//------------------------------// // A Dog, Ling, and Pony Show // Story: My Little Pony: Friendships and Magic [Season 1] // by Alpha Wolf 4500 //------------------------------// It was a bright sunny day in ponyville and Rarity was working in the boutique, working on her new creations. "Perfect!" She said after putting on some gems. The doorbell rang to indicate that somepony had just entered her shop. She magically closed the curtain on her latest creation and turned to greet the potential customer. "Coming! Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique." she said in her best hostess voice and gasped when she saw a yellow pony with blue/white mane and tail, and yellow eyes, recognizing her instantly. "Sapphire Shores! The pony of pop!" "Good afternoon, Miss Rarity!" said Sapphire Shores cheerfully, trotting past the stunned unicorn. "You yah... y-y-you know my name?" Rarity stammered. "Well of course I do darling. Bandit told me quite a bit about you." She said, examining some of the outfits on display. "I make it a point to know all of the up-and-coming designers and Clothes Horse magazine simply raved about you. Bandit, Hoity, and Tailor Coat brag about you a lot." "Oh my stars," said Rarity, doing her best not to faint. "If I'm dreaming, do not wake me up. How may I help you, Miss Shores?" she asked, pulling herself together. "Oh please, call me Sapphire," said Sapphire Shores pleasantly. Rarity giggled nervously. "How may I help you, Sapphire?" "Well, as I'm sure you know, I'll be touring all of Equestria with my latest concert," Sapphire Shores explained. "Sapphire Shores' Ziegfilly Follies, so I need to look seeensational! Ow!" "I have just what you need." said Rarity, recalling the outfit she'd finished moments ago, and she went to the curtain. "Sapphire Shores, prepare yourself for the pièce de résistance de la haute couture." She magically opened the curtain to reveal a white outfit that was ruffled on the cuffs, and covered with all kinds of gems. "I used every last diamond I found on this one garment." Sapphire Shores gasped with utter delight. "And it is spectacular! I'll take it." "Really?" Rarity asked, pleased. "Oh yes, and five more, each done up in a different jewel." The pop star said, nodding with approval. Rarity blinked, not sure that she heard that last part right. "Beg pardon?" "Costume changes." Sapphire Shores said as she examined the outfit while Rarity glanced at her empty chest and then fainted. The pop star noticed this and chuckled. "Yes, I do have that effect on ponies." My Little Pony, My Big Changeling too Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhh… [Bandit] (My Little Pony) We used to wonder what friendship could be (My Big Changeling too) [Twilight Sparkle] Until you all shared its magic with me [Rainbow Dash] Big adventure [Pinkie Pie] Tons of fun [Rarity] A beautiful heart [Applejack] Faithful and strong [Fluttershy] Sharing kindness! [Lightning Sprint] Motivate the team [Bandit] Heroics makes it all complete You have my little ponies Do you know you're all my very best friends? Later on, Chad was sniffing around an area not too far from Ponyville. Having agreed to help rarity find more gems for the outfits, while pulling a wagon. Rarity was nearby using her horn to look around for gems. “I can’t believe Sapphire actually managed to stop by. I thought Bandit was pulling my leg when he told me [turns his mane similar to Bandit’s], ‘Expect to help Rarity soon, because I told Sapphire Shores about her. She’ll want some of those dresses or suits she made.’. [turns his mane back to normal].” Chad went back to sniffing and dug a hole and took out some jewels before catching up with Rarity. “By the way, why did you ask for my help instead of Spike’s?” Chad asked. Rarity booped him on the nose. “Because darling, you have the nose to find gems so I’m not doing all the locating.” Rarity said. Chad smiled and wagged his tail. “Also, you’ll eat a lot less gems than Spike.” “Speaking of which, is it okay if we get some gems for Spike too?” Chad asked. “Of course darling.” Rarity said. As they kept looking, Chad started asking questions again. “So, were you totally flipping out or what?!" Chad asked her. Rarity chuckled. “Ladies do not "flip out" Chad." she corrected him. "However, I was quite in awe. Oh, I need to find more jewels than ever before to decorate her costumes." Her horn brightened and on the ground, an image of gems briefly