//------------------------------// // Dog Daze // Story: Diamonds a Doesn't // by PonyPixel //------------------------------// Pinkie Pie and Ambrosia Muffinbuns had got far from the boutique. Now, they were downtown with Amber looking for something to show Pinkie since it is her first time visiting a place where they were interested in looking. “Wow! I can’t believe that cupcake idea worked well,” Amber enthusiastically commented. “Very few can resist the sweet taste of my amazing cupcakes,” Pinkie noted with a snicker. “Trust me, I’ve been cooking a lot of confections at the confectionery for a looooooong time. Now, where’s the fun around here?” “I know a great place to go when I’m outside of the castle.” Amber led Pinkie down towards the park, where a couple of dogs were playing around with a ball. “Sweet, a Pawball game.” “Pawball?” “That’s right. And it is simple to play.” Amber and Pinkie both found a good watching point to see the two teams running after the ball. “So, you’ve got two separate teams that are endeavoring to catch their ball and shoot it into the enemies’ goal.” Pinkie saw two net goals on each side of the field. “If you score an opponent’s goal, you score one point.” “Oh, I see. This is similar to Buckball back in Equestria.” Amber became interested when she mentioned it. “But instead, only your call rolls on the bottom, and our balls fly through the air.” “Ooh! Sounds like fun.” The pink pony and golden lab then noticed the ball land beside them and roll to a stop. When a young dalmatian walked over to pick the ball up, he froze when he saw the princess. “Oh, Um… Your Highness,” he said nervously. “Um. Uh…. Did the ball hit you? Because I was aiming for the goal but…” “I’m fine, young one,” Amber reassured. “There’s nothing to worry about.” She picked up the ball before handing it to the nervous pup. “Oh…. Thank you.” The Dalmatian threw the ball back onto the field and ran off to rejoin. “What was with that pup?” Pinkie questioned. “It’s likely me being from a royal family,” Amber guessed. “I’d rather be treated normally instead.” “I get that feeling. My friend, Twilight, had a hard time getting used to her new princess life for a while, but she can handle it now that she became a ruler. You… kinda also reminded me of Princess Skystar of Hippogriffia, she came out of the castle to us for the sake of saving Equestria. If I were to bring her with me, then I bet that you two would get along pretty well.” “Does… she also have an overprotecting mother?” “Yeeeah.” “Oh. Looks like she and I have something in common.” Pinkie Pie nodded. “And here’s something interesting: since she is a hippogriff, hence the name Hippogriffia, of course, these creatures also have those magical pearl necklaces that allow them to swim in the sea.” “Man, that sounds impressive! I would love to visit that place sometime.” “Sure, I’d love to take you there. It’s been a while since I’ve last met Skystar.” The two watched the game continue until Pinkie looked around. “So, what other fun activities do diamond dogs do?” “There’s the mines. Gems practically grow there since we get so many of them. I can show you that.” “That sounds like fun. Lead the way.” The two walked off to one of the kingdom’s mines to see if they could get gemstones themselves. “Let me ask you something, have you ever played that game physically before?” “I’ve only spectated a few times. I’ve tried getting involved in a game or two, but my mother always prevented me. I don’t think I would get a major or minor injury from playing a simple ball game. It’s not like she can keep me in the palace forever.” “I guess that she’s fearful about you growing up. There had to be some things she allowed you to do.” “Most things my mother does allow me to do were all in my bedroom. Though one of them was reading narra.” “…Narra?” Amber was about to reply until she saw a stall holding a couple of paperback books. Upon closer inspection, Pinkie could see on the cover is an image of two diamond dogs in a quarrel with golden auras around their bodies. “Is this narra?” “Yep. These are unique genres of comic books. What makes them unique is that the illustrations are all black and white with amazing details, unlike regular comic books.” She then grabbed one with the two diamond dogs Pinkie saw a while ago. “Here. This is one of my favorite narra series: Hound Jewel. It features species of diamond dogs with different modes that allow them to do numerous insane feats like