Rarity tightens the last ribbon on her latest, grandest creation when the bell to her door rings.
"Coming!~" she shouts, trotting down, only to freeze in place when she sees just who it is.
"Good evening, Miss Rarity." Sapphire Shores says, nodding her head slightly as she turns her gaze around the well-kept boutique.
"Y-y-y-" Rarity stammers.
"You know my name?"
"Well, of course I do, darling," the aqua-maned pony sweeps her head, moving the hair out of her eyes with the sultry gaze she applies to everyone she meets.
"I make a point of knowing all of the up-and-coming designers, and to be blunt with you, Bridle Gossip Magazine just won't shut up about Ponyville's very own fashion savant."
Rarity composes herself admirably in the face of this praise, summoning up every ounce of poise she possesses. "Well, how may I help you then? I'm certain I can find something absolutely dazzling for you to wear, Miss Shores."
They chuckle lightly. "Please, call me Sapphire. As for what I want..."
"I'm going to dazzle the whole of Equestria as I go on my latest tour, and I need an outfit that will dazzle just as vastly as my singing!" she exclaims, waving her hoof around dramatically.
Rarity nods. "I have just the thing, my Magnum Opus, my 11th symphony of cloth and jewels."
She pulls a curtain away to reveal what she had been working on, a beautiful assortment of ribbons and frilly cloth that glitters as though it were covered with diamonds. In addition, however, the dress also glitters because it is covered in diamonds.
"This dress was created not only with every diamond I have, but with my last bolt of Crystal Cloth, a rare and exotic cloth like no other, oh just look at that shimmer," Rarity explains, showing off the dress with a burst of her magic to send the platform it's on spinning around.
Sapphire's eyes widen slightly. "It's perfect! I'll take it!"
Rarity nods with closed eyes. "Will that be cash, or cred-"
"I'll also take five more, each done up in a different gem. Costume changes, you know?"
Rarity swears she hears glass breaking as the revelation hits her. "Ahh, uh... Of course!"
As Sapphire looks over the dress, the back of Rarity's neck erupts with unladylike sweat. Well, it looks like she'll need to visit that Rock Farm that Pinkie spoke of earlier than she had thought...
Weiss reads the last line of the last page of the Equestrian Grimoire Noir, before allowing the book to be closed shut.
"Is it up to par?" Sunset asks with a vulnerable look in her eyes that Weiss can practically taste. It's a good thing he doesn't have a snake tongue. Aside from the numerous other problems that would cause, it would probably be flicking out right now with how fragile this pony had just made herself.
And now that he's strong enough to overcome his guilt and pity, he wouldn't have a single problem exploiting it.
With a mental shrug, he dismisses the notion for now. It wouldn't do him any good, and he would still feel bad about it. It isn't like those feelings are gone or weakened. Growth doesn't work like that.
"It's an accurate translation of the concepts and methods described in the original Grimoire Noir. It passes inspection well enough for me to proudly approve of it's distribution and reprinting.
"Will that be all?" he asks, making Sunset Shimmer look even more nervous and pitiable than before.
"Does this... Make up for what I did?" she asks, clearly having been driven by nothing but guilt and willpower these past few weeks.
Rolling his eyes, Weiss shrugs. "There was nothing to 'make up' for. I've already taken my revenge for the breach in privacy. The doors of The Tower have always been open to you, Sunset, even if you did betray my trust."
"If you're asking whether or not this put you in higher standing with me..?" Weiss trails off.
"Show me that my secrets won't destroy you, and I'll be happy. The Grimoire Weiss protects others through it's secrecy. Not me. And now you're vulnerable.
"You could find yourself tempted to use something from that book that you can never recover from," Weiss finishes.
Sunset churns the thoughts over in her head. "Will you teach me?"
Weiss snorts. "Fuck no. No offense, but you're still kind of a sociopath, as far as I know. Prove me wrong."
"I'll teach you if you can bring some actual, real friends with you. I'm assuming of course, that you haven't made a single one, considering who you are, and how you've spent your time here in Equestria," Weiss retorts smugly, before some quirk in the air puts him on edge.
"Actually..!" Sunset says, making Weiss's stomach sink with dread from his mouth writing a check that his ass doesn't want to cash.