appeared. "Oh, aha!" Chad sniffed the air and found the same spot Rarity found the gems. “I got them.” Chad said as he dug those gems up and placed them all in the wagon. All except one red gem, which made Chad lick his lips. He was about to eat it but Rarity called him. “Chad. I promised I'd give you gems to snack on, but we need to collect more first or I'll never be able to make these outfits for Sapphire." She added. Chad made the puppy eyes, which worked. “Okay, just the one. But no more after that.” Chad smiled and ate the gem before going back to pulling the wagon and sniffing out gems. Rarity continued to search with her horn as Chad sniffed the ground. He dug up at his site before moving over to Rarity, placing them in the wagon before seeing it was now full. Chad tapped his chin. “Maybe we need more wagons.” Rarity said. Chad looked at one of the rocks and sparked his horn and blasted at one of them, making a wagon out of it with transfiguration. “That’ll work.” Chad dug in the locations he sniffed out and the locations Rarity marked. He even used his tail and mane as a jackhammer and a drill. Soon enough, Chad was pulling 3 wagons full of jewels. “You have been such a grand helper Chadikins.” Rarity said, she grabbed a few gems and piled them in front of Chad. “These are for Spike and-” She piled a few red gems next to the other pile. “These are for you.” “Thank you Rarity!” Chad said with a smile as he put Spike’s gems in a box that he pulled from nowhere and closed it, putting it right back. Then he began placed the red gems in his hoodie pocket, eating three of them. His tail was wagging as he snacked. Rarity smiled and pulled him into a hug. “You are the most adorable.” She said as she nuzzled the top of his head. Then her horn started glowing. “Oh, more gems. Chadikins, bring the wagons. There are more over here.” She started trotting that way, unaware she was still holding Chad, who was using his magic to pull the wagons and the box. “Um...Rarity?” Chad called. She looked down, laughed sheepishly and let him go. He latched himself back onto the wagon and trotted behind her. Unknown to either Chad or Rarity (so far), they were being watched from the nearby bushes, and a gray dog-like paw pulled the bushes apart so that they could spy on the nymph and the wagon full of gems. "Yesss, gemss.” One of the creatures said in a very raspy voice. "Gemsss!" "Where?" A second creature asked. "Preciousss gemsss!" It hissed excitedly, seeing Chad digging some more gems out of the ground. "He is the gem hunter. With him we can have all those gems… and more! Let's get that…...whatever he is." And it closed the gap in the bushes with the intent of going after Chad. Chad’s ears were twitching and he looked towards the bush as the gap closed. “Chad!” Rarity was heard calling. “Where are you?” "Wait! Who is that?" The creature wondered as it opened the bushes again. Then it saw the unicorn with the glowing horn. "You know, it's terrible to keep a lady waiting," Rarity said in a mild scolding manner as her horn pinpointed another spot containing gems. Chad was much faster in trying to dig these out. "I think we're really going to strike gold this time," Rarity remarked with a giggle. "So to speak." Chad pulled out a large batch of gems that were mostly stuck together. "Oh, it's not just that thing we want." The creature, said practically drooling. "It's the pony too!” “The pony.” The other creatures said as they closed the bushes. Chad put the gems on the third wagon before looking at Rarity. “Rarity, we need to leave ASAP.” Chad to her. “I agree, we have more than enough for the out-” “No, someone or something is spying on us. And they-” Chad tried to explain, but Rarity’s horn began to glow glowing brighter then before. "Why don't we start headi… Oh!" she gasped and followed the glow. "What's this? Another jewel. Oh.. Oh, strange. It's in the trees." She peered up through the leaves to see a yellow topaz. “Oooo… Ewww!" She yelped and jumped backwards as the owner of the topaz popped out of the tree to reveal that it was a light gray dog-like creature with light green eyes, wore a black collar with diamonds, and a green vest whose pockets were filled with gems. "Uh… uh… Good day, gentle… uh, fellow," she stammered as it stalked toward her. Uh, I am Rarity and this is my friend Chad.” Chad was in a defensive stance already. Backing away with Rarity. "And you are?" Rarity asked, doing her best to be