shooting deadly lasers from its eyes, giving a thousand brutal and violent punches in the blink of an eye, teleporting from one place to another in seconds, etc. It’s… super insane… but I love it!” “That looks exciting!” Pinke commented looking at the cover. “You know… we’ve got something like that back in Equestria. Spike has been reading those comics too, and it’s called Power Ponies: a group of superheroes working together to combat against evil in the city of Maretropolis.” “Ooh, interesting! I wish I can have that.” “I can get you a copy once this mission is over.” Pinkie looked around the shop before she saw some dogs pass by pulling carts loaded with the biggest gemstones she had ever seen. “WHOA!” “Oh yeah, that must be the best load from the mines,” Amber chuckled.  She and Pinkie then glanced over to one of the dogs, who has to stop, so she could cough. This coughing dog appeared to be a purple Tibetan Terrier who wears a green collar and a red jacket. Concerned about her case, Amber and Pinkie went on foot to the purple Terrier who managed to stop her coughing. “Moonbeam, are you okay?” Amber worried. She reached out a paw to help the purple dog stand up. “I’m good. Much obliged, Princess Ambrosia.” “Hold on, you know her?” Pinkie questioned. The Tibetan Terrier chuckled as she stood up. “I know her family well,” she explained. The terrier sees the pink pony and introduced herself. “I’m Moonbeam. Moonbeam Twinkletail. I’ve been working in the gem mines for a few years. Welcome to Caninia.” “I appreciated it,” Pinkie Pie smiled. “I’m Pinkie Pie from Equestria.” The Terrier and pony shook paws and hooves as Amber had to ask a question. “Are you alright, Moonbeam?” Amber asked. “You sounded like you were going to hack up a lung.” “Oh, that’s just a new issue that happened in the mines,” Moonbeam responded. “I was planning on telling Queen Katherina once I see her. Shouldn’t you be with her? Or at least have your escorts around?” “Um… Pinkie said she wanted a tour around the kingdom, so… I wanted to do this.” Moonbeam just nodded as Pinkie looked at the massive gemstones! “Holy lonely pony eating macaroni!” Pinkie cried. “You dig these up?!” “Several of them.” She picked up a diamond that was almost as big as her with ease.  “Wow! I’ve never seen a gem that big! Rarity would love to have those.”  Moonbeam raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Who?” “One of her friends that are also visiting,” Amber explained. “We… uhh… left them at the boutique.” “I see. Well, I better get going now. Good luck if you meet your mother again Amber.” Moonbeam placed her big diamond back into her cart before she pulled away. “Bye, Moonbeam.” The princess waved goodbye as she and Pinkie watched the miner take the gemstones away. “She seems pleasant,” Pinkie commented. She looked around for another fun activity until she noticed a stand nearby selling balls similar to the one they saw the pups playing with during paw ball. The pink pony then had an idea. “Say… do you have any money on you?” “I do,” Amber answered and shoved her paw into her right pocket where she kept her bits. She only grabbed 5 since she doesn’t want to waste them. “Here, only 5 bits.” She handed them to Pinkie Pie and she headed towards the stand to purchase one ball, which cost 3 bits only. “What are you doing?” “You’ve told me that you wanted to be involved in a Pawball game since your mother doesn’t allow you to. I’m interested to play it myself, so…” She threw the ball up and it landed on her hoof and spun it. “I wanted you to teach me the basics. We’re going to learn Pawball together!” The princess’s eyes lit up with excitement and her tail rapidly wags with an amazed gasp. “Wait, you’re gonna do that?!” “Certainly. It couldn’t be that difficult to play. We’ll learn together, and you… can get that sporty experience.” Amber was more than happy to try this out. “You bet! And I know a good place where we can practice. Follow me.” Pinkie followed the princess to have some fun that Amber hadn’t been allowed to have in the castle. Meanwhile, Rarity was being led around town by Jennino Lanterlight and Fiona Floppyears, hoping to help her find something that can inspire Jennino to craft a new dress. They were in the town square, where there were a plentiful of diamond dogs having a nice stroll. Fiona was waving to several of them, enjoying the attention she was getting. Rarity tried not to look at the citizens and instead looked at a very nice fountain. In the middle of it, the water was spraying out of the mouth of a diamond dog statue, holding its head up while it hollowed.  “Oh, my,” the mare remarked with astonishment, “You have such good architecture.” “Thank you,” Jennino replied with a smile. “I like the fountain too.” “I think it’d make a great dress design.” “How so?” “See the water gushing? It’s forming regularly, but do you know what happens when you point it straight up like that?” Rarity pointed to the other fountains around the statue, which had clear aqua spouting up and causing it to form a shape of an umbrella sheath. “That effect can make an excellent basis for an exquisite ball gown.” Jennino looked at the water’s unique shape and quickly took out her notepad. “So, flowing clear aqua for the ballgown and the top being the fountain spouting it out.” “You got it, darling!” As she sketched out a design, she notice Rarity looking at a couple of the citizens, looking like she was getting ready to block something.  “Are you alright, dear?” Rarity looked to the Malamute and leaned closer to whisper. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but… I had an extremely bad experience with your kind before,” the mare whispered. “…What do you mean?” “Well… This isn’t the first time I’ve met the diamond dogs. That one time when Spike helped me gather some gemstones back home, those ruffians kidnapped me and then forced me to help them find gems. I was like their slave to them, a slave that never rests its body, and never eats.” Jennino was appalled. “How horrible,” she gasped with disturbance. “There’s no way Katherina would allow them to enter Caninia. I’m sorry you had to go through that.” “It didn’t last too long. Thankfully, my friends came to rescue me, and since that, we never saw those mutts again.” Jennino sighed in relief. “What a relief. You don’t have to worry, no mutts like them will stay around here when she finds out about them. I don’t know what their appearances look like to you, but if you do see them come around here, then let me know, and Katherina will give them very harsh consequences.” “That’s good. I’m glad that I met you and your friends. I’d not think of those stereotypes anymore.” Speaking of hearing, they could hear a couple of coughs as Moonbeam stopped nearby them. Jennino recognized her. “Is she okay?” “I’m not sure. I’ll take a look.” Jennino handed her notepad to Rarity. “Here, hold this for me.” She then held her notepad and pencil, and Jennino dashed her way to Moonbeam who was breathing heavily already. “Moonbeam, are you okay?” “I’m fine, Jenn,” Moonbeam stated while coughing. “My mates and I have inhaled some dust from the mines.” “Should we tell Katherina about this?” “Yes. I’m planning on telling her already once I deliver these gems. Maybe I could lighten the load by giving a few away to you. Please, take your pick.”  “Yes, please!” Jennino then examines the diamond in the cart. Fiona and Rarity took their look at the cart, with the unicorn staring at various sizes of the gemstones. There is a medium-sized ruby, a regular-sized emerald, there’s even an orange topaz the size of an average head of a pony. Not just that, there’s white quartz, onyx, opal, sapphire, jade, and amethyst. These are some astonishing one-of-the-kind minerals. “Sweet Celestia! Look at these!” she gasped. “There’s even a jade that’s the size of an infant! That’s insane!” “Oh, these look great,” Fiona commented. She saw a good-looking blue gem that she swore was a diamond. “This would make a perfect necklace!” she proclaimed. Rarity looked at a massive emerald. “Oh my, if I could make so many dresses with these,” the mare noted. “Can it?” Jennino asked. “I’ve used gemstones in my designs all the time. They add a lot more flash. Perhaps, we could use it to add more flare to one of your dresses.” “Eh, you guys can take it,” Moonbeam shrugged. “I’ve got plenty of them. You know I’ve missed you guys digging.” “Well, I don’t like getting that filthy earth on my clothes,” Fiona stated. She held onto the blue gem she found as Rarity and Jennino picked up the big emerald. “There’s nothing that is stopping you from taking them off. Is this all you girls want?” “I think it’ll be all,” Jennino responded. “Thanks again for these.” “Anytime!” Moonbeam nodded before grabbing the front of her cart again. “See you later, girls. Oh, and you,” the terrier pointed at Rarity, “Welcome to Caninia.” The unicorn smiled as Moonbeam walked away with her load. “So, I’m