Tempest bursting into the room changes Weiss's feelings from dread to confusion.
Spike's hand waves around to accentuate his rambling as he carries a sizable basket of gems over one of his shoulders. "Sapphire Shores, the myth! The legend! Uhh, almost as wonderful as you, of course..!" Spike says, making Rarity roll her eyes good-naturedly.
"A lady is never envious, Spike," Rarity explains, nose held the slightest bit upwards.
"No, of course not, Rarity. Especially when there's nothing to be envious of. I bet it was totally awesome meeting her though." Spike says smoothly, making Rarity giggle politely.
"Yes, well, it was certainly awe-inspiring. Oh dear, I'm going to be so overworked, I need to find enough gemstones for this order, and then I need to galavant across Equestria to obtain more Crystal Cloth... Ahh! Here we are!" Rarity exclaims, her horn's magical glow guiding her to a spot in the ground where a sizable concentration of gemstones had been growing.
Spike, tail at the ready, uses it as a scoop, yanking out a pile of gems and flipping them up onto the basket.
"You've certainly shown more restraint, Spike. Why, not three weeks ago, you would have been salivating at the sight of a cache like that," Rarity points out, while Spike just shakes his head.
"I've been learning a lot of stuff about myself this year, it turns out I can make myself hungry if I'm not careful..." he says with a small amount of shame, after learning that a dragon's metabolism goes crazy when they covet valuables that don't belong to them. Effectively "making room".
"But now Spike is one-hundred percent in control!" he exclaims, jabbing a thumb at himself.
Rarity nods primly. "That's very impressive to hear, Spike. Self-control is a very admirable trait to obtain."
Spike preens at the praise, allowing it to encourage him as they dig up more and more hidden clusters of gemstones.
"Oh! Oh my! I think there's another one!" Rarity says, her gem-finding spell dragging her along to a nearby tree, which she looks up to with confusion.
"...In the tree? Oh!" Rarity exclaims, jerking back when a gruesome face appears from the brush.
"Hello... you? I am Rarity, and this is my friend, Spike." Rarity says as the beast chuckles grimly.
The sneering dog-creature steps forward, hopping out of the tree and looking between the unicorn and dragon.
She chuckles nervously when the dog fails to respond. "And... Your name is?"
The dog grins. "Not important. All you need to know is that we seek gems, and we take gems, and since you find gems...
"We take you!" they snarl in a nasaly tone.
Grabbing for the Unicorn, Rarity shrieks with terror as two more Diamond Dogs appear behind her.
Suddenly, the dog flies back into the tree, a blast of Dragon Lightning stunning them. The source of the lightning turns out to be Spike's finger, his finger-gun shaped hand held by his other one as he starts sprinting as fast as his stubby legs will take him towards Rarity.
"Rarity, follow me!" Spike shouts, grateful that he had thought to actually start learning this sort of thing all those months ago.
The unicorn nods, desperately scrambling after the baby Dragon and scooping him up onto her back while he turns around and fires off another blast of green lightning from his finger-gun.
Suddenly the ground in front of Rarity erupts, another Diamond Dog appearing in front of her with a shout of "Boo!"
In a panic, Rarity rears back, Spike tumbling off her back and onto the ground.
"Agh!" Spike yelps, flipping end over end with his tail acting like a makeshift loop to his head, until he finally crashes into the tree nearby.
Shaking the daze out of his eyes, he sees Rarity in the Diamond Dog's grip, who tosses the screaming unicorn in a tall arc towards one of the holes.
"Noooooo!" Spike shouts, reaching out for Rarity with the sole intention of getting her out of danger, and the emotions he's feeling rising up to fever pitch.
A spark of magic does the rest when he finds he now has enough to open a large portal over the hole she had been thrown at, and she drops through into Twilight's library. The portal then slams shut with a door-like thump.
The Diamond Dogs, who had been watching, turn their stares to Spike, violence all but assured.
Spike instantly remembers something Weiss Noir had taught him after one of their training sessions as he gets to his feet and glares at the Diamond Dogs.
"Now that Rarity's gone, I can finally use my special technique..." Spike says, clear enough for the dogs to hear. They look nervous, one of them even backing away from the baby dragon with caution.
