//------------------------------// // Part I // Story: Dog's Best Friends // by Scyphi //------------------------------// “And so,” Pinkie Pie concluded as she finished sketching the complicated drawing onto the chalkboard, “that’s why you shouldn’t lose track of the fault lines on a rock farm, or else you could find yourself suddenly underground like my sister, Marble Pie, did.” She turned to face her class. “Any questions?” The class stared back at her, all in various states of bemusement. But as this was often the case in any class Pinkie Pie taught in the School of Friendship, thanks to her very rambling method of teaching, this was widely accepted as the accustomed norm. After a moment though, a set of talons rose into the air from about midway in the room, where a certain six of the school’s students sat in a group. “I’ve got one,” Gallus asked, the young griffon’s brow slightly furrowed. “Why does Equestria have rock farms?” Pinkie took a deep breath before starting what Gallus hoped would be a lengthy reply. “Well…” But her line of thought jumped tracks again as she glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. “Actually, hold that thought, Gallus—real quick before the class ends, I want to tell you all about a little project you guys get to do over the weekend!” There were a variety of groans throughout the classroom at this undesired homework announcement. But Pinkie remained oblivious while opening a drawer to her desk and, after tossing out several party-related things, withdrew a stack of papers and gave them to the closest student to pass out. “So we’re going to be making rock candy next week!” she cheerily announced while watching the class mumble to themselves as each received a handout. “Because there’s nothing more friendly than making and sharing rock candy with your friends! My sister Maud and I have been doing it for years…though what we’ll be making in class isn’t quiiiiiite as special a recipe as the one me and Maud use when we’re making rock candy, but I can’t tell you about that one.” She leaned forward to speak in an exaggerated whisper. “It’s a secret!” She then snapped back to her original position and tone. “But we’re going to need to get allllllllll the ingredients to make them first! So your guys’s job this weekend is to go out and collect up the ingredients listed on these handouts. You can go wherever you want to do it, but if you need help, I can give you a few tips to find the absolutely best spots!” By this point Silverstream had gotten a handout and was tilting it around as she studied it, looking puzzled. “Professor,” the hippogriff asked aloud, “am I reading this right? Some of these ingredients seem to be…well…kinda actually rock-based.” “Nope! You’re reading it right!” Pinkie answered brightly but without elaborating. She then surveyed her students. “Any other questions?” Gallus had also gotten a paper, but after giving it a brief glance over, he set it aside and raised his talons again. “Yeah, so getting back to my earlier question,” he began quickly. “Why does Equestria have rock farms?” “Oh well, the answer’s actually super simple,” Pinkie replied with a beaming grin. “It’s because—” But then the school bell tolled, immediately distracting Pinkie. “Whoop! The bell has officially donged! Bye everybody, see you next time!” She then zipped out the door before anyone could say or do anything. Gallus let his raised talons thump onto his desk, frustrated. “Well, darn it.” Nevertheless, everyone packed up and soon he was walking through the hallways with the rest of his friends. With Pinkie’s class being the last of the day, they headed towards their dorms for the evening, assessing their latest assignment along the way. Yona regarded her paper critically as the yak walked with her friends. “Yona not sure yaks best at eating rocks,” she admitted, skeptical about the apparently higher than normal rock content the candy seemed to require. “Rocks don’t seem best for yak tummy.” “I think it’s great,” Smolder praised with a big grin, the dragon’s strong approval for the assignment clear in her cheery strut. “Finally, a school assignment focusing on the things that are really important in life.” “Like filling your stomach?” Sandbar quipped with a light smirk, the earth pony more than aware of his friend’s gemmavorous diet. “Darn straight!” Smolder proudly confirmed without hesitation. “Well, so long as it’s for friendship, I’m totally still on board with it!” Silverstream said. “I mean, I think I can eat a rock or two for that, if it came right down to it.” “To be fair though,” Ocellus piped in, holding her handout before her with her magic as they rounded a corner, “looking at the list of ingredients here, I don’t think this rock candy is really all rock. The recipe seems to call for a hefty amount of sugar, as well as some caramel and flour, I assume as a sort of glue to hold it all together, all of which are things we routinely eat anyway.” The changeling slipped the paper into her saddlebags and glanced at the others. “And what rocks are listed are mostly base minerals typically found in most foods anyway…just not always in such a pure state.” “Edibility aside, it’s still homework, so like it or not, we’re going to have to do it,” Gallus pointed out, laying down the line. “So…how we wanna go about doing this?” “It shouldn’t be hard,” Smolder reasoned. “We just need to figure out the best place to find the rock ingredients. The rest we can just raid the school stores for.” “I’ve recently read that Ghastly Gorge is very rich in rocks and minerals,” Ocellus offered politely. “We could probably find everything we need there with a bit of looking.” “Uh, you sure we really wanna do that?” Silverstream asked, hesitant. “Any gorge calling itself ‘ghastly’ seems like a place you’d want to stay away from.” “Yeah, isn’t Ghastly Gorge supposed to be a little bit…dangerous?” Sandbar agreed, sharing Silverstream’s apprehension. “I suppose what I meant is that the whole area Ghastly Gorge sits in is rich in rocks and minerals,” Ocellus sheepishly clarified. “So we should be safe so long as we just stay to the areas immediately surrounding the gorge.” The others considered this for a second. “Yona thinks this fine,” Yona remarked in approval of this plan. “Yeah, we could all probably go down this Saturday, make a day of it rock hunting,” Smolder suggested, agreeing as well. “We just have to get there.” “Sounds like we’ll need train tickets then,” Gallus reasoned. He stopped in the middle of the hallway so to pull out his coin pouch. “Let’s see here, I think I still have enough I can buy a ticket with,” he mumbled as he counted out the bits he currently possessed, “tickets usually cost about three bits, so…” But while he did that, Silverstream had started to sniff the air. “Woo!” she cried, wrinkling her nose. “Anybody else smell that?” The others all start sampling the air and pulled displeased faces at the invading odor. “Yuck!” Smolder groaned. “It smells like Gallus after he’s ran