guessing that’s your friend too, right?” Rarity asked. “Yes, that’s Moonbeam Twinkletail,” Jennino explained. “She works at the mines.” She looked back at her friend walking away while starting to look concerned. “Is she alright?” “I’m not sure. This is not the first time I’ve heard her cough.” Jennino was feeling concerned as Fiona looked at her new diamond. “Do you think this could be made into a nice necklace?” the princess asked. Rarity took a look at the small gem in her paws. “Perhaps, it could,” she commented. “And it does go with your outfit.” Fiona smiled as Rarity looked back at the emerald Jennino was holding over her shoulder. “Now, do you have any tools useful for cutting gems?” “Indi and I have a couple of them back at the shop,” Jennino responded. “We can go back. I’m getting some ideas in mind for the new outfits.” With their new gems collected, Rarity and the diamond dogs headed back to the shop, unaware of what kind of gem Fiona was carrying. Elsewhere, Spike was gliding above Caninia scanning place to place for Amber and Pinkie Pie, though he was having a harder time than had thought. He still can’t find them. Not at the bakery, not at the barbershop, and not even at the bank. Everywhere he looks, he still cannot find them. He flew back down landing on the smooth-stone pavement in front of Queen Katherina, who was growling under her breath. She gazed at the dragon with her fury eyebrows and didn’t waste a second with her query. “Did you find them yet?” she demanded. “Have not, but…” Spike couldn’t finish as Katherina interrupted him. “Why did you come back down just to give me that answer!? Get back up there! Don’t come back down until you find them for good!” Spike didn’t like the tone he was given, not only because of her being intimidating but because she was starting to get annoyed as well. Still, Spike took back off into the sky, hoping that he would find her daughter. Once more, he searched from one location to another. He did try asking the pedestrians, even though most were weirded out by seeing him as a dragon, but they replied the same phrase: I haven’t. After a while, he still can’t find them. However, instead, he can see Moonbeam Twinkletail taking a break from pulling her cart as she leaned against a tree. Things were getting concerning quickly once Spike saw the Tibetan Terrier collapsing on the ground. Worried, he flew down to check on her.  “Miss, are you okay?” he asked. Not questioning the fact a dragon was talking to her, Moonbeam struggled to find her voice. “Having… trouble… breathing,” she wheezed. Spike knew that this was serious and quickly flew back to Queen Katherina and inform her. The queen saw the panicked expression on the dragon’s face. “Did you find Amb…?” “No, I didn’t, but there’s a purple diamond dog that’s having problems breathing!” “What?! Where did you find the dog?” “Follow me!” Spike led the way as Katherina ran after him running on all fours to keep up. They arrived at the scene to see her laying down unconscious while wheezing her lungs out. The queen was horrified when she saw her like that. “Moonbeam!” She has to act quickly. So, she first saw the cart filled with gemstones, rushed towards it, and dumped out all the gemstones making some shatter. Queen Katherina then picked up the sick terrier struggling to breathe and placed her in the cart. Without another word, she, together with Spike following her, sprinted their way to the hospital. Spike didn’t fully understand what was going on, but it had to be serious given how quickly Katherina’s mood had changed. A little while later, Pinkie and Amber had set up the nets by hanging them from tree branches for the Pawball to roll into. “Okay, so one of the details I remember in playing Pawball is that you can’t use your forepaws to grab the ball,” Amber explained. “Doesn’t that leave the one with the ball wide open for the other team?” Pinkie asked. “It usually does. It’s likely the wielder of the ball has to pass it to their teammates to keep it away from their opponents. Though, this is a guess by me because this is already the first game I’ve played… with you… a foreigner.” Looking down at the ball, Amber inhaled and exhaled to give herself a boost. “Here I go!” She gave it a swift kick and the ball went sailing and missed the goal. “Dang it, I missed!” “You know you can’t expect perfection on the first try.” Pinkie went to retrieve the ball and brought it back to Amber. “That’s a good practice kick