The train ride was uneventful all the way to Ponyville, leaving Twilight with little to do other than ponder what exactly it was she had concerning a plan. Other than the little hint Princess Celestia was able to give her, she had no idea where the other Bearers might be, or how to find them. It was all so frustrating, and not for the first time she wished that Spike could have come with her. He was always there to talk to and to help her with advice when she needed it. And now, he was going to be spending the next several years living halfway around the world with his mother. A shiver ran up her spine at the very idea. She had no delusions of being the little drake’s mother in her own mind, but there was still a bond between them that she had thought was unbreakable. Now she wasn’t so sure as she watched the rolling hills pass by the window.
Her arrival in Ponyville was met without fanfare, the passengers of the train disembarking around her as Twilight stepped onto the platform. Ponies walked to and fro along the small village’s central road, and Twilight hoped that one of them might turn out to be the Bearer she was searching for. Yet even after several hours of talking to ponies, walking into shop after shop and even pressing the Element of Generosity up against several ponies’ flanks, there was still no reaction from the large purple gem. Her search took her through the majority of the town and over the course of most of the day, leaving her with nothing more than frustration and sore hooves as the sun began to set.
It was with a heavy heart, low spirits and a heaping helping of frustration that the unicorn made her way towards the local inn with the hopes of getting a good night’s sleep before trying again in the morning. And yet, right as she was lifting her hoof to push open the front door to the small, thatch-roofed building, hope came back to the distraught mare as a soft glow began to shine from within her saddlebags.
Without needing her magic to carry it, the Element of Generosity lifted itself from the pouch on her left and began to hover in front of her muzzle. It waited for just a moment, as if checking to make sure Twilight was paying attention, before quickly flying through the air down the street.
“Finally!” Twilight cried, chasing after the floating jewel at a rapid pace.
The Element led the frantic unicorn down several streets before coming to an abrupt stop in the middle of the road just on the edge of town. Twilight slid to a halt before the gem, her eyes turning this way and that in a desperate search for the Bearer. Yet there was nothing to be seen other than rolling hills and gently swaying grass on either side of the cobblestone path.
Twilight turned her attention back to the Element, her frustration growing to a fever pitch as she reared up on her hind legs, “Oh come on!”
The unicorn was contemplating on how to destroy the seemingly faulty artifact when her hooves came back to the ground, the force of which cracked the dirt and loose cobblestone around her. The integrity of the ground barely held long enough for Twilight to realize that something was wrong, before it all fell away, plunging both the mare and the Element into darkness as the jewel lost its magic glow.
Thankfully, the drop was not a long one, leaving the disoriented mare with little more than a sore stomach for her troubles, her hooves finding ready purchase on the cavern floor as her horn lit up with a lavender glow. Much to her misfortune, there didn’t seem to be any way to climb out of the pit she had inadvertently dug for herself, and with the Element no longer glowing, she was left with nothing to guide her other than the various tunnels that disappeared into the darkness on either side.
Levitating the Element back into her saddlebags, Twilight picked a direction with careful precision, in other words, used einie, meanie, miney mo, before slowly trotting into the tunnel on her left.
Working her way through the tunnel’s depths, the disoriented mare slowly began to realize that it might have been a better idea to try and climb out of the cave-in, given the tunnel she had been following showed no signs of returning to the surface anytime soon. In fact, it seemed that the slope of the tunnel had slowly been taking her deeper, if the cooler temperature and slight angle under her hooves were any indication.
Forced to accept that she had taken a wrong turn, Twilight paused at the entrance to several side tunnels as she debated where to go next. However, her musings were interrupted by the loud and rapid approach of something from behind her. She was barely given enough time to turn around before the unicorn was unceremoniously clubbed upside the head with something akin to a tree branch, her horn light going out as her head impacted the side of the tunnel. Her ears picked up the rough growls of something that was certainly not a pony as large limbs picked her and her saddlebags up, her mind fogged over from the pain of being hit as she was slung over the creature’s back like luggage. Her addled brain tried to formulate a coherent thought through the pain, but without being able to see her attacker or focus her mind enough to cast, she was given no choice but to allow herself to be carried deeper into the caverns. The gentle clinking of the Elements and the thumps of the creature’s legs the only sound to mark their passage as they disappeared into the black.
It was some time later that Twilight woke up, her head still slightly spinning from whatever it was that had hit her upside the head, although at least at that point she could get her horn to light up so she could see where she was. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, the disoriented mare was able to make out several grey, vertical lines directly in front of her, her brain quickly deducing that they were in fact made of metal, and were secured to the ceiling/floor of the cavern. It took a moment for her to realize it, but once it clicked in her brain, Twilight realized that she was in a cell of some sort, a quick look around revealing that the Elements, along with her saddlebags, were gone.