a few laps around the school track—” “Hey,” Gallus objected. “—but worse,” Smolder kept going without pause, “like he kept on running a few more laps around the track every day for a whole week without showering even once in-between.” “Eww!” Silverstream squealed. “Hey,” Gallus objected again, shooting the dragoness a glare. But before any further discussion could be made, a nearby door opened and out strolled Princess Twilight Sparkle. Accompanying her was clearly the source of the pungent smell, a young Diamond Dog roughly about their same age. As Diamond Dogs go, he seemed innocent enough, though looking nervous to be there. But he was also far from clean, his fur so matted with filth it was hard to tell if the dark grey color it presently appeared as was its actual color, and his feet tracked light dust prints with every step he took. He wore a gem-studded collar like most Diamond Dogs, as well as a maroon-colored and somewhat threadbare vest, but both were just as smudged and dirtied as the rest of him. And, of course, there was the unfriendly odor he was putting off, which only strengthened in power now that there wasn’t a closed door dividing them. But as their headmare was present, the six students wisely withheld any complaints, attempting to appear like they hadn’t noticed anything. Twilight was already speaking with the attentive Diamond Dog as she exited the room. “…I mean, it is all a bit sudden and last minute,” she was saying. “But otherwise everything seems to be in order, and of course we’ll be happy to have you. There’s just a few more things we need to sort out first, and then—oh!” Twilight perked up as she noticed the others standing nearby and turned to greet them. “Hello everyone! I didn’t notice you there, but since you are, come meet Woofus!” She motioned with one hoof to her escort, who sheepishly waved. “He’ll be our latest student to join the school.” She then cheerily motioned Woofus towards the other six. “Woofus, these are some of the other students here at the school, Ocellus, Silverstream, Smolder, Sandbar, Gallus, and Yona.” She pointed out each of the students in turn. “…Hello,” Woofus timidly greeted them in a gravelly voice, but managing a small smile. “Hiya Woofie!” Silverstream greeted enthusiastically, already deciding on a friendly nickname for him and offered him a set of talons to shake. “Can I call you Woofie?” “Um…yes?” Woofus responded uncertainly as he shook the hippogriff’s proffered paw. Doing so left a notable layer of dark grit on Silverstream’s talons. She winced briefly, but then remembering Woofus and not wanting to offend him, she quickly put on a smile. “That’s great!” she said as she blindly tried to find something to wipe her dirtied talons off on. Yona, being the closest, quickly put some more distance between them. “Welcome to the School of Friendship!” “Yeah, welcome,” Gallus added as the others started to chip in their own greetings (though they all learned from Silverstream and opted not to come in contact with Woofus). He nudged Sandbar with his elbow. “It’ll be nice to have a bit more male representation around here, wouldn’t it, Sandy?” Sandbar merely chuckled, but Smolder rolled her eyes, smirking. “Not like it changes much, you guys would still be outnumbered,” she pointed out. “Shush and let me savor the victory,” Gallus quipped back. “Ignore them, they’re just being silly,” Ocellus advised Woofus, rolling her own eyes before giving him a friendly grin. “Anyway, we’ll be happy to have you, Woofus. It’s always a pleasure to know another student is joining the school.” “I know, isn’t it great?” Twilight cheered, quite excited. “I was hoping I could eventually get a bit of Diamond Dog representation here at the school, so when Woofus came in today asking to register for classes, of course I couldn’t turn him down! Now if I can just get King Aspen to enroll a deer student, then we’ll have representation from every race of creature throughout this entire region of Equestria!” Yona, however, tilted her head at Woofus. “Diamond Dog only join school today?” Woofus nodded sheepishly, rubbing the fur on one arm. “It is kind of last minute…” “Normally I would’ve expected a bit more talk and delegation from the relevant Diamond Dog pack leaders first,” Twilight admitted, but was just as quickly waving the matter aside. “But Woofus came bearing all the needed paperwork already, so everything is basically in order to have him start classes tomorrow, we just need to get him settled in.” At this point, Woofus’s attention became focused on a gem decoration hanging near the door and reached his arms up to examine it better. Though Twilight managed to keep wearing a genuine-looking grin, she still had to tilt her head away from the dog’s exposed and smelly armpit. “Actually, since you’re here,” she continued, “Sandbar, Gallus? Can I ask you to show him the boys showers while I go arrange a dormitory for him to stay in?” “Tell you what, Teach, we’ll make it our next stop,” Gallus promised. The others all nodded in agreement perhaps a bit too quickly. “Wonderful!” Twilight said and turned to go. “I’ll leave you all to it, then.” “C’mon Woofus,” Gallus said to the Diamond Dog, motioning him to follow while the others strategically took positions upwind from him. “To the showers we go.” “Um, okay,” Woofus said, hesitantly falling in step with the others. “But…if I may ask…what are showers?” “You know, at this point, I’m not at all surprised you don’t already know,” Gallus quipped with a sigh. “Don’t worry, Woofus,” Sandbar assured as he came to walk on Woofus’s other side. “I’m sure you’ll like it.” “I don’t like this!” Woofus cried as he scampered, trying to dig his feet into the smooth tile floor. “C’mon Woofus,” Gallus grunted as he and Sandbar pushed him towards the shower, already spewing a warm spray of cleansing liquid. “It’s just water!” “But-but-but…” Woofus objected as he resisted coming into contact with the water any way he could. “I’ll get all wet!” “That’s the idea,” Gallus stressed, getting frustrated. He was starting to feel glad they were the only ones in the school showers currently, otherwise they’d certainly be getting a whole lot of stares over this. “But I’ll drown!” Woofus continued to protest. “You won’t drown, Woofus, promise!” Sandbar assured, taking a more encouraging approach than his griffon friend. “It’s perfectly safe—we’re just going to help clean you up a bit. All the water will do is wash away the gunk.” “But why?” Woofus argued, clearly not understanding as he still fought to enter the shower’s spraying range. “Why do I need to do this?” “Um…” Sandbar hesitated, not sure how he could explain nicely. “Well, you see…the thing is…” Gallus, however, had no issues with saying it. “Dude, look, there’s no polite way to say it,” he told the Diamond Dog. “You stink. Like, seriously bad.” “…so?” Woofus inquired back innocently. “Think of it like this, Woofus,” Sandbar reasoned quickly, getting an idea. “This is your first lesson to help you