

He hated to admit it, but they were losing this tug as his feet were slowly dragged ever closer into the hole. His left foreleg gave out, then his right. Just before his hind legs and the rest of his body followed, he thought, Why do I even bother?, then got plunged in, taking Pinkie with him.

"YAAAA-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOEY!", he hollered through his teeth.

"Whee!", Pinkie whooped right behind.

Somewhere below the surface, the would-be angler and his six would-be rescuers were dragged screaming through a tunnel at ludicrous speed.

"Whee!", Pinkie continued to whoop as she then sat on Chronicle's back, laughing as the chain sailed out the end of this path, across a wide chasm, and neatly into a second tunnel on the other side.

Here, a vertical shaft cut into the floor of this passage sent them in a whole new direction, dropping them through it as they all crashed and ended up sprawled every which way in the dirt. Spike was the first to get up.

"Ha-ha! It worked! We’re in!", he whooped. "Now we can finally save Rarity!"

The others began to peek up.

"Um…which way do we go?", Twilight asked.

Around them all, there was a myriad of tunnels that branched out from the walls and ceiling at all manner of strange angles. At this, Spike made an upraised, anguished face as he screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOO!!"

The magic specialist then turned to her bodyguard, "Chronicle, can you try and locate Rarity now?"

"Let me try." He pulled out his Surveillance and looked through it, but all he could see was static. "Nope. Apparently, I need clear skies for this to work. And no, despite being here before, I'm not familiar with these tunnels." He then began to walk forward in a certain direction and his friends silently followed. "However, I do have a spell that can pinpoint somepony's location. I just need something of theirs first. Do any of you have anything she owns or has made contact with physically or by telekinetic aura for the past day?"

"Teleki-what aura now?", Rainbow asked.

"Anything you see floating mid-air near a unicorn is held by a telekinetic aura."

"Ah." His friends then looked at each other, then turned to him and shook their heads.

"Well, there was that gem I used for bait, but it's gone now.", said Spike.

Chronicle gave a sigh. "All these tunnels…how are we ever gonna find Rarity?", his charge wondered as they all moved slowly ahead.

"Guess we’re just gonna have to start goin’ down them one by one.", Applejack guessed.

"That could take forever!", Rainbow complained. "There’s gotta be a way to narrow it down."

Suddenly, Spike had an idea and lifted a finger. "I know! I bet they’ve taken Rarity down the tunnel with the most gems!"

"Well that's a start.", said Chronicle.

"But, Spike, Rarity’s the only one who knows how to find gems.", Twilight reminded.

"No, Twilight, you can! You can copy Rarity’s gem-finding spell!"

Something dawned on her in an instant. "Oh my gosh. You’re right! Rarity showed me how she did it a while back! If I can just remember…"

After a bit of very hard concentration, her horn threw off a quick burst and then glowed steadily. Across the nearest stretch of tunnels, images of buried jewels winked into view on the walls and floors.

Okay, this is different from Rarity's spell. Hers is only visible to her and acts like a dowsing rod. I can see the gems too in Twilight's version.

"That’s it.", gasped Spike. Apparently, everybody else could see it too. You did it, Twilight! Come on!" He jumped on her back, and she reared up and led the others in a charge. "We’re coming, Rarity! We’ll save you! Just hold on!"

As they ran, Chronicle quickly came to the front and drew his "magic horn blade". "We gotta be careful. No doubt the Diamond Dogs may come around to attack us now that we're in their territory."

"You seem to know quite a bit about these Dogs.", remarked Applejack. "Care to tell us more?"

"Sorry, but it's been quite some time since I last encountered them. Other than what I've told you before we fell down, my memory on them is still a bit fuzzy."

C—TS—S—A—RD—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—F—PP

A few minutes after…

As the group continued to run, as they reached a 'room' similar to the one they ended up in, they stopped in confusion as Twilight's gem-finding spell suddenly failed to provide them a good answer. An equal number of gems lined three tunnels and they now had no idea which one to take.

"Now what do we do?", Pinkie asked.

"Wait.", Chronicle said as he sheathed his "blade" and turned his gaze on a tunnel not lined with as much gems as the three paths. "Something's coming this way. Hide. I got a plan." They all retreated back into the tunnel as the shadow of the figure became larger. "What I'm about to do next may be morally questionable for all of you, so I advise you all not to interrupt me until after I do what I'm going to do." They turned to each other, then nodded.