"Spike, there's one thing I really want you to know. As much as I like to rant about the power of darkness, without some friends to back you up, every battle is a dire one.
"One thing I'll say again and again is, 'Any fight you didn't start is one you should assume you're going to lose'. To do otherwise is foolish."
He paces back and forth, seemingly nervous about what he's going to say next to the young dragon, who is listening in rapt attention.
"So I'll be teaching you the Shadow Realm's ultimate technique. Forbidden, even among our most sacred clans. The only time you should use this technique...
"Is when your very life is at stake."
Spike's eyes widen. "W-what is it?"
Weiss raises a hand, pausing for a moment before slapping his foreleg, his expression completely serious as his voice drawls slightly. "You'll need to use your legs, and..."
"Run awaaay!" Spike squeals, turning on the spot and jogging as fast as he can away from the dogs, who are stunned and confused by the shift in tone for several seconds before trying to chase after him.
By that point, however, Spike has already created another Homeward Portal, leaping through it into Twilight's embrace in the library, as she had been trying to calm down a panicking Rarity moments before.
Hugging Spike tightly, Twilight attempts to begin her own panicked rant. "Spike?! I was worried sick whe-"
"No time dogs-portal-coming-now!" He shouts, turning and snapping the portal shut just as a Diamond Dog reaches through, the portal snapping like a rubber band around their paw as they scramble around trying to blindly grab at something.
Spikes eyes narrow as he runs up to the sustained portal and starts to kick the offending limb until it retreats with a muffled whimper, allowing the gateway to finally shut completely.
He plops to the ground with an exhausted sigh of relief, panting heavily after all the magic and running he had done.
Rarity is little-better, still breathing heavily from her own exertion and fear-response. "For a moment, I had really though that was going to turn out unfavorably... If it hadn't been for Spike..."
She shudders, before walking up and patting the drake on the head. "Thank you, Spike, you're a real hero," she stresses.
Spike gives a thumbs up.
"Awesome," he grins before falling asleep.
Weiss seriously can't believe this. He's witnessing an honest to god catfight in his office.
"All you've done is spy, connive and extort Weiss, and what did you do in return? Translated a book? Weiss could have done that himself, and saved himself the trouble of dealing with you," Tempest snarls.
Should Weiss put a stop to this? Encourage it? Obtain as much mud as he can in the next twelve seconds and see where this goes from there?
"Ok?! What were my options, then? Join his merry band of ner-do-wells? I was fighting for my motherbucking life over here, and Weiss didn't seem to have a problem with it! You think I'm stupid-"
Ehh... Maybe not. While it would be no doubt entertaining, Weiss doubts either of them would appreciate being splashed with mud and then being expected to wrestle until their problem is solved.
"Yes," Tempest interjects, making Sunset growl with frustration.
"Shut up and listen! You can't seriously think I didn't notice, right? He had cameras everywhere, and he kept giving me smug looks whenever I made off with some file or folder, I thought he was encouraging it, he certainly could have put a stop to it!"
Though, to be honest, Mud Wrestling could probably solve a lot of problems. If Nightmare Moon had started with that instead of the whole "shooting lasers at Princess Celestia" thing, then Weiss doubts the situation would have been made that much worse...
Tempest sneers. "Because Weiss Noir is a much better, far more tolerant pony than you, you inconsiderate crooked-horned prick!"
Sunset's jaw drops at that, before she charges Tempest Shadow, intent on tackling her to the ground. Tempest does the same, intent on turning Sunset into a pile of ketchup and mustard, manually.
Oh dear. He better take care of this before continuing the rest of his internal monologue.
Before either of them can begin reducing the other to censor-bars, Weiss grabs both of them in crystalline hands drawn up from the floor.
"Alright, I'm putting this conversation directly in the morgue. You two want to fight? Fine," Weiss claims, dumping them back down harshly, his tone demanding silence and respect.
"But if you two are going to fight, you'll be doing it my way.
"Have either of you ever heard of the Dark Tournament?" he smirks.
Sunset Shimmer's eyes widen as her jaw drops in silent realization, while Tempest's tone turns dry. "I'm assuming you're going to explain it for us?"