be a better friend!” “Yeah, because friends love it when they can be around their other friends without burning their nostrils off,” Gallus added, more or less catching on. “Besides, it’s healthier! All that dirt and gunk can’t be good for you.” “Or anyone else around you, for that matter.” “Really?” Woofus considered this for a second then sighed, regarding the stream of shower water. Seeing he was considering it, Sandbar motioned Gallus to wait a moment. Finally, he held out a claw towards the running water, only to jerk it back the second it came in contact with it. “Ah! It’s hot!” “Well, yeah!” Gallus declared in annoyance. “What, did you really want it to be cold?” “I think he’s saying it’s too hot, Gallus,” Sandbar patiently clarified. When Woofus nodded, Gallus sighed and reached over to the hot water knob, giving it a quick twist. “There, try it now.” Woofus skeptically regarded the shower for a second, but he again reached out with the same claw, only to again whisk it back. “Ah! It’s lukewarm!” “Oh, for crying out loud!” Gallus finally snapped and shoved Woofus into the spray. Woofus yelped the moment the pelting water flowed over him and curled up into a ball on the floor, arms thrown over his head to vainly shield himself. Sandbar and Gallus, however, looked at how the water running off him had immediately turned black as tar. They exchanged grimaces, but nonetheless, they bent down to dig through a basket of cleaning supplies they had brought in. When they straightened again, they were wearing dust masks, rubber gloves, and both were equipped with a specific cleaning tool. For Sandbar, he held scrubbing brushes in both forehooves, while Gallus had armed himself with bars of soap. “Ready?” Gallus asked the pony. “Ready,” Sandbar responded. They then dove, and soon Woofus yelped again as he went down under their scrubbing. Meanwhile, the girls were outside, awaiting the results. The longer it dragged on though, the more anxious they seemed to get. Silverstream was particularly tense and had taken to pacing impatiently back and forth in front of the showers door. “What if he’s actually nothing but dirt?” she asked the others at one point, worried. “And they just scrub him away into oblivion?” “Don’t be ridiculous, Sil,” Smolder replied. She sat on a bench on the other side of the hallway with Ocellus and Yona. Ocellus had pulled out a textbook to flip through and Yona had begun to play with her braids, but the dragoness was getting bored, propping her head up with one arm while wearily watching the hippogriff pace. “There’s a living and breathing creature under all that dirt and gunk, there’s gotta be.” Silverstream didn’t seem too convinced though and bit her lip as she kept pacing, letting her mind devise even crazier worst-case scenarios to ponder. But at last, the door opened, and stepping out of the billowing cloud of steam was a slightly ruffled Gallus. Silverstream was before him instantly. “Well?” she anxiously asked. “What’s the news? Is he going to make it?” Gallus solemnly pulled off his dust mask. “There were a few complications, and it got to be a bit touch and go there for a bit,” he admitted seriously. He paused for dramatic effect, causing Silverstream to tense up, but then he smirked. “But yeah, I think he’s going to make it.” He then stood to one side as Sandbar led the dazed but significantly cleaner Woofus out of the showers, a towel draped over his shoulders. Silverstream squeed loudly as the other girls rose to join them, grinning at the visible improvement. “Hey, that’s loads better,” Smolder declared happily as she looked the Diamond Dog up and down. “How do ya feel, Woofus?” Woofus looked himself over uncertainly. “…Floofy,” he decided. He sniffed his arm tentatively. “And now I smell so…” he sniffed it again, “…so…” “…Clean?” Yona offered with a smile. “…I guess,” Woofus admitted. He frowned as he continued looking himself over. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this…er…clean…before.” “Well, I think it can only be a good thing,” Ocellus offered encouragingly, taking him in herself. “Your fur looks much healthier now, at the very least.” “Yeah, I can’t quite recall, was it always that shade of grey?” Gallus asked, tilting his head. “Wasn’t it darker earlier? Or am I just imagining it?” “Ooh!” Silverstream squealed as she circled around the Diamond Dog. “He’s also got spots going down his back! You couldn’t see that earlier!” Ocellus moved around to look at the lighter-grey markings too. “Hmm, don’t such markings bear some sort of significance to Diamond Dogs? I seem to recall reading something like that once…” “Uh…not in my pack,” Woofus offered quickly, looking uncomfortable. He pulled the towel tighter around his shoulders. “Can I have my collar and vest back now?” “Oh yes, of course,” Ocellus said, remembering the dog’s only articles of clothing that he’d removed before showering. She floated Woofus’s collar over with her magic. “If you don’t mind, I did take the liberty of cleaning this for you.” “Oh,” Woofus simply replied, examining it before fastening it around his neck again. “What about my vest?” The girls all glanced at Smolder, who shuffled her feet sheepishly. “So, uh,” she began to explain, “I took your vest to Professor Rarity to see what she could do to…you know…touch it up a bit, since she’s the seamstress and all, but she said it was in such a state we might as well burn it. But then, after she had put out the flames and told me she hadn’t quite meant that literally, she was able to salvage enough to get the right measurements and quickly make a replacement.” She then offered this vest to Woofus. It appeared identical, except new, clean, and with tidier stitching. “Hope you don’t mind.” Woofus examined the vest briefly then slipped it on, trading the towel out for it. “Well…it’ll do for now,” he conceded. He looked the group over. “You’re all doing an awful lot for someone you’ve never met before today.” “That’s what friends do, Woofus,” Sandbar assured. “As we hope you’ll quickly learn here at the school.” “That…is the hope,” Woofus admitted, making a small grin. “Well then,” Gallus said as he clapped a pair of talons on the dog’s shoulder. “How about we all get to know each other more by showing you the school before we go back to the headmare, huh?” The brief tour of the school went on from there without much event, but most of it was spent idly chatting. By the end, and once Woofus was turned back over to Twilight’s care (who was well-pleased by how much cleaner he was now), the Diamond Dog had become quite friendly with the other six students. The following morning, while everyone was gathered for breakfast in the school’s dining hall, Twilight Sparkle formally introduced Woofus to the rest of the student body by making him stand and publically announce he would be joining classes today. Afterwards, as Woofus thankfully walked away from that daunting experience with his breakfast, seeking a place to sit, he was instead waved over by six