It didn't take long for a Dig Dog to emerge into view. Immediately, he charged forward, and headbutted the Dig Dog (making a slight dent in the canine's armor thanks to his own horn, though it hurt quite a bit), sending him to a wall. Before the Dig Dog could make another move, he was pinned in place when Chronicle drew his "magic horn blade" and pointed it up to his neck.

The Dig Dog was about to speak, most likely a distress call when Chronicle shoved his "blade" up close to the canine's throat. "I wouldn't move if I were you.", he warned. "If you do, this pointy end will enter your neck, and I believe even you know what will happen."

The Dig Dog struggled at first, but when the "blade"'s tip poked his neck, he stopped, nodded, then asked, "What does little pony want?"

"What I want is to know where a friend of mine is. She's a pony like me, and has a horn, but she's white, and her mane is purple. Now tell me where she's being held. And take off your helmet so I can tell you're being honest." He didn't want his friends involved since they may question his actions, even though Applejack (the spirit of Honesty) or Rainbow (who was not bad at finding lies herself) could help him.

The Dig Dog did as was directed, revealing eyes similar to Spot's. He then pointed to one of the three tunnels.

After verifying that he was truthful, Chronicle said, "Thank you.", then quickly 'took out' his frying pan from "hammerspace" and smacked the Dig Dog on the head, knocking him out cold. He gestured to the others to where the Dig Dog indicated, then they all moved along, but not before Pinkie conspicuously left a "Sorry" cake.

Everybody was silent for a while as Twilight continued to lead the rest of the way. Noticing it, Chronicle said, "I'm done with what I did."

Unsurprisingly for him, Fluttershy was the first to speak up. "How could you do such a thing?"

"You mean make a death threat? I'm sorry you had to see that, but we're running short on time and when that happens I can't resort to niceties. Besides, it was a bluff." That sentence was a lie. He gave a sigh. "I'm not sorry for what I did, only that you had to see me do it. Now let's keep moving."

C—TS—S—A—RD—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—F—PP

About half an hour later…

The party continued down a tunnel, led by the images of embedded jewels that were a result of Twilight's spell. So far, they have not been attacked by any more Dig Dogs.

"We’re getting close. I can feel it.", Twilight said. Just then, the sound of Rarity’s sobbing drifted into earshot.

Spike pointed ahead. "It’s coming from down here! Come on!"

Everypony hit the brakes, finding no unicorn but hearing her through the rock wall to their left. "She must be in there! Let’s go!", Rainbow said.

Before they could shift directions, six of the Dogs’ front-line grunts got the drop on them, one per pony. They got the jump on me?!, Chronicle 'gasped' in shock.

The one on Fluttershy’s back said, "More workhorses! ", then slapped a rope bridle on her snout. Everypoy else got the same treatment. Just as the one on Chronicle did his part, this was the last straw for him. "I've had just enough of you sons of b████es!", he said.

"Ho, doggies.", said Applejack. "If you can take this bull by the horns, you better be ready for a ride!" She began to leaping and buck. "Come on, ponies! Kick ’em up, kick ’em out! Buck ’em up, buck ’em down!"

Everpony followed her example as the canines get a very rough ride indeed, getting slung out of the saddle in short order and sent into a retreat.

"Yee-haa! Get along, little doggies!", the farmpony called. However, the Dig Dogs grumbled, turned around, barked, then charged again.

In response, Chronicle drew his "magic horn blade" and swung it in a threatening manner, then charged. He engaged one of the Dig Dogs, while the others bypassed him and went for the others, who scrambled. One of those dogs had missed and struck a rock wall hard. For the Dig Dog he engaged, the canine brought up a paw and swung down. The unicorn deftly dodged the blow, then initiated a slashing combo on the Dig Dog with his "blade", finishing with a move that ended with him past the Dig Dog.

Conventionally, there would have been plenty of cuts on the Dig Dog and would probably be in pieces, but his "horn blade" had another property; if he willed it, he can make it phase through anything he wishes and leave a stinging feeling. The Dig Dog had experienced the pain he would've experienced if Chronicle had really slashed him, but without the wounds.