politely despite being terrified. "A Diamond Dog." the creature answered in its' raspy voice. "Oh really? Oh well, that explains your fine taste in jewelry." Rarity remarked "I mean I-I-I know that diamonds are a girl's best friend and now I know that they're a dog's best friend too, ha ha ha. So, um." she cleared her thought politely "You're out hunting for gems as well?" The Diamond Dog nodded, still stalking toward them. "Yes. We hunt." "Uh… we?" Rarity repeated, confused. Chad’s nose picked up two more smells, making him turn around. "We hunt for gems," The Diamond Dog said as two mounds of dirt behind his targets shifted as the other two Diamond Dogs dug upward, Chad let out a growl. "But you two are better hunters. So now we hunt… for you!" Rarity screamed when the two Diamond Dogs popped out of the ground. One tried to grab her but she ducked under it. Chad grabbed the tail of the smaller diamond dog and shook him like a rag doll and throwing him into the wall. He then bucked the bigger one towards the tree before turning to Rarity. “Rarity run!” Chad said before the bigger diamond dog grabbed him, wrapping his arm around his mouth so not to be bitten. “You let him go!” Rarity shouted, trying to spark her horn. However, the medium sized diamond dog from earlier grabbed her, resulting in a screech as she was pulled into the hole he came out of. Chad’s eyes went wide and he saw thus, he used his magic and used his tail to grab a rock and clocked it in the knee, making him let go. He tried to run for Rarity but, the smaller diamond dog grabbed him. He flipped the script and pinned him. Snapping his fangs at the diamond dog who was only barely able to hold him back before the bigger diamond dog scooped him in a sack. He stuck his paw in to shove him down, only to be bitten. Chad’s upper half came out with a hiss as his horn sent a beacon into the air before he was shoved back into the bag as the two dogs tied up the bag. The beacon hit the air, and Bandit both heard and saw it from the library. He quickly ran to get the others. Bandit, Spike, and the other ponies were running to the location Chad and Rarity were previously. They all skidded to a halt and gasped, for the whole area was covered with large holes, and even Spike wasn't sure which hole was the one that the Diamond Dogs had used to grab Rarity and Chad. "Holy moly, that's a lotta holeys." Pinkie Pie said, no one disagreed with her since she was right about the amount of holes. Bandit began sniffing the air before following Chad’s scent, which was at the moment, mixed in Rarity’s since they were pulled the same direction. “Follow Bandit, he’s got their scent.” Spike pointed out. Twilight was following, but something growled and got her attention, making her look down a hole where a pair of eerie yellow eyes appeared. Her startled gasp turned into gagging when she was suddenly hit in the face by an eruption of dirt that sealed the opening. "Puh!" Rainbow Dash was next on the unwanted face mask list as she was hit as well. “Yuck!” She exclaimed. The other six ponies and the baby dragon all got hit in the face with eruption of dirt filling in the holes they'd been peering into, and they looked around with horror as the holes were being filled all around them. Bandit followed the scent and ended up finding the hole Rarity and Chad were dragged into. He walked into the hole, only to here his friends getting into a struggle. "Quick!" Twilight shouted, running toward a hole that hadn't been filled in yet. "We gotta get down one before they're all filled up." And the ponies did try to get down one of the holes, but the Diamond Dogs were quick to fill them up, and they had an advantage since they were underground, most likely using tunnels to get around. "We can't muscle through it!" Applejack shouted, frustrated. “Where’s Bandit? He could!” Spike exclaimed. Rainbow Dash wasn't about to give up and did a dive-bombing run toward a hole along with Lightning Sprint. "No time." And just when it looked like they were going to get inside, the hole, Lightning Sprint ended up colliding with a pile of dirt instead and Rainbow Dash skidded to a stop. "Whew. Heavens to Betsy," said Applejack, shaking off the dirt. "Now I'm used to pickin' myself up and dustin' myself off, but Rarity won't even touch mud 'less it's imported." The ponies nodded, already imaging what Rarity was enduring, knowing her need for being clean would be sorely tested by being