familiar faces. “Hey Woofie!” Silverstream called, being the most enthusiastic of the wavers. “Hey! We’re over here! Come sit here! Hey! HEY!” Feeling compelled then, Woofus maneuvered his way over to their table. Upon arriving, Gallus patted the empty seat beside him. “Have a seat here, Woofus,” he suggested. “Okay,” Woofus agreed and sat at the designated place. “Well, you don’t have to sit there if you don’t want to, of course,” Ocellus added from where she and the other girls sat on the other side of the table. “Diamond Dog could sit on this side!” Yona suggested as she munched on a bowl of oatmeal. “Well, he’s already sitting on the guys’ side, so that’s settled,” Gallus stated. “Doesn’t mean we can’t mix it up a bit,” Smolder reasoned. “Why do you guys always sit on the opposite side of the table from us?” “Aw, lay off, Smolder,” Gallus urged. “You’re just sore the guys have one more to their side now.” “Besides, it’s up to Woofus to sit wherever he likes,” Ocellus placated, and nodded to the dog. “And I’m sure he has a perfectly good reason to sit where he did.” Woofus glanced blankly about as they looked to him. He then pointed at the girls’ side of the table. “There aren’t any more empty seats on that side of the table.” They all glanced about and realized he was right. Then, abruptly, they all started laughing at their silliness. “Like I said,” Ocellus stated in-between her giggles, “A perfectly good reason.” Woofus smiled and chuckled a little too. Their first class was Professor Rarity’s generosity class, and today she set them about crafting a simple garment—ranging from scarves to hoof warmers to even a simple vest or jacket—to give to someone else in the class. Rarity even pulled out a box of gemstones they could use for decorations. When Silverstream went to the box for some though, she found the Diamond Dog rooting through it, stuffing gems into the nook of his other arm. He had already amassed a sizeable armful. “Boy, your garment is going to be more gem than garment at this point, Woofie!” she noted brightly. Woofus stopped and looked at her blankly. “Huh?” Silverstream pointed a talon at the gems in his arms. “You’ve just gathered up an awful lot of gems, is all. Are you planning to make a sequin-type thing?” Woofus regarded the gems and started to blush. “Oh…um…” he admitted sheepishly, realizing that perhaps this wasn’t wise. Reluctantly, he started putting a few back. “Sorry…it’s a…Diamond Dog thing. When you’re offered gems with no strings attached, the tendency is to just sort of…grab and run…” “Oh, that’s okay, the gems are here to be used, after all,” Silverstream stated, waving off the matter before sticking her head into the box to look. “What do Diamond Dogs do with all those gems, anyway?” Woofus looked blank again. “We keep them,” he said, like it was the obvious thing. “And then what do you do with them?” “That’s it. We just…keep them.” “Why?” “…because they’re gems. Why else?” “Oh.” Silverstream hummed to herself. “I thought it might because you’re like Smolder and eat them or something.” Woofus went wide-eyed. “Smolder eats gems?” Silverstream chose not to answer. “Anyway, I’m looking for some gems to decorate the hair bows I’m making for Yona,” she explained as she rooted through the box. She wasn’t immediately finding anything catching her eye though and sat up, rubbing her beak. “Maybe something that goes with her eyes…” she then spied a pair of gems out of the corner of her eye. “Like those!” she said, pointing at the pale-colored emeralds Woofus was still holding onto. Woofus glanced down at them. “These?” he asked and instinctively tightened his grip on them. “But…” “Well, if you already got plans for them, that’s okay too,” Silverstream assured happily, not missing a beat. “I’ll come up with something else, I’m sure.” She resumed rooting, considering the matter settled. But Woofus hesitated for a moment, looking between the hippogriff and the gems in his arms. Finally he sighed, and set the gems down before Silverstream, looking up in mild surprise. “Here,” he murmured sheepishly. “You need them more than I do.” “Oh!” Silverstream remarked, scooping up the gems. “Thank you, Woofus! That’s rather generous of you…which of course is the whole point of this class, so…way to go!” She gave him a thumbs-up. Woofus chuckled a little and grinned all the way back to his own workspace. “Professor Fluttershy!” Yona shouted as she pushed Woofus into the classroom. “Meet new yak friend, Woofus! He new!” Fluttershy turned from the bag of animal feed she was setting up and smiled gently. “Oh!” she said as the Diamond Dog was all but pressed into her face. “Well hello, Woofus, and welcome! Twilight told me you were going to be joining our classes.” “Um…yes, hello,” Woofus replied sheepishly, feeling put on the spot while Yona beamed beside him, pleased with herself. “I’m…pleased to be here, too.” “I’m glad,” Fluttershy said. She tilted her head at Woofus thoughtfully. “Diamond Dogs hail from differing packs, right? May I ask which pack you are from?” Woofus froze at this. “Uh…” “My friend Rarity met a few Diamond Dogs once some years back, and they live in the area of Rambling Rock Ridge,” Fluttershy continued. She bit her lip. “They weren’t…the friendliest bunch, I’m afraid, but, um…are you part of their pack?” “Uh, no, uh…” “Rainbow Dash once helped Starlight Glimmer’s friend Trixie at Dimondia, a Diamond Dog city that exists up north…are you possibly from there?” “Dimondia? Uh, we do some trading with them, but no, my pack isn’t…” “Then perhaps the Appaloosan Mountains? I’ve heard a pack exists up there.” “No, no, uh, not there either…” “Then perhaps in the Ghastly Gorge area? I believe Pinkie mentioned recently that her sister Maud found evidence of a pack out there…” “NO!” The volume of his exclamation seemed to surprise even Woofus as Fluttershy reeled back, startled. Realizing this, the dog quickly started backtracking. “I mean, uh…” Then Yona unwittingly came to his rescue. “Professor Fluttershy!” the yak declared as she peered into a carrier placed in the center of the classroom. “Yona work with snakes today? Yona loves snakes!” She stuck her hoof into the carrier and giggled as one of the snakes gently wrapped itself around her leg. “Snakes give hugs!” “Oh, of course, Yona!” Fluttershy agreed as she stepped over, breaking off her conversation with Woofus, to his relief. “I just ask you keep a lookout for Twilight. She’s going to be dropping by to deliver new roll charts, but she’s just a teensy bit afraid of snakes, so…” “AHH!” All heads whipped around to see Twilight standing in the doorway, roll charts dropped and forgotten as her terrified eyes locked onto the snake around Yona’s leg. “Too late,” Woofus couldn’t help but remark. “Snakes!?” Twilight cried in fear as Fluttershy hurried over to calm her. “Why did it have to be snakes?!” “Could you stop doing that?” Smolder grumbled to Woofus while munching on her lunch. “Stop doing what?” Woofus asked back from across the