As the Dig Dog crumpled to the ground in pain, he turned to the next one, doing a downward slash on one that threatened to pounce on his charge even as Spike prepared to breathe fire. He then turned and shot a flurry of 'shurikens' on another that was trying to get its paws on a bouncing Pinkie. Following that, he went after another that was running straight for Rainbow, who was about to deliver a karate kick. Just as the pegasus's hoof connected, his "blade" did too—which he willed not to skewer the canine—and both attacks hit to their left and the Dig Dog spun from the force. Chronicle promptly went off to look for another Dig Dog, leaving the one just beat up to Rainbow.

He found Applejack knock back her opponent with a kick, then do another decisive attack, knocking him out cold. Seeing she was capable of handling herself, he then turned his attention to Fluttershy…who was staring at 'her' Dig Dog—the one who had first bumped into the wall—who in turn was whimpering in a corner. Huh? Is this what Mystic Shield meant by not being "able to look her in the eye for a long while"?

He shook off the thought, then told the others to round them all up. Using the ropes the Dig Dogs used as bridles (save the one on his charge for some reason), Rainbow and Applejack tied them all up, then Twilight tightened the ropes with a knot she learned from a book on knots (well, about sea sailing). Pinkie gave a smile and a small cheer, then turned around and gave Applejack and Chronicle a mock salute. The farmpony gave a tip of her hat to the crazy pink pony and the bodyguard nodded in turn.

Chronicle gave a sigh of relief, his stress finally leaving him thanks to this little fight. "That wraps it up." Pinkie gave a laugh from getting the pun. Just then, there came a clattering from behind a barred door to one side, the same place where they heard the "distress cry".

Breaking a stalactite loose from the ceiling, Spike brandished it as a lance. "I’m coming for you, my lady!", he cried out. "Hi-ho, Twilight, away!"

This "Lone Ranger" bit got him nowhere but did earn him a dirty look from the "noble steed". "And just what do you think you’re doing?", Twilight asked.

"Please, Twilight. Just give me this?"

She gave a loud groan. "Fine." She then reared up with a neigh and charged ahead, followed by the others. The door was reduced to scrap metal in an instant—not from the charge but from a few 'shurikens' from Chronicle—and she stopped along with the rest.

"Lady Rarity, I’m here to save you!"

And then everybody's eyes popped in surprise as Spot, Rover, and Fido run to them, shouting a babel of pleas and importunings. They all wound up huddled in front of all six ponies and the little dragon knight, then their irises shrunk at the sight of the stallion.

"We meet again.", Chronicle gave a sneer.

"Excuse me?", his charge said as he saw Rarity approach from behind, serenely pulling a cart.

"So picky!", said Spot.

"And critical!", added Fido.

"She won’t stop talking!"

"And crying!"

"We, uh…give her back! Yes!", Rover pleaded as Spike jumped down and hugged his "beloved".

"Rarity! You’re safe!", he said.

"Why, yes. Hello, girls, boys. You arrived just in time to assist me."

"Assist you with what?", Applejack wanted to know.

Rarity looked over her shoulder. "With those." Everyone else turned to see at least a half-dozen enormous carts parked down the way, each piled with jewels to at least twice its height. None of the rescuers can believe their eyes.

"You’re letting her leave?", Spike asked. "With all these…" His eyes widened greedily. "…jewels?"

"Yes!", confirmed Rover. "Take them, and her with them!"

"Please!", pleaded Spot.

A knowing look passed between Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow. However, Chronicle began to feel pity for them for some reason, especially after seeing the trio sigh and whimper over their loss. "Hmm…"

Fluttershy noticed this as they all took a cart each and began to walk away. "Is there something wrong?"

"Yeah. I don't think we need all of this." He removed the harness on him and pushed it until it began to wheel itself toward the Diamond Dogs. He then summoned a magical clone to accompany it as he moved to the front of the line, quickly now that he no longer had a cart, 'took out' Mystic Shield's ascot, and cast his pinpointing spell on it. "Girls, I know the way home. Follow me."

As they did, Twilight had a question as she 'removed' her bridle. "Hey, is that—"

"Mystic Shield's ascot, yes. I'm using the spell to find him, who would most likely be at Ponyville."