underground. "Oh, Rarity…" Rarity was in a cell, pacing around in frustration. "Oh, woe is me!" she sighed dramatically. "Whatever shall I do?" She then stepped into a bit of dirt and she panicked. "Ah! Dirt, dirt! Get away, dirt!" She tried to shake the dirt off, but she ended up running into the walls, and she was soon covered with dirt. "Oh! Make it stop, make it stop! Ah! Filthy, disgusting dirt. It stings, it burns. Help! Oh, somepony save me, save me!" “Or poor Chad! He’s probably so scared.” Pinkie said. They all started imagining what fear Chad was experiencing. Chad had his back to the wall in the cell he was in. He was looking around with a terrified look on his face. A small pebble dropped onto the ground next to him and made him jump and start pinballing around the cave. “I wanna go home!” He cried out. Bandit popped the thought bubble with his horn. “Do you guys always have these overexaggerating imaginations?” Bandit asked. Applejack shook her head. "We gotta save them." "But they blocked up all the holes," Fluttershy pointed out. Applejack climbed up onto one of the piles. "Don't mean we can't dig 'em out," she reminded her friends, and she began digging. "Come on!" Soon the six ponies and the baby dragon were busy digging into the piles of dirt, determined to save their friend. “Wait guys! There’s an easier way-” Bandit tried to say before seeing a diamond dog pop up and grab Pinkie’s tail, sling shotting it into her rump. The dog sees Bandit pounce at him and barely dove back into the dirt. Bandit sniffed into the air and jumped up, diving head first into the dirt, grabbing the diamond dog by the tail and pulling him out, shaking him like a rag doll. “Noooooot aaaaagaaaaaain!” He exclaimed as Bandit threw him into another dirt mound. The diamond dog dug himself into the mounds to escape. Bandit was gonna go after him, but heard his friends struggling. He ran over to see his friends a bit sprawled out. "All those scary monsters popping up everywhere," Fluttershy complained as she and the others stood up. "Oh, poor Rarity and Chad must be terrified." They were soon imagining what kinds of horrors their friend was enduring, except Bandit, who sideglanced in slight annoyance and walked back to the hole and jumped in. As the others imagined the scenario of Rarity and Chad being scared, Bandit continued to follow their scent and soon found himself surrounded by Diamond dogs. He looked around and rolled his eyes. “Surrounded by diamond dogs. What ever will I do.” He said in the most sarcastic tone. Four kicks connection four different diamond dogs changed attitudes real quick. There was only one left and Bandit glared at him. The final diamond dog bonked himself on the head and knocked himself out. Bandit continued on his way. Meanwhile on the surface, Spike managed to find a jewel and instead of eating it, he was using it as a bait over a hole. "I'll save you, my sweet." The ponies joined him at the hole, just as the baby dragon began lowering the gem into the hole, like he was fishing. Twilight was touched by what he was doing. "Spike, it is very noble of you…" "Shhh!" Spike hissed. "…to sacrifice the gem you found. I know how much you love those gems." Twilight Sparkle whispered. "Oh, Lady Rarity," Spike sighed, daydreaming. "My damsel in distress." “And Chad?” Twilight pointed out. But Spike was already in his fantasy. Sir Spike, who was tall and wearing a suit of arm with a spear, entered the liar of the Diamond Dogs. "I shall save you," he announced. "Show yourselves, you dogs! You curs!" And the Diamond Dogs appeared out of the shadows, growling. "Ah. There you are, you mangy mutts." "Who are you calling mutts?" the leader of the Diamond Dogs growled. "Unleash the hounds!" And he blew a dog whistle. Soon over a dozen Diamond Dogs, which were wearing armor, charged out of the tunnels and tried to attack the dragon, but he used his spear, his tail, and his fire breath to chase them back into the tunnels with their tails between their legs. Sir Spike then confronted the three Diamond Dogs, who were cowering near a wall. "Now, where is Lady Rarity?" he demanded, and they pointed the correct way. He hurried through a tunnel and he soon found Rarity, dressed like a princess, waiting for him. Lady Rarity gasped when she saw him. "Spike! I knew you would save me!" "Nothing could stop me, milady," said Sir Spike, bowing. Lady Rarity swoon for a moment. "Ohohohoh, Spike. You are my… hero," she