Weiss's smirk transmogrifies into a smile. "You know me too well."
Rover tries not to show fear as he dumps poison-green herbs into the pool of water in front of him.
The water churns and shifts, before a dark smoke begins to emerge from it, rising up to the inside of the tunnel.
A buff looking dogman appears on the screen, their lower jaw more than three times longer than their upper. Drool strings down from their face as they snarl at Rover.
"What," they state with a deep growl overlapping their words.
"Clifford-" The hulking animal growls, making Rover yip nervously.
"Big Boss Clifford! I found white horn pony who hunts gems, hunts as good as dragon! But the pony got away."
Big Boss Clifford grimaces. "Dumb Dog. You can't catch a pony?"
Rover gulps. "Pony had help, a fearsome dragon, shot lighting at us and escaped with the pony"
Clifford's eyes narrow as their nostrils flare. "Ok. I'll come."
"Where's the gem-pony now," they say, sucking down a deep breath as they get up from their pillow on the ground, rising to their full height.
"Ponyville, Big Boss Clifford," Rover says, keeping his posture submissive, in spite of the fact that he can only see Clifford over the magical screen that they're communicating over.
Clifford growls. "She's hiding there too. I'll take them both."
"Who?" Rover's head tilts to the side.
Clifford's face twists further, his lips drawing back to reveal rows of teeth.
"Tempest Shadow."
"What did you just say?" Tempest questions, turning to Rarity while Weiss haggles with Pinkie Pie for catering some kind of event in the background.
Rarity sniffles, slurping at her milkshake before answering the plum pony. "Diamond Dogs, that's what they called themselves, deary. I've had to delay my order after Spike and I had been attacked by them in the forest... It was simply dreadful."
Tempest swallows heavily. "Did they walk on two legs? And talk?"
Eyes widening a small amount, Rarity nods. "Yes, it was the oddest thing, they had been reared up, walking on their hind-legs like a minotaur. Why do you ask?"
Tempest turns to face Weiss, nervousness entering her facial expression. "Don't concern yourself with it."
"I don't know, Tempest, that sounds like the exact thing someone would say if they knew something concerning," Twilight claims, acting as the temporary nap-spot for her number one assistant, Spike.
Tempest's eyes narrow before she releases a sigh. "Have you ever met anyone who lived in Storm Country?" when they shake their heads, Tempest continues.
"The thing about Storm Country is that it's magically charged. A lot of things can't survive there because lightning bolts like to jump between the mountains from time to time. The things that do live there, however, get tall. If it walks on two legs and shouldn't be doing that, it's almost certainly because they've been exposed to Storm Country's magic long enough, and strongly enough."
"And recently," Tempest finishes.
Twilight and Rarity fail to comprehend what it is Tempest Shadow is getting at, while, in the background, Weiss is engaged in a vigorous hoofwrestle with Pinkie, as a sacred trial of discount-obtaining.
"And... That means what exactly?"
Tempest rolls her eyes. "A large group of walking talking Diamond Dogs, hunting gems, sneaking around underground, and willing to kidnap ponies to get them more gemstones? You tell me what that means."
Rarity tsks uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, dear, I still don't follow."
"-So I told them, Rushmore? I'm carving as fast as I can!" Pinkie shouts, as her, Weiss and Sunset approach.
Weiss plops down into a seat, rubbing his aching arm and grumbling about how Earth Ponies cheat at arm-wrestling.
With a sigh, Weiss turns to the unicorn trio before him. "So, you gals talking about how the Storm King's forces are being arrayed against us?"
Tempest's eyes narrow slightly. "How could you possibly have known I was talking about that?"
"I was like six feet away, Fizzy. You read too many detective novels," Weiss responds easily, waving her off.
"Also, one time I replaced Ponyville's fly population with artificial microphone golems that automatically pipe in sensitive data to my earpiece. You're welcome, by the way."
Twilight closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and releases it in a far, far deeper sigh than Weiss's was. "Thanks, Weiss. now I've got to go research an anti-golem spell. Thanks. Really."
With that, the purple unicorn trots out of the room, making Weiss look incredulous. "Well jeeze, talking like she is, you'd think there were still microphone golem flies in Ponyville."
