//------------------------------// // Digging up Trouble // Story: Diamonds a Doesn't // by PonyPixel //------------------------------// Pinkie Pie and Rarity wouldn’t have too much to work with; the only other dogs in the castle were the guards. There were a lot of them, and many didn’t have much to say; most didn’t know why Queen Katherina was so protective of her daughters. Pinkie Pie and Rarity were heading towards Amber’s bedroom to talk with her. When they arrived, they noticed two guards were put in place securing the door to her cubicle. Seeing that they weren’t going to let them in, they went on to check on Fiona instead. When they reached her room, they heard her talking in the middle of a conversation with someone else. “I’ve gotta say, Princess, you’re looking spectacular,” said a high-pitched male voice. Pinkie and Rarity peeked into the bedroom to see the pink husky commenting on Fiona’s new dress. She was brushing her fur with her hairbrush as she looked back at the guard. “Thank you,” she responded. “I wished my fur wasn’t fried with that crystal. It singed my fur.” “Hey, it could’ve been worse.” Fiona nodded and faced back the mirror and just noticed Rarity and Pinkie coming in from the door. Turning back around, the pink pony would wave to her. “What do you want?” she sighed. “Sorry for interrupting you,” Rarity responded, “But we were hoping that we could have a chat with you. Your mother isn’t likely in the mood, and we’re presumably not going to be speaking with Amber for a while.” “Yeah, she’s probably going to be there until she can enter a retirement home.” The castle started to shake as they could feel another earthquake. Once again, they held onto different sturdy furniture to prevent themselves from tumbling. After about a minute, the shaking stopped, and the husky felt worried. “Um, you go ahead and enjoy your chat,” he said, “I’m going to head out and inspect the palace to see if there are any damages.” He immediately walked out of the room to see if everything was okay. “Did that earthquake feel like it was longer than the last one?” Pinkie asked. “Yes, it did,” Fiona commented. “I think it’s getting worse.” “Could be said the same about your family’s relationship,” Rarity noted. “How on earth did your family get to the point of Amber trying to break out?” Fiona would think for a moment before she responded. “I’m… not too sure. I think she was like that ever since we were puppies. My mother would keep us in line and act like proper ladies. Amber would always try to be free when she could, but mom had to keep her on a leash.” Pinkie snickered at this until Rarity gave her a bit of a bump with her elbow, making her stop. “I don’t mean any offense, but maybe this might have something to do with your mother’s overprotectiveness.” “Oh?” “Well, just look outside of the castle,” Pinkie noted. She led Fiona over to the window to look outside. “You got a giant wall surrounding you. And a lot of guards down there too.” Fiona and Rarity analyzed outside and could see way more guards than should be necessary. Some of them just looked like they were wandering around the fields. “You gotta admit,” Rarity commented, “Some of them don’t look like they know what they’re doing.” “Yeah. That’d explain why that pug’s still around,” Fiona admitted. “Listen here, I can’t tell you why Amber and my mom are the way they are, but there is something I can show you.” “What’s that?” the ponies asked. The blonde princess then headed over to a walk-in closet. “This.” She opened the closet to reveal a large collection of outfits.  “My goodness!” Rarity gasped in awe. “Are those all from Indi and Jenni?” “Yes, they are. My mother has them as our tailors for special events. I’ve also got others, including nightgowns, swimsuits, winter wear, every bit of attire I need.” Rarity was impressed with all of the clothes she had. But upon closer inspection, some dresses seemed to be small for the princess that’s under adolescence. “Um, darling, when was the last time you wore that dress?” Fiona looked at one of her sundresses and held it up to her body. It looked to be a size smaller than her. “I don’t remember when I got this,” the princess admitted. “That here looks best suited for a puppy.” Pinkie guessed. She looked at a one-piece hanging up and it looked to be a similar size to the dress. “How long have some of these been in here?” “Oh, uhh…… I think the maids do complain about spider webs,” Fiona remembered. “I think you should let your mother know about this,” Rarity suggested. “You should start going through your closet and get rid of your old clothes.” “Uh… Right.” “We’ll see if she’s in a better mood. Take a look at what’s needed to go and leave them on your bed. We’ll be back as soon as we can. Come on, Pinkie, let’s go.” Rarity and Pinkie walked out of Fiona’s bedroom, leaving the golden lab to look through her closet. A few moments later, they could see Spike stumbling down the