whispered and shut her eyes as she made a kissing gesture with her lips. Beaming, Sir Spike bent down so that he could kiss her. "Mmmmmm…" Applejack, who was standing near the baby dragon, chuckled when it looked like he was going to kiss her. "Hoho there, lover boy," she said and he flushed, embarrassed. Suddenly the fishing line became tight and nearly dragged Spike into the hole. "Whoa! Whoa whoa whoawhoawhoa… I got a bite! I got a bite!" He yelped, trying to reeling in whatever he'd caught. Applejack grabbed the end of his tail with her teeth, trying to keep him from being dragged into the hole. "Hold on there, little fella." She grunted and she soon saw that she was going to be dragged into the hole with the baby dragon. Twilight ran forward and grabbed her friend's tail. "Applejack!" Only she started being dragged forward, too. "Twilight!" Rainbow Dash grabbed the purple unicorn's tail, only to be dragged, too. "Rainbow Dash!" Lightning Sprint clamped her teeth onto her friend’s rainbow tail, but despite her best efforts, she was also being dragged toward the hole. Fluttershy quickly grabbed Lightning’s tail, but ended up being dragged forward instead. "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness…" Pinkie bounced forward and got the yellow pegasus' tail with her teeth. "Wait for me!" And she squealed when they were all dragged into the hole. "Whee!" The group screamed as they were dragged through different kinds of tunnels with Pinkie being the only one having fun, and they all eventually crashed onto the ground of a cavern filled with tunnel openings. While the six ponies were grunting and getting up, Spike jumped to his feet, excited that his fishing trick worked. "Ha ha, it worked! We're in! Now we can finally save Rarity!" Twilight got onto her hooves and she looked around at the various tunnel openings. "Um… Which way do we go?" she wondered. Spike looked around, too, and he was devastated. "Nooooooooooo!" “Where’s Bandit when we need him?” Lightning Sprint asked, completely forgetting that everyone was ignoring him earlier. The group was now walking throughout the tunnels trying to find out which one was the gonna lead them to Rarity and Chad. "All these tunnels… How are we ever gonna find Chad and Rarity?" Twilight asked, beginning to get even more worried. "Guess we're just gonna have to start going down them one by one." Applejack suggested. "That could take forever!" Rainbow Dash complained. "There's gotta be way to narrow it down." Lightning Sprint deduced. Spike suddenly had an idea. "I know!" he exclaimed and felt like kicking himself for not figuring it out sooner. "I bet they've taken Rarity and Chad down the tunnel with the most gems." "But Spike, Rarity is the only one who knows how to find gems," Twilight Sparkle reminded the baby dragon. "No, Twilight. You can!" said Spike. "You can copy Rarity's gem-finding spell. It clicked in her mind as she realized that he was right. "Oh my gosh! You're right! Rarity showed Bandit how to do it, then he show me how to do it a few moments later." she recalled and began concentrating. "If I can just remember…" Soon her horn began glowing pink and caches of gems began appearing in the walls of the nearest tunnel, and there was a lot of gems. "That's it. You did it, Twilight!" Spike said, hopping on Twilight’s back, who rears before running. "Come on! We're coming, you two. We'll save you. Just hold on." The group was soon they were running down the tunnel, following the trail of hidden gems in the walls and the ground. Chad’s bag was thrown into a cell and he was moving around in the bag. Rarity did not approve of this. “You let him out of that bag this minute!” She exclaimed before the the diamond dogs turned to her. This made her back away from the diamond dogs. "Oh please, Diamond Dogs." She pleaded. "Please let us go. If not both of us, at least let Chad go." "No!" The Diamond Dog known as Spot said. "You're our precious little pony, and what ever that other thing is. He’s our’s too." The Diamond Dog known as Fido said "Forever! Mwhahahaha!" The Diamond Dog leader known as Rover cackled in his Gollum voice. “I’m a changeling!” Chad exclaimed now under Rarity. The dogs all flinched, surprised to now see the small changeling who they previously threw in a cell. “What the!? How are you out of your cell!?” Rover exclaimed. “I hopped through the bars I was clearly small enough to fit through.” Chad pointed out. The