Weiss allows a shit-eating-grin to cross his face. "Good thing I shut those down after I was informed on the legality of doing so on private property."
Tempest restrains herself, knowing how little Weiss cares for taking his opponents seriously in everything but his actions.
"Sir, don't you think that Storm Creatures apparently living within walking distance of Ponyville is a cause for concern?" Tempest asks diplomatically.
Weiss shakes his head. "I can't afford to worry about small stuff like that. I need to prepare for the Second World Dark Arts Tournament."
"Please, Weiss, can we at least investigate the matter?" Tempest begs, prompting Weiss to notice just how squirrelly his trusted lieutenant is.
'It's a good thing I have Magicant, or these bad feelings might actually hinder my thought processes.' Weiss reinforces to himself internally before, after a long period of contemplation, he decides that satisfying Tempest's request would be better than having to deal with these bad and guilty feelings for ignoring her very real concerns.
"Fine, I guess we can pop over there and check it out. Take ass, kick names. Just the basics," Weiss shrugs, before turning to Rarity and Sunset.
"Rarity, go to Twilight's place, just in case things get any nastier, I'll give you the courtesy of informing you when the forest is safe again. Sunset, call up Celestia, but instead of feeding her yet more of my most precious secrets, tell her something useful and inform her about a nest of Diamond Dogs near Ponyville. Pinkie Pie?"
The pink party mare smiles, nodding in preparation for Weiss's command as he points at her.
"Smash."
With that, he claps, before standing up and walking out the door, Tempest in tow, and a confused Rarity and Sunset left behind with the giggling Pinkie Pie.
A trio of Diamond Dogs stand against Weiss and Tempest, looking nervously at the two.
"What you want? Go away!" the biggest one shouts, dropping to all fours.
Tempest sneers. "They've been away from Storm Country for... A year. Maybe longer. See their hands? They've already started changing back into paws. And their ability to speak is... Well, roughly what you would expect from a Diamond Dog, but still."
Weiss nods. "Thank you, dear Fizzy. Alright boys, if you would, I'm going to erm... What is it you do when you want to know something?"
Rover coughs. "Question?"
"Beating, yes, thank you. I'm going to ask you a beating. Hmm. The joke doesn't work that well that way. I'll have to workshop that." Weiss mumbles to himself, before shaking his head. "Not the time."
"Anyway, I want to know who your leader is, or I'll-" Weiss demands, before Tempest shakes her head and motions for him to back away.
"Oh, alright. It's your show, Fizzy," he says, surprised, but compliant.
Tempest smiles, before pulling the sphere from her belt, clicking a button on it which causes it to inflate, a beachball made of what looks like blue latex.
Unlike what the lesser-minded might suspect, the sphere doesn't turn into a liquid or hunt down the nearest living female. Instead, vicious-looking blunted spikes sprout from it, and it obtains a metallic luster as it's alchemical treatments allow it to take on metal-like properties.
"Alright, let's begin," Tempest states, before flipping on one of her forehooves and kicking the ball in a spinning arc towards the big one, who yelps before it bashes them in the head, knocking them unconscious as the spiked ball bounces off of them and back to Tempest.
She balances the ball on her nose almost playfully. "Tell me who your real leader is. I won't be as polite if you decide to withhold anything."
Rover gulps, before shaking his head. "Y-you'll just beat us up... He'll..."
Tempest bounces the ball on her nose as she walks closer and closer to the cowering duo.
Suddenly, more Diamond Dogs erupt from below, ignoring Rover's panicked warnings as they rush to attack her.
Tempest smiles, before prodding the metal ball with her horn, making it pop like a balloon as her crystalline protrusion activates the explosive gas stored in it.
A scintillating flash blinds the cave-dwelling hounds, as Tempest takes the stunned pause as her cue to unleash a spray of flashing, strobing magic missiles that spread out and begin striking the howling Diamond Dogs, making them leap and run around frantically as the spheres of magic repeatedly whack them like hellish rave disco newspapers.
Weiss chuckles when one of them tries to hide behind him from the chaser attacks.
"Bad dog," Tempest says with a smirk, approaching the cowering Rover.
"Now..." She starts, feinting at Rover and making the head dog flinch piteously.