table. “Wincing every time I bite into my lunch,” Smolder replied, motioning to the selection of gems she was eating. “But I’m not doing that.” Smolder wearily gazed at him for a moment, then took ahold of an emerald and raised it up. She waved it back and forth, watching as Woofus’s eyes followed it like it was the most interesting thing in the world. She then brought it to her mouth to take a slow bite. The same time she did, Woofus’s face clearly twisted into a wince. Silverstream, watching from beside the dragoness, chuckled to herself. Smolder rolled her eyes at them both. “Look, I get Diamond Dogs have this thing for gems,” she reasoned as she chewed. “But a dragon’s still gotta eat, kid.” “I know,” Woofus conceded. He gazed longingly at the remaining gems. “It’s just…do you have to eat all of them?” Smolder didn’t respond, instead keeping her eyes locked on him and popping the rest of the emerald into her mouth. Woofus winced again the moment her teeth were heard crunching into it, leading her to make a throaty growl. “Just what would you do with it, assuming I gave you one?” “Keep it,” Woofus responded simply, like this answered everything. Smolder waited for him to elaborate, but turned blank when he didn’t. “That’s it?” “It’s a Diamond Dog thing,” Silverstream explained on Woofus’s behalf, munching on some sushi rolls. Smolder frowned and gazed down at her gems, not convinced. “Keeping it but then not doing anything with it is like…wasting food,” she argued. “By that logic, wouldn’t that mean Gallus collecting coins but then not doing anything with them is wasting money?” Silverstream reasoned. “Would that mean that Ocellus collecting quills in case she needs them but never actually uses are a waste of writing utensils? Would that mean the toothpicks Sandbar uses to make the odd toothpick model mean it’s a waste of things to pick your teeth with? Would that mean the erasers Yona collects because…actually, I don’t know why she hangs on to those, but she does, so does that mean it’s a waste of…whatever erasers are made out of? Would that mean—” “I get it, Sil,” Smolder interrupted in a grumble. “Look, it’s okay,” Woofus interjected, trying to defuse the situation. “They’re her gems, so…they’re hers to decide what to do with.” He turned back to focusing on his own food instead of Smolder’s. “Exactly!” Smolder agreed, and happily considering it settled, she picked up a small round opal and popped it into her mouth. But she sighed wearily when she saw Woofus still flinch, despite his clear attempts to not let it bother him. She surveyed her gems again before silently glancing at Silverstream. The hippogriff merely shrugged, but gave her an encouraging smile. She looked back over her gems and at last selected one to reluctantly slide over to Woofus. “All right, you can have that one. It’s got an impurity in it anyway…even though the impurities give it a bit of kick, but…” “Oh,” Woofus said, scooping up the gem and holding it up to the light to examine. “Thank you, Smolder. You…didn’t actually have to do that, you know…” “Yeah, but I was tired of seeing you wince and it’s what friends do,” Smolder said, half-grinning. “Just don’t make a habit of this, mmkay?” Woofus grinned a little back. “Okay,” he said, nodding, and turned back to examining the gem. Smolder watched him for a bit before turning back to her lunch. Silverstream then leaned over, holding out a sushi roll. “Here, you can have some of my lunch to compensate!” she offered. “They’ve got watershrimp in them that I caught myself!” “I’ll pass, thank you, Sil,” Smolder replied with a grin, more satisfied Woofus was content now. “Right then, welcome, everyone!” Applejack greeted, addressing her class. “Got us some big plans t’ do t’day, and it all should be plenty of fun! But first, Ah wanna git our new student introduced t’ y’all.” She motioned a hoof at Woofus, who stiffened at the attention. “This here is Woofus. Now say hello to everybody, Woofus.” Woofus blinked for a second, appearing confused. “Uh…hello to everybody, then?” he repeated uncertainly. Applejack smirked. “Close enough,” she said before pressing on. “Now Woofus, it’s my tradition here t’ git new students t’ tell everyone a bit ’bout themselves. That way we all know ’bout each other an’ nobody needs t’ be a stranger, y’hear?” Woofus nodded, so Applejack nodded back, pleased. “All right then, let’s start with where ya’re from.” Woofus, however, only froze and didn’t reply. Applejack waited patiently for a second, but when he kept silent, she frowned. “Uh…are ya gonna tell us, Woofus?” Woofus hesitated. “…no offense, but I’d prefer not to.” Applejack’s frown deepened as she tilted her head at him. “Any particular reason why?” “Um…no.” “Look, iffen ya’re feelin’ shy or anythin’…” “It’s not that. I just…don’t think it’s something important to tell.” Applejack’s eyes turned slightly suspicious. “Where are ya from, Woofus?” she repeated. Woofus again hesitated. “Nowhere of consequence.” “Ah’d really like t’ know.” “Um…get used to disappointment, then?” Woofus winced to himself. Applejack studied the dog long and hard for a second, watching him wilt under her stern gaze. At last, she broke off the stare to address the class. “Ya know wut?” she said. “Ah changed my mind on wut we’re doin’. Everyone pull out some parchment, ’cuz we’re gunna do some quizzin’. Ah’m thinkin’ we all need a bit of a review on honesty t’day.” The rest of the class groaned but did as instructed. Woofus, meanwhile, nervously kept his teacher in the corner of his gaze, not missing why she made this abrupt change in plans. The next class went better for him, but as it was Pinkie Pie’s class and the general theme almost always involved sweets, it wasn’t hard to see why. Today, Pinkie had split the class into pairs to work together creating a dessert of their own choosing. Woofus was assigned to work with Gallus, and together they had combined a simple but flat and heavy Diamond Dog cake Woofus happened to know the recipe for with a fudge-type icing that Gallus claimed to have “invented” once during a previous class. This combination seemed to work well. It at least got Pinkie’s approval. “Mmm!” she cooed after tasting a sample. “This is very good, you two! I just might have to get you both into the baking business.” “Oh, I don’t know,” Woofus said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “I’m…really not much of a cook. The cake part is really the only dessert I know how to make.” “Hey, don’t sell yourself short,” Gallus said, giving him a nudge before addressing their teacher again. “Woofus was all over baking the cake part, leaving it simple to mix with my icing, which was what I was all over.” “I can tell,” Pinkie remarked with a grin, shooting a glance at the griffon’s frosting flecked talons, clearly used to steal swipes from the fudgy frosting throughout making it. “But either way, you two both made a great team, and there’s nothing more fun than baking together with a friend! Used to do that all the time with my