diamond dogs growled at him, Rarity held him close. “Please, just tell us what you want.” Rarity begged. "Gemsss!" Rover hissed. "Yes!" Spot agreed eagerly. "The gems. The jewels." "Find them!" Fido demanded. "Find them all!" Rarity blinked and immediately calmed down. "Oh! Is that all? Well then, Chadikins, could you be a dear?” Chad saluted and sniffed around, he managed to find a good spot and Rarity used her horn to find the same spot. Rarity magically used a stick to mark the spot with a large 'X'. "There. A lovely pocket of jewels are right there. Now, if you'd be so kind as to show us the exit?" She requested politely. A spear was pointed at her, which Chad was about to snap at, but Rarity pulled him back. "Good!" he laughed. "Now, dig them up." Rover told them, denying their request. "What? But you said you wanted us to find the gems," Rarity reminded him, not recalling anything about digging into the ground. "Yes! Find and then dig." Spot told them. “Dig?” Rarity asked. "Yes. Dig." Fido confirmed. Rarity looked at the x and was about to walked over to try and dig, but was stopped. “Not you. Him.” Rover said as he pointed to Chad. Chad looked like he took offense to that. “Oh please, you are not attacking my friend and I and then forcing me to dig squat. Rarity just had a Pony-pedi and I don’t work with nymphnappers.” Chad said as he sat down and folded his hooves. "We said dig!" “And I said no!” Chad said back. He was behaving like a spoiled brat…..to them. Rover groaned and covered his face with one paw. "Oh, for goodness— Fine! Fine! We’ll do it ourselves!" he shouted, frustrated. "Dig, dogs! Dig! And fast," he ordered and several guard dogs began digging on the spot to get the gems out. Chad was whispering something to Rarity. Fido held up a cart for the gems to be placed in and Spot held up a harness. "You won't dig, you’ll pull." Fido said as they immediately tried to harness the nymph to the wagon, which the newly uncovered gems were placed in. Chad quickly backed away. “And you think you’re doing what exactly?” Chad asked. "Others will dig." Fido informed him. "Precious pony will find the gems, you will haul the wagon." They managed to harness him to the wagon. Although the harness was almost bigger than Chad, it was able to fit him. Chad looked disgusted. “Yuck. Look, I’m all for not judging creatures based on their appearances, but come on. When was the last time any of you did proper nail care?” Chad asked as they adjusted the harness. Chad wouldn’t hold still. “Easy easy, you’re gonna rip holes in my hoodie.” "Please be quiet!" Rover snapped, exposing him to his dog breath. Rarity made a face, from a fair distance away. "Good heavens, what is that smell?" she demanded. “The breath of someone who obviously doesn’t know the invention of mints….or mouth wash. Or anything involved with dental hygiene. Rover checked his own breath and he could tell that he was right. He then shook his head, realizing that they were distracting him from the gems. "Enough! Search, uh, thing!" He ordered. Rarity gasped and walked over to hug him. “Chad is not a thing! He is a Changeling, and the cutest one there is!” Rarity said. “I don’t care! Just search!” Rover exclaimed, getting very irritated. Rarity sighed and she walked along the cavern, with Chad pulling the wagon and pinpointing more gem caches with her spell and his nose, using a stick to mark the spots so that the guard dogs could dig. "Well, since you insist… But I must say the working conditions in here are simply dreadful." Rarity complained, getting on the nerves of the three Diamond Dogs, which were following her and Chad. "Musty and damp, it's going to wreak havoc on my mane. And this air is stifling, suffocating. Poor Chadikins could go nose blind from the horrid smell. When I try to take a deep breath, the stench of all you dogs makes me nauseated.” Two of them ended up getting pancaked by falling rocks, much to Chad’s amusement. “You look and smell like you haven't bathed in weeks. Have you never heard of soap? You could all do with a good round of soap and water. Oh water, oh water, I'm terribly thirsty. Could I please have some water?" Rarity asked. "Good gracious, I can't take this anymore," Spot groaned, covering his ears with his paws. "Be quiet, pony!" “We have names you cat.” Chad told him, confusing the diamond dogs. “Cat?” Fido asked. “I’m not allowed to say the other word, but my name is Kama Ezio Clyde Armasta Laska