"Why did you decide to leave a cart full of gems behind for the Diamond Dogs?", asked Rarity.

"I don't know what happened between you and them, but those whimpering faces tell me that while they probably deserved it, they should at least keep a small percentage. Also, what if they decide to take revenge on you someday? That's why I left it and a clone behind to dissuade that thought and teach them what to do in case they end up encountering gem-finders like you again."

"And what is your clone probably teaching them?"

"How to make a deal. Both sides could be satisfied if the Dogs offered a percentage of the gems the finder locates and they dig up. And that they treat them nicely. Violence and non-violence have their place in solving the problems at hoof. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it will stick, given how…dim I know the Diamond Dogs are." He then decided to change the subject. "By the way, what did happen back there? Tell us everything. Entertain us."

C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—F—R

Later…

By the time Rarity was done with her story, the party was back at the rocky woodland where it all began.

"I can’t believe you found all these gems!", said Pinkie once their not-rescuee was finished.

"Heh. I can’t believe you tricked all those Dogs!", Rainbow remarked.

Just because I’m a lady, doesn’t mean I cannot handle myself in a sticky situation.", Rarity told them. "I had them wrapped around my hoof the entire time."

"For some reason, I knew you weren't completely helpless.", said Chronicle. "After all, you were the first to attack the manticore when we first encountered it."

"And I can't believe you still remember that."

"I can’t wait to write to Princess Celestia to tell her what you taught me today.", Twilight said.

The white unicorn was surprised at this. "Me? What did I teach you?"

"Just because somepony is ladylike, doesn’t make her weak. In fact, by using her wits, a seemingly defenseless pony can be the one who outsmarts and outshines them all."

Riding on Rarity's cart, Spike was eating a gem. "Mmm…“outshines” is right.", he said with his mouth full. "Now you have enough gems to cover Sapphire Shores’s costumes."

Rarity whisked a half-eaten stone from his hand and teeth with a smile. "Not if you eat them all, Spike."

Everypony laughed at that, then Chronicle said, "I still think it's a good thing we went to find you. Although I believe you would've just 'convinced' them to show you the way out, am I right?"

"Why yes, I had that in mind before your convenient arrival."

"At least we managed to find out more about you. But, you know, while everypony thought you were a helpless damsel in distress, I knew you were at least capable of taking care of yourself. However, learning that you were also witty enough to do this is new to me as well. Come to think of it, if you weren't in the dressmaking business, I'd say you'd make an excellent spy."

This compliment caught everybody else off guard, Rarity most of all. "Are you serious about that?", she asked.

He gave a teasing smile. "Maybe. Let's pick up the pace, girls. Or else we'll slowly lose our 'earnings' to Spike's stomach."

"Hey!", the dragon retorted. Everypony laughed shortly after as Ponyville grew ever closer in the distance.

Author's Note:

Thankfully, you will have footnotes here because the only thing that would be at the top is the disclaimer, which is already applied in almost every chapter anyway.

1. I realize this dreamscape bit has no plot advancement whatsoever for the chapter, except perhaps to show Chronicle's soft side, not that he lacks one. Also as a note to the continuity of the Lunaverse's crossover with the canon 'verse called "Crisis on Two Equestrias".

2. This strange feeling (as well as the eye sore) is another sign of Chronicle's…something that resulted from his indirect exposure to the Elements of Harmony.

3. This flashback and others is to serve as filler and for how Chronicle knows the Diamond Dogs. Banana Fluff is an actual pony in the show just like Graphite and Mjölna.

4. Only one eyecatch for this episode and it's not placed in where the break usually is? Well, given that I'm skipping a lot of the original episode…

5. Sorry, couldn't resist putting in the Goofy holler.

6. Yeah, in spite of being for Everyone, I just can't resist putting up a censor that can technically not be one given the nature of who he's referring to.

7. That last part is a nudge to Team Fortress 2. Seriously, apart from a sense of style, there has to be more reasons as to why Rarity is portrayed as the Spy apart from not fitting in any of the other classes, IMO.

I realize that this chapter could have shortest of all my chapters so far were it not for the flashback filler. And then I realized it's because the episode was Rarity-centric, and since this fic is mostly in Chronicle's POV, the majority of what the episode is is removed. Sorry about that. See ya on Third!

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