sisters back on the ol’ rock farm!” Gallus perked up suddenly, remembering. “Speaking of which!” he interjected quickly before Pinkie could walk off. “Why does Equestria need rock farms?” “Well, it’s really because…” Pinkie began to explain, but was interrupted by a sudden bang across the room. They turned to see that the dish Smolder and Sandbar had been preparing had somehow exploded in a burst of flames, setting itself, part of the counter, and more importantly Smolder, aflame, leaving Sandbar in an absolute panic. “Stop drop and roll, stop drop and roll!” he cried as he fumbled about, looking for something—anything—that would extinguish the flames. “Dude! Dragon!” Smolder exclaimed back, frustrated but otherwise completely calm. She threw out her flaming arms. “Fireproof!” “Oops! Sorry, Gallus, gotta run!” Pinkie declared as she rushed towards the scene. Gallus didn’t reply as he was too busy banging his head on the counter while Woofus watched, with fascination, Pinkie grabbing a fire extinguisher and spraying Smolder down with off-white foam. “So…all in all, how was your first day at the school, Woofus?” Sandbar asked that evening as he and the Diamond Dog both walked for their respective dorms. Woofus reflected back on the day. “…eventful,” he conceded. “In a good or bad way?” “…good, I think.” Woofus considered it for a second longer and smiled. “Yeah. Good.” He shrugged. “Not entirely what I was expecting, but…” Sandbar laughed. “Yeah, this school isn’t exactly like any other…but I think that’s part of the point. I guess you can’t teach friendship any other way.” They walked on for a moment. “So…I know it’s not really any of my business, but…why didn’t you want to tell Professor Applejack where you’re from earlier?” Woofus winced and averted his gaze, feeling guilty. “It’s…just not something I really want to talk about,” he explained, shirking a direct answer. Fortunately, Sandbar didn’t pry. “I guess I can understand that,” he said. “I just hope it’s both for a good reason and not because of anything…bad.” Woofus gritted his teeth. “It’s sort of why I am here at all.” “And…why are you here?” Woofus paused, gazing around at the vaulted ceilings decorating most of the school’s corridors. “I’m hoping learning a bit more friendship will…help me build a better future.” Sandbar went quiet as he pondered what Woofus meant by that. “Well…you’re at the right place, then.” Woofus’s grin returned. “I hope so.” Soon they arrived at the door of Woofus’s spartan dorm room. Before parting ways, Sandbar turned to the Diamond Dog. “Is there anything you need, Woofus?” he asked. Woofus considered it. “…just some friends,” he answered simply. Sandbar grinned and patted him on the shoulder. “Well, you’re already plenty covered there.” He then had a thought. “Hey, me and the others are going rock-hunting for an assignment tomorrow. You should come with.” Woofus shrugged. “All right.” “All right then,” Sandbar said back and turned to go. “Have a good night, and see you tomorrow morning!” “Yeah,” Woofus replied and slipped into his room. He didn’t go straight to bed though, and instead stared out the window, lost in thought. The following morning arrived without event, and after getting a good breakfast at the school cafeteria, the now-seven friends, with their bags all packed for their day trip, gathered at the Ponyville train station, ready to leave. Woofus, who followed Sandbar here, was surprised. “We’re taking the train?” he asked, having not realized this in advance. “Yeah, but not far, just a couple of miles to the south,” Sandbar assured. “It’ll be a short trip.” “I hope so,” Gallus grumbled as he milled about, waiting for the train to arrive. “Admittedly, this isn’t exactly the greatest thing I could be doing this weekend.” “Homework’s homework,” Smolder reminded with a shrug. “The sooner we get it over with, the sooner we can get to other things.” “Speaking of,” Gallus said and turned to Woofus. “I imagine because you’re a Diamond Dog, you probably know a thing or two about rocks, right?” Woofus shrugged modestly. “I know some geology, yes,” he confirmed. “Good, so does Ocellus,” Gallus said, pointing at the changeling, currently with her snout buried in a book. “With the both of you helping, that’ll mean we can get this done in half the time.” “Here comes train!” Yona suddenly exclaimed, standing at the other end of the platform, leaning her head over the tracks to watch its approach. And sure enough, the train eased into the station, hissing steam as it halted before them. Woofus took a step back to take it all in, which prompted Silverstream to ask, “You ever been on a train before, Woofie?” “I’ve been on something similar,” Woofus replied, thinking of mine cart trains. “Not as big as this, but…worked on the same principle.” He gazed down the train’s length. “Just…a little taken aback seeing it up close like this.” “Heh, you should’ve seen when I first got to ride a train,” Silverstream giggled as she and the others lined up to board. “It was a new experience, so I was so excited!” “I’m sure the squeals could be heard from miles around,” Smolder quipped with a grin. “All aboard!” the conductor pony called as he stepped out the passenger car entrance and motioned for those waiting (which were few) to proceed. One by one, the group of seven entered the train with Woofus coming last. When his turn came, though, he realized the others had all been turning over tickets to ride, and now the conductor turned to the Diamond Dog. “Ticket please?” he asked politely. Woofus, however, had no ticket, and as he patted his pockets, he found he had brought no money to pay for one. He was just starting to think the worst when Gallus poked his head back into view. “No worries, Woofus, I’ve gotcha,” the griffon said, handing over a few bits to the conductor for the fare then adding, “He’s with us.” The conductor nodded and allowed Woofus aboard. “Have a nice trip,” he said. And in good spirits thanks to Gallus looking out for him like this, Woofus found he did indeed have a good trip on the train, most of which was spent learning to play a hippogriff card game Silverstream had taught the others. After a couple rounds to familiarize himself, he started to successfully win a few. But as promised, the ride was relatively short and a half hour later they were stepping off again onto a new station platform…if one could call it that. It was really more a large, elevated, rectangle of wood than anything. There was no ticket stand, or even a bench to sit on, just a small water tower and a sign identifying the train platform. It was clear the platform didn’t see many visitors. A fact Sandbar decided to point out. “You know, we’re probably the most creatures who’ve been here at one time in weeks,” he remarked, gazing around at the lonely region. “True, but it’s also understandable,” Ocellus conceded. “Ghastly Gorge isn’t known to be the most…hospitable…of locations.” Woofus, who had been watching the train leave, abruptly spun around. “Wait, what