Chadwickson the fourth. Pick one of those names to call me by, but don’t call me thing.” Chad told them. "And I am a lady and I wish to be addressed as such. So you may call me "Miss" or "Rarity" or "Miss Rarity"." Rarity told them. "Enough!" Rover shouted. "Your whining! It-it-it hurts!" “Oh, you think that’s whining? T’was nothing but complaining. Thiiis iiis whiiining! Owie, this harness is too tiiight! It’s squeezing me and is so itchy! It’s so filthy and gonna stain my hoodie! Why didn't you clean it first?! I’m just a baby nymph, why do I have to pull it!” Chad whined. Spot began whimpering, clamming his paws over his ears, trying to block out the noise and it wasn't working. "Aaah! Make it stop!" "Stop whining!" Rover pleaded. “But I thought you wanted whiiining!” Chad whined louder. Rarity was giggling at this. Rover couldn't take it anymore and fell to the ground, groveling. "Geh! We'll do anything! Anything you want, just please stop complaining!” Chad looked at Rarity and the two shared a smile. Soon, the various guard dogs were busy redecorating the cavern and fanning Rarity, who sighed after taking a sip of the water from a gold cup. "This water is hardly sparkling. But I suppose it will have to do." She remarked. She looked over at Chad, who was in a comfortable pile of red gems he was feeding himself with his tail. “Enjoying yourself Chad?” “Sure am.” Chad said as he ate another one. Meanwhile, the Diamond Dogs were busy hauling carts filled with gems across the ground. Rover was panting as he dragged the cart and then he stopped suddenly. "Wait! Why are we doing this?" He asked his group. "To stop the awful noises from the….what was he again? A Changeling? That Changeling’s mouth, remember?" Spot reminded him, pretending to whine. “My neck-” Rover covered his mouth. "Yes, yes, I know, This is ridiculous! Letting a changeling order us around. What are we? Mice or dogs?" He demanded. Fido and Spot exchanged a look before stammering a mixed answer. "Mi… dogs?" "Dogs do not pull," Rover growled, yanking off the harness. "Ponies and Pony-like creatures pull. Let him make the awful noises." Chad was eating another red gem before being hoisted up by Rover and placed on his legs. “Hey! What are you- I wasn’t done eat-” Chad tried to say before the harness was placed on him. Rarity looked up and saw this. “Hey! You leave him alone!” Rarity said before also getting harnessed. “Not sooo tiiight!" “You’re squeezing me!” Chad whined. Rover wasn’t phased this time. "Ha! Make the noises all you want," Rover sneered. "But move while you make them. Now get moving you little freak!” Rarity gasped. Chad turned to look at him. “Did you just….call me a freak?” Chad asked, his eyes about to water as Rover blinked and began getting smacked with the reality that he just screwed up. Badly. Chad’s lip quivered and he began to cry, loudly. Wondering what was going on, Spot came over and stared at the bawling baby changeling. "What are these noises?" he asked, confused. “He called me a freak! Nobody likes a freak! They’re ugly, disgusting and….and….Oh some other word that makes me unlikeable as a creature and it’s so true!” Chad cried loudly, curling into a ball. Rarity trotted over and picked Chad up to cradle him. “You should be ashamed of yourselves! What’s next, you’re gonna call me a mule?” Rarity scolded them. “No No! You’re still beautiful, po… uh, Miss Rarity." Fido tried to defend. “I never said mules were ugly.” Rarity huffed. Chad was still crying, which was being more and more annoying to the dogs. “Gah! Chad! I’m sorry! You’re not a freak!” Rover exclaimed. “You’re just saying that!” Chad cried out. “You’re um...strong! And and…...adorable!” Spot tried it out. "I don't believe you!" Chad wailed. "You never liked me!" He kept wailing loudly. Rover clamped his paws over his ears, trying to block out the wailing. "Oh, I've had just about enough of this!" While all of this was going on, Twilight was leading the way down the tunnel, the spell revealing larger and larger amounts of gems, which meant that they were getting close to finding Rarity and Chad to save them from the Diamond Dogs. "We're getting close." she said confidently. "I can feel it." And they soon reached another cavern that had tunnel openings, plus an opening that was blocked by a locked door. Soon they could hear Chad’s distant crying. Spike pointed to the blocked opening. "It's coming from down here. Come on!" “That sounds like