“Oh nonononononononono!” Twilight scrambled to her hooves as she looked around, confirming that she was truly in a bare cell, and that her belongings were nowhere to be seen, “Oh, buck me sideways! Princess Celestia is going to kill me for losing the Elements!”
A quick burst of magic against the bars did far less than expected, as the metal somehow absorbed the energy from her horn, leaving the flabbergasted mare with even more frayed nerves as she began pacing back and forth in the confined space. Twilight mumbled under her breath as horrifying scenarios played through her mind, terrible punishments like being sent back to Magic Kindergarten, or worse!
It was several hours later that a sign of life finally appeared in the distance, a warm glow of torchlight as something approached from the right tunnel. At that point, Twilight had nearly worked herself into a panic attack, only to snap out of it as the wielder of said torch revealed themselves.
Twilight’s eyes widened in shock as she beheld the bipedal canine that walked up to the front of her cell, its long, ape-like arms rippling with muscles as the stubby hind legs struggled to keep up with its forward momentum. Its coat was a dusty grey, matted and clumped in several places where its torn vest didn’t cover it up with slightly-less-dirty brown cloth. Its head was blocky, with small ears and narrow eyes that glared down at her from almost twice her height. Twilight cowered under that penetrating gaze for a moment, the brute simply bending one of the bars out of the way and beckoning her with a claw.
“Pony come see boss.” Its voice sounded like it had been gargling sand for a week to Twilight’s ears, her hooves refusing to move until the hulking creature grabbed her by the back of her neck and dragged her out of the cell. “Pony see boss now.”
Twilight tried to fight against the dog’s grip, but it was like trying to fight a mountain. All she could do was drag her hooves against the tunnel floor as the hulking mutt directed her down the tunnel. At first she had been fearing the loss of the Elements, now she was more afraid of what was going to happen to her once she was brought before this thing’s boss.
They had only gone through a couple of intersections before Twilight spotted something that seemed familiar. Her heart soared as she realized that her saddlebags were resting on a pile of gems and pieces of raw precious metals, the Elements spread out next to the open flaps with the rest of her belongings as the mutt walked them right past the seeming storage area.
Twilight contemplated how she could get out of the dog’s grip without getting her next broken, but was interrupted before she could come up with anything by a distinctly feminine voice from directly in front of them.
“Unhand that mare, you brute!” Twilight’s head spun around and her jaw dropped in awe as she beheld the second dog that had appeared from the tunnel to the left.
While the dog that held her neck was seemingly part canine and part ape, this dog was cut from a much purer cloth. Her fur was long and at least somewhat clean, with white interspersed with patches of dusty gold along her limbs and on the left side of her face. Her body was much more symmetrical, with proportionate lengths between her torso and limbs and a long, feathered tail that hovered just above the ground. Her eyes were a bright sapphire blue, while her ears were folded at the halfway point on top of her narrower head. To top it all off, the dusty rags that her captor was wearing was replaced with a long yet simple dress that was a smooth grey with only a patch or two to mar its surface along the hem. All and all, the female before them was a far more appealing specimen of her species, and from the tone of her voice, willing to help Twilight instead of harm her.
“But pony is prisoner.” The brute holding Twilight’s neck responded.
“I don’t care if she is a prisoner,” the female countered, “she is also a guest, and what have we talked about when it comes to our behavior concerning guests?”
“Umm.” The brute actually stopped to scratch his head in confusion.
The female sighed, rolling her eyes before responding in slow words, “Guests are to be treated with generosity and courtesy, remember? We treat them the same way we would wish to be treated.”
The mutt still didn’t seem to get it, but while the dogs were talking, Twilight’s eyes had been drawn over to the cavern containing the Elements, specifically, the now-glowing Element of Generosity. Her eyes widened as the purple gem lifted off the ground, floating over to the female and interrupting her rant against her compatriot.
“Oh what a lovely gem,” she carefully lifted her paw to touch the jewel, before the Element flared with light and zipped up to her neck. In an instant, the gem transformed into a silver collar, inlaid with a smaller version of the Element in the center, directly over the female’s throat.
The mutt was so shocked and frightened by what he had seen, that he dropped Twilight and ran off into the tunnels beyond, leaving the two of them alone as the female inspected her new collar in a mirror that had been stashed in the cavern next to Twilight’s saddlebags.
“I say, what a lovely piece,” the female gushed as she turned back to Twilight, “but why would you give something like this to a Diamond Dog like myself?”