did you say?” “Well, there are several things keeping everyone from trying to populate the region,” Ocellus explained, misinterpreting Woofus’s question while the grey dog started taking in the land for the first time. “The sparse vegetation, the high winds, the rocky terrain…” “…the quarray eels…” Gallus added. “Yeah, but those are in the gorge itself, and we agreed not to go anywhere near there,” Smolder said, hopping off the platform and onto the dusty ground surrounding it. “No, no, no!” Woofus clarified as he raced ahead to block the paths of the others. “I mean—no one said we were going to Ghastly Gorge!” “I didn’t tell you?” Sandbar remarked, surprised. “I could’ve sworn I did…” “We can’t stay here!” Woofus stressed, looking around nervously, as if something would sneak up on them. “Dude, chill,” Gallus said, moving to step around Woofus. “If we work quick, this hopefully won’t take long, and we still need to finish our homework, so…” “No, we need to leave, right now!” Woofus pressed, hurriedly moving to stop Gallus. “What if we get caught? We could—” “Get caught by who?” Silverstream inquired, confused. “The quarray eels?” “Dude, I just said those live in the gorge itself,” Smolder repeated. “And we’re not stupid, we know better than to wander into there. We’re just going to stay out here, outside the gorge, keeping a respectable distance. We probably won’t even wander too far from the train platform.” She motioned to the wooden platform before drawing herself up proudly. “Besides, even if we do run into trouble, they’ll have to get through me first.” “Yona help stop trouble too!” Yona volunteered happily, clapping Woofus on the shoulder with enough force that it felt like it should’ve driven him waist-deep into the ground. “Nothing harm yak friends! This yak promise!” “Besides, we can’t leave, not unless you intend to walk back to Ponyville,” Gallus added with an apologetic shrug. “The next train isn’t due to come by for…how long is it again, Sandbar?” Sandbar pulled out a pocket watch from his saddlebag and consulted it. “About another hour.” Then upon putting it away again, the earth pony approached Woofus reassuringly. “Look, Woofus, if you’re too nervous, that’s okay. We just asked you to come because you’re a friend, but you don’t have to participate if you don’t want.” “If you’d prefer, you can stay here at the platform and wait until we’re ready to go or the next train arrives, whichever comes first,” Ocellus added, trying to compromise. “But seriously, there’s no danger,” Smolder also added. “If there was, you can bet your last gem that we sure as heck wouldn’t be out here doing this.” She also patted Woofus on the shoulder. “Everything will go okay, you’ll see.” Seeing that none of this seemed to be reassuring him, though, Sandbar studied the Diamond Dog for a second, concerned. “Is there something else bothering you, Woofus?” he asked. Woofus fidgeted to himself then shook his head. “…no.” He met the gazes of the others. “I…guess if you do just stay near here, then…” “Look, we’ll be just over there,” Ocellus promised, pointing with one hoof at a line of shrubbery about a hundred meters from the platform. “If you’re up for it, you can come join us, or if you don’t, you can wait for us to come back here to the platform, okay?” Woofus hesitated, sitting down. “Well…I guess…” He didn’t speak further, so eventually the others looked to one another and started to walk off . It was clear they weren’t really thrilled leaving Woofus behind like this though, so much so that Sandbar hesitated, then doubled back to remain with the dog. “Look, I don’t want to leave you alone like this,” Sandbar began. But Woofus shook his head. “No, no,” he said and unconvincingly waved the pony on. “Don’t let me stand in your way.” Sandbar still hesitated. “But we’re still friends, aren’t we? And friends don’t leave other friends behind.” Woofus sighed, hanging his head. “I suppose I don’t want to fail to show support a second time…” he mumbled under his breath. Sandbar, not sure he heard the dog’s mumbling clearly, tilted his head at him. “…what?” Woofus didn’t clarify. “Okay,” he said, standing up to join Sandbar. “I’ll come with.” He looked back at the train platform. “It’d…probably be boring sitting there alone, anyway.” Sandbar grinned. “I’d imagine so,” he said, then nodded his head towards the others, already gone on without them. “C’mon, before the others get too far ahead.” Once they had caught up with the others, Woofus proved useful in locating likely spots to find rocks for their assignment, and he’d happily team up with Smolder, their other best digger, to scrape away at the dirt when needed. Nonetheless, the Diamond Dog seemed no more at ease than when they first arrived, constantly looking over his shoulder in dread and jumping at every little noise. “Honestly, Woofie, what’s got you so on edge?” Silverstream asked finally, tilting up the brim of the sunhat she was wearing so to see him better. “Do the quarray eels really make you that nervous, even though we’re nowhere near where they live?” “It’s not the eels that I’m worried about,” Woofus admitted, nervously scanning the terrain. Meanwhile, Yona was getting frustrated by another problem. “Yona not finding right rocks!” she grumbled, throwing down another rock that didn’t match their list. “Rocks being annoying! Yak smash!” She angrily stomped on the unyielding rock a couple times. Ocellus was consulting one of her textbooks, trying to find a solution. “We might have to move to another spot, try our luck there,” the changeling admitted. She turned her gaze to their surroundings. “I’m just not sure where might be the best place to look.” “Anybody got any ideas, then?” Sandbar hazarded to ask. “Betcha we’d find plenty thattaway,” Smolder suggested as she dusted off her claws, pointing east towards a nearby plain of jagged rock outcroppings. It lay closer to the rim of the gorge, but still far enough away to not be concerning. “I’ve got a feeling in my gut that’d be the place to look.” “Smolder may be right,” Ocellus reasoned, looking in the same direction. “That area looks like it could be more geologically diverse.” Woofus, however, disagreed. “I think we should go that way,” he suggested, pointing in the almost completely opposite direction, further away from the gorge where a few more trees grew. Gallus, wiping his brow, studied the alternate spot. “It would be a bit shadier at least,” he noted wistfully. “Yona think it be as good a place as any,” Yona reasoned. She glanced towards Smolder’s proposed spot. “So could other spot.” “Well, we can’t go to both spots,” Smolder grumbled, folding her arms. “Not with the time we have left.” “Actually we might be able to, if we split up,” Sandbar suggested. Woofus seemed appalled by this idea. “Spilt-up? Are you certain?” “Only into two groups, of course, so there’d still a good number to either group,” Sandbar clarified. “But that way we’d double our odds of finding the remaining rocks we need.” “So…we