Chad!” Lightning Sprint realized. “If they touched hurt ONE hair on his head-” Twilight started. "If he’s in there, Rarity must be in there too." Rainbow Dash agreed. "Let's go!" Suddenly six guard dogs landed on the backs of the ponies, knocking Spike to the ground, and they wrapped ropes around the startled ponies' noses and mouths to create muzzles. "More workhorses." "Hoh, doggies." Applejack said, who had no intention of being a workhorse for anyone but herself. "If you can take this bull by the horns, you better be ready for a ride." She then began bucking around and her friends were quick to follow suit. "Come on, ponies! Kick 'em up, kick 'em out. Buck 'em up, buck 'em down." Soon all six ponies were bucking around the cavern like crazy, the guard dogs were clinging to them until they were sent flying to the ground with most of the makeshift muzzles, where they picked themselves up and fled, yowling in fear. "Yeehaw!" Applejack cheered. "Get along, little doggies!" Spike jumped back onto Twilight's back, clutching a lance-like stalactite. "I'm coming for you, milady," he called out, grabbing hold of the rope that was still around her mouth. "Hi-ho, Twilight! Away!" Twilight fixed him with a look. "And just what do you think you're doing?" She demanded. "Please, Twilight." Spike requested. "Just give me this." Twilight sighed, deciding to humor the baby dragon. "Eh… fine." She then reared, neighing, and went charging through the locked door, smashing it to pieces, and their friends followed after them. Soon, Twilight smashed through another door and they entered the cavern. Spike jumped to the ground with his lance at the ready. "Lady Rarity, I'm here to save you!" He announced. Bandit was on the other side of that door, surrounded by more unconscious diamond dogs. Rover, Spot and Fido came running toward them, screaming and they fell to the ground before the baby dragon, Changeling and the ponies, pleading loudly. "Save us! Please, save us! Make it stop! Please!" “Bandit, what did you do?” Twilight asked him. “Chad and Rarity.” Bandit pointed out before the Diamond Dogs began listing off the suffering they’ve endured. "So picky." Spot moaned. "And critical." Fido whined. "She won't stop talking." Rover exclaimed. "He won’t stop crying." Spot added. Rover whimpered as Rarity and a smug looking Chad came into view, both harnessed to gems. "We, uh, give them back." He said quickly. "Yes." Spike ran over to Rarity and hugged her, relieved to see that she was all right. "Rarity! Chad! You're safe!" “Well duh.” Chad smirked. "Why, yes." Rarity said, slightly taken aback by the hug and greeted her friends. "Hello, everyone. You arrived just in time to assist us." "Assist you with what?" Applejack asked. Bandit pointed to the other carts behind the carts already pulled by him. Spike stared at the gems, and was almost about to drool. "You're letting them leave with all these… jewels?" He asked the Diamond Dogs. "Yes." Rover said quickly as he, Spot, and Fido dove behind a stone pillar to protect themselves. "Take them. And those two with them." "Please!" Spot said, watching as the Mane eight, Chad and Spike left with the carts of gems. It wasn't long before the Mane eight, Chad and Spike were back above ground, and they were heading back to Ponyville with the carts of gems. "I can't believe you found all these gems!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Heh. I can't believe you tricked all those dogs." Rainbow Dash added. "Just because I'm a lady doesn't mean I cannot handle myself in a sticky situation," Rarity said smugly. "Chad and I had them wrapped around our hooves the entire time." "I can't wait to write to Princess Celestia to tell her what you two taught me today." Twilight said happily. Chad glanced at her. "Us? What did we teach you?" He wondered. "Just because somepony is ladylike, or a certain nymph is young doesn't make them weak," Twilight explained. "In fact, by using their wits, a seemingly defenseless pony, or nymph can be the one who outsmarts and outshines them all." "Hm… ‘Outshines’ is right.” Spike said, eating some of the gems from the box Chad had prepared for him. "Now you have enough gems to cover Sapphire Shores' costumes." Chad said to Rarity. “I’ve had quite the helper slash bodyguard.” Rarity told him before giving him a kiss on the cheek. Spike dropped a gem and glared daggers at Chad. “Someone’s in trouble.” Bandit said to Twilight, making her chuckle.