you made. Let’s try again.” Amber gave a nod before giving the ball another kick not as hard this time. She was a little closer to hitting the goal. “Let me adjust that net a little.” Pinkie then adjusted the net to check if she could make it wider, so Amber would have better luck aiming. Just before the princess could aim for the goal, the earth began to shake. She hastily grasped herself tightly to a nearby tree and held it motionlessly to keep herself safe. Pinkie Pie did the same as well. It felt like it lasted for 10 seconds before it came to a stop. “Man, that was a long one.” “Should earthquakes like this last that long?” “No, and this one felt stronger than before.” Amber was starting to feel worried. “I feel like we should go back to the boutique. I wanna see if Fiona and the rest are still there.” “Good idea.” Pinkie picked up the ball and carried it on top of her mane and followed the golden lab back to the store. Along the way, they saw a couple of diamond dogs run past them, carrying medical supplies and some carts they could ride on. “What are those?” “Looks like a medical team,” Amber commented. She was worried as the team looked pretty big. Some guards came running up shortly after, with a foxhound and pug from earlier stopping beside them. “There you are!” the foxhound cried. “You know we’re in a lot of trouble because of you!” “You accepted a cupcake too,” the pug reminded. “Quiet!” The foxhound looked back at the princess and pink pony. “Your Majesty The Queen wants you back at the castle immediately.” “I’m grounded, aren’t I?” Amber sighed. “Definitely.” “Men, get your tails moving!” their Sargent called. “Yes, sir!” the foxhound ran off to catch up as the pug looked at Amber. “You get me those cupcakes, I’ll be your scapegoat,” he informed. He walked away to keep up with the guards and medical team as Amber started to walk to the castle. “I thought we were going to the store,” Pinkie spoke. “Yes, but I can imagine my mother being mad enough at me,” Amber noted with guilt. “But don’t you wanna go back to the boutique to check if your sister is okay? Maybe they’re going to check on other dogs that were hurt in that earthquake.” Amber thought about what Pinkie had said and sighed. “You’re right.” She then decided to keep going toward the boutique. Once they reached the place, they can see Fiona looking fairly frustrated as she sat down. “How much longer will this take?” she groaned. “Patience, darling,” Rarity called from the back. “Art mustn’t be rushed. It takes time to perfect.” Fiona rolled her eyes as she looked beside her to see Amber just walking in. “Amber! Where have you been!?” Fiona questioned. “Our mother was looking for you already.” “Playing pawball,” Pinkie said before dropping the ball she was carrying on the floor. “Playing sports inside of the store is forbidden,” Indiana requested. “Please refrain from doing so.” She poked her head into the back to see Jennino helping Rarity cut up the emerald they acquired. The shards they broke off were being fitted to the skirt of the ballgown Fiona was content with buying. “I’ve gotta say, I was feeling hesitant at first,” Jennino admitted. “Now, I’m amazed by Indy, and I haven’t tried something like this.” “It’s a matter of matching colors, darling.” Rarity informed. She added a few more gems to the dress before stepping back and looking at their work. “There, I think it’s ready.” Jennino placed the emerald to the side and looked at the added gems. They made the dress sparkle when the light shined on them. “How astonishing! She’s going to love it,” the English Setter commented. She picked up the dress and called for Fiona. “Fiona!” The princess stood up when her name was called and held her paws to her face when she saw the additional gems to her ballgown. “So, what do you think of it?” Rarity asked. Fiona’s tail wagged with excitement as she was given the dress by Jennino. With no hesitation, she ran into the dressing room and quickly threw it on. After stepping outside, the royal golden lab gave her dress a twirl before placing her paw on her hip. “I look fabulous!” she proclaimed. “Indeed you do, darling,” Rarity chuckled. She looked at the emerald they had used to make the shards and could see they still had a lot of the emerald left. “You could still put that emerald to good use.” “I’m already thinking of ideas,” Jennino commented. Indiana nodded as she took a look at the sketch that was made based on the fountain downtown. “I gotta