"Speak."
Rarity sips at a glass of iced tea, one which Spike had graciously produced when he woke up, cheerfully excited to have the ivory unicorn over to visit while the forest got... Cleared out.
Rarity goes to thank Spike, but before he can, he scrambles into the kitchen in a panic, trying to remove Sweetie Belle from the kitchen. A move that is for the best, Rarity suspects. "Thank you!" she calls out after the dragon.
Twilight continues rubbing her head. "That pony is going to give me an aneurysm Is he even capable of not misleading ponies?"
Rarity holds her hooves up. "Don't ask me, dear, I hardly know the fellow."
Twilight takes a deep swig of her own tea. "I know, I'm just venting."
A small knocking at the door makes their ears perk up, as Sweetie Belle trots over and opens the door.
"Hello, little one. I'm Boss Clifford, and I've been looking for you." Rarity, Twilight, and Spike turn at the gruff voice when it's followed by Sweetie Belle squealing with fear as the gigantic brute grabs her in one meaty fist.
"Let her go this instant!" Rarity shouts, making the gigantic red dog beast turn and look at her with disinterest, before his eyes widen.
"You. You're the gem hunter. It seems I grabbed the wrong white unicorn," Clifford says, tossing the fearful filly in his grip behind him carelessly, as Twilight saves her from a painful thump to the floor with the power of her telekinesis.
"You'll be coming with me now," Clifford says, reaching to grab the unicorn, before Spike fires a blast that makes them pause as the lightning washes over their barrel chest and fur, green electricity crackling over it.
The dog gives what might be a chuckle. "Cute. I think you'll find that I'm up to the challenge of absorbing lightning, however. My homeland affords me that benefit," they claim, banishing the electric charge with a flex of their chest, sending sparks flying away as they stalk closer.
Twilight growls, her horn lightning up before the slobbering brute instantly punches her through a wall and out of her home, making Rarity shriek with terror as she is narrowly missed by the purple projectile.
"You! You're not going to get away with that!" Spike shouts, charging up another blast when Clifford picks up the screaming and kicking Rarity.
He laughs. "Go ahead little dragon. One more shot, just to remind you that lightning can't hurt me."
Spike remembers another important lesson, as he closes one eye and lines up the Diamond Dog's face in his sights.
"Alright, alright. I promise this secret trick isn't another prank. I've actually got something you can use in a fight," Weiss chuckles, as Spike pouts at the reveal of Weiss's most forbidden technique.
"This one's important. There are no immunities in a fight. Only resistances. Every shield can be broken with enough raw force. Every rubber band can only be stretched so far. That being said, if something isn't working, don't just keep using the same thing over and over. Flip the script.
"So, if you ever find Dragon Lightning or Dragonfire not working, keep this in mind. I'm sure Twilight already told you plenty of times, but Unicorn Light is a spell whose sole purpose is to carry other spells. A dragon's fire is the same way. It's just a vessel that your actual spells are carried in.
"If raw Dragon Lightning is failing you, just infuse some sort of spell into it. The lightning can actually carry the magic along with it.
"Oh, and if you give it a cool name, that makes it stronger, like in the comics."
"Voltage..!" Spike enunciates, trying his hardest to put something into his last shot at saving Rarity from this jerk!
Clifford chuckles.
"Spike!" Spike shouts, the green bolt flying out and hitting Clifford.
Clifford stops laughing and starts wheezing.
After a soot-filled cough, the dog growls, stepping forward woozily. "You... you think that's even nearly enough to put me down, lizard? I'll..."
Suddenly, a gigantic boulder crashes through Twilight's house, smashing Clifford in the head before falling to the ground with a heaving thud.
After a few unsteady tilts and stumbles, Clifford falls over unconscious from the combination of dragonfire burns and a massive concussion, their grip loosening enough to allow Rarity to squirm out, kicking the dog in the head for good measure.
"Awful! Awful dog! Do you know how long it will take to get this smell out of my coat!?" she shouts as Sweetie Belle runs up and hugs her leg.
"Oh, it's alright Sweetie, I'm alright," Rarity coos, rubbing Sweetie Belle's head.