Twilight was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that the Element Bearer in front of her wasn’t a pony, although her musings were interrupted as pounding paws approached from where the mutt had run off to, announcing the arrival of several other large brutes as they guided in the largest mutt of them all.
The bruiser that walked behind his crew was a good head taller than the others, and carried a crude broadsword on his back that was nearly as long as Twilight was tall. The unicorn gulped as the hulking mutt took one look at her and her companion, before splitting his jowls in a cruel grin.
“So pony brought pretty gems for Diamond Dogs.” His voice was even rougher and deeper than the last mutt, his gaze travelling over to the female as his massive arm drew the sword from his back, “And we just hear from messenger dog that there big bounty on your head, pretty bitch. You worth lot of gold if we bring back to family. You and pony both be prisoners now, or else we not be so nice.”
Twilight’s mind was spinning like a top as the group moved to surround the two of them, her brain trying to comprehend all of the information that it was receiving. All she knew was that the female next to her was one of the Element Bearers, and that they were both going to be in trouble if they didn’t get out of there fast.
Her horn ignited as she teleported the saddlebags and remaining Elements onto her haunches, her voice a harsh whisper as she stepped in front of her companion, “When I give the signal, run.”
The female glanced down at her in confusion, “What?”
Twilight formed a bubble of magic around them, forcing it out with enough speed to knock the other dogs onto their backs or against the tunnel walls, “Run!”
Twilight took off back the way they had come, her companion keeping pace as she dropped onto all fours. Twilight’s shorter legs quickly started to cost them valuable speed as the mutts from before picked themselves up and chased after them, up until the female picked Twilight up by the withers with her mouth and deposited her between the larger creature’s shoulders. Twilight held on as best as she could as they sped down tunnel after tunnel, breaking through the entrance of a cavern before rocketing out of another tunnel and into open air. Twilight’s lungs drank in the cool night air as the female continued to carry her further and further from the Diamond Dog caves, although she noticed that the dog’s tongue was hanging and her breaths were coming in ragged pants.
Finally, after another ten minutes of nonstop running, they came to a stop at the edge of a small lake, her companion slowing to a halt before unceremoniously dropping onto her belly before dumping Twilight onto the dirt. Twilight managed to pull herself up as the Diamond Dog stood up and walked over to the lake’s edge, bending down to drink deeply from the cool water before turning back to face the unicorn.
“Apologies for the rather rough reception. Had I known those brutes would have acted in such a manner then I never would have allowed them to tunnel so close to pony towns.” The Diamond Dog sighed as she wiped her muzzle with the hem of her dress, her expression turning into one of disgust as she held up the dirty fabric in the moonlight, “I really do need to get some better fabric, though.” She started and spun around to face Twilight, her expression changing once again to that of exasperation, “Oh, but where are my manners.” She bowed while pulling the hem of her dress to the sides with her front paws, “My name is Rarity, charmed to meet your acquaintance.”
Twilight sputtered for a moment before she found her voice, “Uh, my name is Twilight, Twilight Sparkle.”
Rarity nodded, “Twilight Sparkle, an apt name for a unicorn I suppose.” She turned her head back the way they had come from and sighed, “I think we’re far enough away that they won’t find us. Those Mutts don’t like to leave their tunnels unless they absolutely have too. Let us hope we are not enough of a prize to warrant such an act.”
Twilight was about to ask a rather glaring question, when Rarity’s jaws split in a huge yawn, revealing her rather sharp teeth, “Oh my, it does seem to be getting rather late. You wouldn’t happen to have some blankets in those, um, charming bags of yours?”
Twilight decided to save her questions for later, levitating her sleeping blankets from the saddlebags and passing one over to the Diamond Dog.
“Thank you, darling.” Rarity whispered, laying down the cloth under a nearby tree before spinning in a couple circles, lying down and curling up in a ball while folding her tail over her nose. “Terribly sorry for running and then not taking the time to talk, but it has been a rather long day and I could really use my beauty sleep.”
“Oh, um, that’s fine, I guess.” Twilight replied, placing her own blanket close to the same tree, “We can talk more in the morning, if you feel like it.”
“Certainly, darling. I will look forward to it.” Rarity smiled softly before closing her eyes, her sides rapidly falling into an even rhythm as the Diamond Dog fell asleep.
Twilight wanted to stay up, she really did, but after all of the excitement and using so much magic, she was just as exhausted as her new companion. Her own eyes dropped lower and lower, before she finally gave up her battle with sleep and fell into the black abyss of unconsciousness.