say, you do have a very creative mind,” Indiana said to Rarity. “There are probably other parts of town we could base our dresses on.” “That sounds like fun,” Amber commented. “By the way, did you see Moonbeam while you were downtown?” “Yes, we did,” Jennino responded. “I’m worried about her already. Her cough sounds bad.” “She sounded like she was going to hack up a lung, and I do agree.” “But she’s a miner, right?” Pinkie commented. “Don’t most of them get dust in their lungs or something?” “Usually, yes,” Indiana noted, “But some of them here have been getting a few bad health conditions. They’ve been having a hard time breathing and even having trouble walking.” “Shouldn’t Her Majesty know about this?” Rarity asked. Amber was about to give her opinion, when Spike suddenly burst through the door, immediately calling out to the princess. “There you are!” he cried. “I’ve been looking for you for a while! Queen Katherina ordered me to find you and get you back to the castle, now!” The dragon’s voice sounded rather tense and frustrated. “Spike, what has gotten into you?” Rarity questioned. “It’s Kath…. The queen, who prefers me to call her by that title, is frustrated knowing that her friend is in the hospital.” “Who?” “Moonbeam, I guess that's her name.” The diamond dogs gasped. “YOU SAID WHAT!?” Indiana cried. “That ain’t good!” Fiona shouted. “We’re going to the hospital!” Jennino declared. “GO! GO! GO!” All four dogs bulldozed over Spike and out of the store. Indiana stopped real quickly to flip the sign on the store to let others know it was closed temporarily. “Moonbeam must be pretty close to them, aren’t they?” Rarity commented. “We should check with them,” Pinkie added. “Remember, we’re on a mission.” They both helped Spike up before running after the diamond dogs to the hospital. Moonbeam was lying on the hospital bed with a venturi mask on her snout and a heart rate monitor beside her. As she fell into a slumber, Queen Katherina Proudpaws knelt on her right side feeling agonized about her health. All was silent except for the heart rate monitor beating the patient’s heartbeat to the rhythm and the clock ticking every second. She was then interrupted by the sound of the slamming door, and she turned to see Jennino, Indiana, Amber, Fiona, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Spike coming in. Her eyes were narrowed as she saw Amber, knowing that her daughter is in huge trouble. She would’ve yelled at her, but caught herself as she knew they were in public. “We’ll talk later, Ambrosia Muffinbuns,” the Queen said sternly. Amber faced down the ground bracing for her punishment later. In the meantime, Jennino walked over to Moonbeam, who was happy to see she had company. “You closed your shop just to see me?” Moonbeam asked. “Yes, I did,” Jennino responded. “After hearing about you in the hospital, we were anxious.” “Yeah, Moon, how did this happen?” Indiana asked. Moonbeam took a moment to remember. “I was doing my usual business, digging up plenty of gemstones big and small, and… when we noticed a lot more dust is being produced,” she explained. “It’s been happening for a while already. I would’ve thought nothing if it wasn’t for the others getting those bad coughs like mine. I should’ve come here immediately once my chest starts feeling funny.” Moonbeam coughed into her paw a bit as Katherina handed her some medicine. “Stay here and rest,” the queen requested. “I don’t want you to feel worse for yourself.” She then turned her attention to the rest of the diamond dogs. “I’ve already set out orders to have the mines shut down until we investigate the cause of these serious medical problems. “But what about the gems, you know that our kingd…” Indiana had her muzzle covered up by Katherina. “You remember what I said, Indy? Look over there.” The two glanced towards Spike and the ponies, who were luckily distracted by Fiona, showing off the gemstone she had gotten. “Wonder why this one isn’t as big as the others,” Spike commented. “Many of these gems come in different shapes and sizes,” Fiona stated. “I plan on making this one into a new necklace.” “It’s kind of got a glow to it,” Pinkie commented. She reached out to touch it. When did, both she and Fiona felt an electric shock. Both let go and felt very dizzy and groaned a little bit. Katherina rushed over to her daughter after being electrocuted. “Fiona!” the queen cried. She managed to catch the golden lab before she collapsed. “What is going