Spike blows the smoke off of his finger before fake-holstering it at his side in a way he is firmly confident looks cooler than it is. Good thing Clifford wasn't immune to dragon fire... or rocks.
Rarity trots over and hugs Spike. "Oh thank you again, Spike, I swear, I've been attracting the most awful company. Can you ever forgive me?"
"Aww, I could-" Spike starts, before Twilight leaps through the door, purple mane ablaze and slit eyes promising a beatdown as she waves her sword around.
"Where is he? I'll crush him into kibble! I'll-" Twilight pauses, spotting Spike receiving his victory hug from Rarity and Sweetie Belle, and the unconscious Clifford on the floor of her library.
She dismisses the combat spells and the Master Sword before grinning sheepishly. "Oh."
Spike meanwhile, looks a bit confused. "I'm glad that rock knocked him out, but where did it come from?"
Outside, Pinkie Pie stands waving at them next to her "Old Fashioned Pie Family Style Party Cannon"
"I smashed!" Pinkie giggles, making them all realize that the boulder in Twilight's house had a party hat strapped to the top of it.
Tempest gives Weiss a long, hard stare, until he wilts under it.
He tries to think of any reason why these Diamond Dogs might be mining out gems in Equestria and sending them back to Storm Country that could be benign. Unfortunately, he fails.
"Fine, I admit it. You were right, and these scumbags are related to the Storm King," he moans.
He kicks the ground. "Am I seriously going to have to deal with this shit before I can throw my big tournament?"
Tempest shrugs as a set of chariots begin to float down from above them.
The two Pegasus guards on the foremost chariot begin to pull down a large, ornate and golden mirror from their chariot, while the other guards begin slapping handcuffs on the unconscious Diamond Dogs, dragging them into the cage-covered chariots for processing in Canterlot.
Instead of speaking to Tempest and Weiss directly, the guards simply tap the mirror, which ignites with a magical glow.
Celestia's face appears on the mirror and Weiss pulls a bucket of popcorn from somewhere unknown.
"Thank you, dear heroes, for your service to Equestria. Truly, thanks to your efforts, Harmony will reign that much more over our fair land."
After roughly a minute of serene gazing, she continues. "To repeat this recorded message, say 'Repeat', to deactivate this mirror, say 'Off'."
"So does the princess do this with all aspiring heroes?" Weiss asks incredulously.
One of the guards gives him a sidelong glance. "No, she had this commissioned to annoy you."
Weiss's snickering continues long after the royal guards have already taken the Diamond Dogs away.
"Ok..?" Tempest says, confused at how this qualifies as humorous.
The comedy of immortals is esoteric at best.
"My word, Pinkie, where did you get all of this?!" Rarity squeals, looking at the twin wooden crates, filled to the brim with Crystal Cloth and gigantic glittering jewels.
Pinkie shrugs. "I wasn't gonna leave you hanging sister! After you told me about running out, I ran all the way home to pick some up for you, and pa was like"
She puts her hooves at her sides and waves her head back and forth with a serious expression. " 'Well, Pinkie, if she's going to be taking garbage off of our farm, she might as well take all of it.' and he gave me a box of gems too. We normally just toss em since they aren't boulders!
Rarity faints on the spot at Pinkie's explanation.
Twilight giggles and Spike rushes over in a panic, waving a paper fan at the faint unicorn.
Considering her number one assistant is busy, Twilight starts the letter herself.
Dear Princess Celestia
Today I've learned that even the grandest of problems can be made manageable with bravery, perseverance, and a lot of help from your friends. Although my library suffered a bit in the process, I believe it was worth it to see how my friends can come together when I'm indisposed, how they can be trusted to fight their own battles, and, even when I'm not right there to help them, how they can prove themselves to be capable individuals in their own right, using magic, wits, and a strong set of legs to solve their problems.
Yours truly, Twilight Sparkle.
Nightmare laughs in the face of the black void she's found herself in. "If you think doing nothing at all qualifies as tormenting me Weiss Noir, I'm very unimpressed!"
'I've spent a thousand years on the moon. I'm more than patient enough to outlast this nonsense,' Nightmare thinks to herself with a small yawn.
He was even dumb enough to give her a physical form! Filly-sized or not, as soon as she gets out of here, she can really get started with her plans.