could finish faster that way?” Gallus asked, perking up. “Maybe,” Ocellus stressed. “Maybe’s good enough for me, so let’s do it!” “Okay, so I was thinking we’d just have the girls in one group and the guys in the other,” Sandbar suggested. “Aw, but that doesn’t seem fair, we outnumber you four to three!” Silverstream pointed out. “Counting Woofus means we have an uneven seven in our group anyway, so it’s never going to be an even split,” Ocellus pointed out. “So how about this, then?” Silverstream removed her sunhat and, flipping it over, handed it to Woofus. She then reached into her bag and pulled out a smaller bag of marbles. “Why do you have those?” Sandbar asked. “In case of marble emergency,” Silverstream answered while selecting out seven distinctly colored marbles from within. “You’ve been hanging around Professor Pinkie Pie too much,” Gallus quipped with a smirk. Silverstream held out the marbles. “Everybody pick one and remember what color it is,” she said. “Then drop it into the sunhat.” Everybody did so, at which point Silverstream took the overturned hat back from Woofus, shaking the marbles within. “Now I’ll have Woofus start picking marbles out at random. First one will go in the group heading east, the second will go in the group heading west, and so on, alternating until we run out. Deal?” “Deal,” her friends repeated almost as one, with exception for Woofus, clearly still having misgivings. But he didn’t stop them either, so with Silverstream holding the hat and comically keeping her eyes closed so to not accidentally peek, Woofus reached into the hat and pulled out the marbles one by one, determining who would go where. By the time they had finished, Gallus, Woofus, and Yona were all in the group to head west, while the rest were in the group heading east. As this meant Sandbar would be the only male in his group though, it didn’t take long before he started taking flak for it. “C’mon Sandbar,” Smolder teased, wrapping an arm around the pony as they started off. “Looks like we’ve got you all to ourselves.” Sandbar’s ears turned red. “Uh…” he faltered uncertainly, twisting his head around to pleadingly look at Gallus. Gallus, however, merely smirked. “Hey, you’re the lucky one here, Sandy,” the griffon remarked. “You’re getting all the ladies, but me and Woofus are just stuck with Yona.” Yona swatted him on the back for this, but hit him harder than intended and ended up bowling him over. Woofus helped the griffon up. “I still do not like the idea of splitting up like this,” he protested softly. “Aw, don’t sweat it, Woofus,” Gallus assured, turning to lead him and Yona to the west. “Nothing will happen, we’ll head home happy, and our homework completed. You’ll see.” Woofus, lagging behind, kept glancing back at the others. “I hope you are right,” he mumbled, worried what would happen if his fears instead came to pass. Heading east proved fruitful for Sandbar, Ocellus, Silverstream, and Smolder, and were soon uncovering plenty of samples of rocks they needed, with exception of two still eluding them. However, their progress was hampered slightly by the fact that Smolder, who was doing all the digging, kept realizing she was about to dig into some kind of hollow space directly underneath. As she didn’t know how big or deep this cavity might be, she’d stop short and move to a new location for everyone’s safety, only to face the same problem again a few minutes later. “There must be some sort of cave network sitting right under us or something,” she muttered as she clambered out of her latest hole, again having to stop short before digging into this cavity. “Whatever it is, it has to be pretty sizeable.” “I suppose it’d make sense, though,” Ocellus commented as she surveyed for a new spot to dig. “The quarray eels are obviously a burrowing species, and they’re said to have tunnels all throughout Ghastly Gorge.” She frowned, turning to gaze towards said gorge, still several hundred feet away, and looking puzzled. “But…I didn’t think they’d have tunnels this far from the gorge’s rim or this close to the surface.” “Maybe we should call it off and go join up with the others,” Silverstream suggested, as she and Sandbar gathered up their things in preparation to move again. “If these tunnels really are made by quarray eels, what happens if one suddenly came along?” Smolder shrugged. “Well, we either beat it to a pulp…” “…or we all get swallowed alive?” Sandbar offered knowingly, who like Silverstream, didn’t relish the idea of facing any of the eels. “I think Sil’s got a point. It might be smarter to go join the others, see if we can have just as good luck there.” “You just don’t want to be stuck alone with all of us girls,” Smolder teased, and after smirking as the sight of the pony’s ears turning red yet again, nudged Ocellus to follow her. “C’mon Ocellus, let’s try digging by that big boulder. I’m feeling lucky about it.” “We’ll catch up in just a second!” Silverstream promised as she and Sandbar continued gathering up their things. But they scarcely had finished before they heard Ocellus suddenly shout in alarm and both turned in time to see Smolder and Ocellus vanish into a hole that opened up in the ground where they were digging. Alarmed, both darted towards it only to skid a halt as they saw, to their great surprise, two big, burly, and armored Diamond Dogs brandishing spears clamber out. A third then appeared part way out of the hole, trying to pin down Ocellus as she struggled to get free. “Sandbar, Silverstream!” Ocellus shouted at the pair. “Run!” She was then dragged back out of view. Hundreds of questions were already springing to mind, but there wasn’t time to ask them as the remaining two dogs were already rapidly approaching to catch them too. Panicked, Sandbar and Silverstream quickly fled, but did so in time to see two more Diamond Dogs, dressed and armed similarly to the first, racing towards them from the other direction. Outnumbered and not sure where they had come from, Sandbar darted to one side of the dog closest to him, slipping around him and quickly galloping west as fast as he could go. Silverstream attempted to do the same, but the other Diamond Dog moved to block her, brandishing his spear. With a yelp, Silverstream dodged the crystal spearhead then, in a panic, slapped the spear’s staff downwards and away from her. In so doing, she inadvertently caused the butt end to swing upwards right between the dog’s legs. As he yelped and doubled over in pain, Silverstream jumped up and used the dog’s back as a springboard, spreading her wings. Once airborne, she saw Sandbar attempting to flee the other guard and quickly swooped to the rescue, grabbing him around the middle and carrying him off. The pursuing Diamond Dogs attempted to give chase from the ground—one even threw his spear at them—but even though Sandbar’s weight was keeping her altitude low, Silverstream successfully kept out of reach. Lacking any other ideas, she then turned to fly off for help, soon outrunning the dogs.