on?” “That… Was no normal gem…” Pinkie guessed mere seconds before she face-planted on the floor. Rarity and Spike checked on their friend. “We need more extra beds,” Indiana suggested. “I’m okay,” Pinkie groaned. Katherina looked at the glowing gem on the floor. She would’ve picked it up, but didn’t want to risk electrocuting herself. Rarity noticed this and simply levitated the gem with her magic. “It seems that there are more of those gems… like the ones the griffons have mined up,” the unicorn commented. Katherina rubbed her eyes as she was getting frustrated. “Now we’re going to get rid of those gems,” she groaned. “Spike, go back and collect the gems. We had to spill to help Moonbeam.” The dragon just nodded and went towards the exit as Rarity spoke up. “What should we do with this crystal?” she asked. “Find a way to dispose of it. And Amber,” the Queen added. “Come with me.” Amber’s ears dropped as she followed her mother out of the hospital. “Dead dog walking,” Moonbeam said to herself. She chuckled to herself as she let out another cough. “Save your strength,” Jennino requested. “Say your jokes later.” “Alright.” The sick miner took a minute to take deep breaths and sighed. “Fiona, you should go with your mother now.” “Will do,” the golden lab said. She looked down at her dress, which still looked to be in a good condition. “Glad this survived,” she muttered. She walked away to catch up with her mother and sister as Rarity looked at the gemstone she levitated. “Does the Queen have an issue with the special gems like this?” the unicorn asked. “I don’t see most of them like that often used. We’re just told to get rid of them.” “Presumably a reason for that,” Jennino muttered. She held her arm as she knew the ponies were going to have questions. Indiana took her aside and made sure that they were a good distance from the ponies. “Jen, you know that Katherina wanted as few dogs to know about this as possible.” “Well, every miner working in those tunnels can’t keep their mouths shut.” The two looked back to see Rarity was checking to make sure Pinkie was okay. “You know what could happen if something like those griffons they mention got their hands on more of those gems.” Jennino was feeling a bit unsure right now. “Hear me out, I honestly think that these gems could work, like how that unicorn said, but you know why Katherina doesn’t want them.” “You mean the gems?” Pinkie asked.  “Exactly!” she replied. Jennino was about to continue until she realize who she has replied. Pinkie Pie just joined in. Both shop owners jumped back as they saw her. “Oh, come on! THIS IS A PRIVATE CONVERSATION, YOU DON’T JUST JUMP IN!” “Sorry about that. Why don’t you want the magic gems around?” Indiana and Jennino looked at each other, both wanting to tell different things. “Listen, if we could tell you, we would,” Indi stated, “But Katherina would have a cow if we did.” “We’re sorry, but we have to keep it a secret,” Jennino added. “…Please go back to the castle and listen to Katherina’s orders.” Pinkie gave a lowbrow as she didn’t like having something likely important hidden from her. “It’s best if we listen to them,” Rarity commented. Pinkie looked back at her friend, a little bit confused. “C’mon, Pinkie.” Rarity gestured for her friend to come closer so they could talk privately. “It’s clear they’re not wanting to tell us what is happening because of something that happened in the past.” The two ponies looked at the malamute and setter, who quickly looked away from them. “You think they’re hiding more than we think?” Pinkie asked. “...It’s likely. But I don’t want to associate them with those other dogs.” Rarity took another look at Jennino, who looked like she wanted to get stuff off her chest. Indiana just crossed her arms, reminding her not to tell the story. “They’re going to have to spill the beans eventually. They all do in the end.” “True, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.” “You know, I can hear you, right?” Moonbeam asked. The two ponies faced the terrier on the hospital bed they stood close to. “Um…. How much did you hear?” Pinkie asked. Moonbeam smirked. “Enough. You know I would tell you that, but…” She paused as another cough escaped her muzzle. “My lungs won’t let me.” “We’re not going to put that kind of strain on you,” Rarity noted. “We’ll leave you to rest. Maybe we’ll ask someone else.” Moonbeam simply nodded and lay back down as the two ponies left the hospital and move to the castle to ask.