corridor. He was carrying a stack of scrolls and set them down once he saw his friends. “Oh, ladies, I’m glad I found you,” the dragon said. “I need someone to talk to.” “What’s up with all those scrolls you’re carrying?” Pinkie asked. “Queen Katherina says she wants me to help keep track of a few laws. I mean… look at these, this is ridiculous!” “Didn’t Twilight have you do that kind of work?” “You’re right on that, but she was at least polite about it. Katherina just yells orders at me.” “She might be annoyed at Amber disobeying her orders,” Rarity said. “She might also have a similar feeling when Fiona got electrocuted.” “I can feel why,” Pinkie commented, shuttering a bit as she could still feel that shock. “It’s safe to say that this friendship problem is a mother being overprotective,” Spike commented. “So we just need her to give the girls more freedom, right?” “I’m not sure that’s the whole problem,” Rarity noted. “Amber seems to have an issue with her attitude towards her mother, and Fiona might have a problem with her dresses. What I don’t understand is… why this all started.” The three thought about their situation of what to do at this point. “Perhaps… we should get started with Queen Katherina,” Pinkie suggested. “She’d be the only one who’d know why they’re like that.” “We do have to start somewhere,” Rarity affirmed. “Let me take care of these scrolls, then we’ll talk with her,” Spike noted. He picked up a couple of the scrolls, with the two ponies taking their fair share of the papers, helping him out. Katherina was checking in the guards from the mines to hear what they had to say. “We still can’t find the cause of the sickness, Your Highness,” the sergeant spoke. “Most mutts are running out the second they start coughing.” “Go and wear masks,” Katherina ordered. “Make sure nobody gets inside of them.” “Yes, Your Highness.” The sergeant paraded out of the throne room, passing Spike and the ponies at the doorway. They strode towards Katherina, who was sitting on her throne, looking rather tense. “What do you want? I got a lot to deal with at the moment, miners are getting sick, there’s a huge risk of whatever’s causing this sickness could spread, and not to mention my daughter’s rowdy behavior is worse than usual. Especially no thanks to you.” The Saluki pointed angrily at Pinkie, who gave a sheepish smile while pushing Rarity forward. Seeing she was being volunteered to go first, Rarity spoke up. “Beg my pardon, Your Majesty,” the unicorn said, “But we’re making an effort to find the reason you and your daughter are having too much conflict. We thought that it has to do with the way you react to the gemstones.” Katherina glared at the ponies as she wasn’t liking where this was going. “What do you have in mind?” “We’re just trying to figure out the conflict.” “Such as the conflict you made when you ran off with Amber?” “To be fair, I was the only one who did that,” Pinkie admitted. “I’m not sure if you’re in the right mind at the moment,” Rarity guessed. “That’s putting it lightly,” Katherina spoke. “It’s one thing that I’ve got: a disobedient daughter, but the mines now has something potentially lethal. I’ll find you when I’m ready to speak. Until then, stay out of my way.” “Understood.” Spike and the girls began leaving as they were feeling frustrated. Katherina looked to see what else she could do as she wasn’t feeling too keen about answering some questions. Down the corridor, Spike was getting frustrated. “We’re going in circles at this point,” the dragon complained. “How are we supposed to get anywhere?” “Maybe… we need to force the information out of them,” Pinkie suggested. “Or maybe somebody they know personally.” “Jennino and Indiana?” Rarity questioned. “They’re friends with her.” “Yeah, they could work.” “Just one quick thing before we leave. I need to check on Fiona.”  Rarity quickly headed towards Fiona’s room to see how much progress she has made with her dresses. To her surprise, when showed up in her room, Rarity can only see the two dresses that she and Pinkie had found on the bed. Confused, the unicorn took a glimpse inside Fiona’s closet to see Fiona looking at all of her dresses. Fiona didn’t notice Rarity coming in until she gave a knock on the door. Fiona turned around to see her. “Fiona, you haven’t taken a look at which dresses are too small,” Rarity spoke. Pinkie and Spike walked in, overhearing the conversation. “I was going to…” Fiona responded, “but these are just too good to get rid of.” “You can’t fit in those small dresses,” Pinkie stated. “What are you planning on with them?” The princess looked at the ponies and her dresses, unable to think of what to say. “I know it’s tough, but some of these need to go,” Rarity stated. “I’m certain that Jennino and Indiana can sell them to little puppies.” “I saw a couple at that Pawball game last time,” Pinkie added, confusing her friends. “It’s a sport being played here in Caninia, similar to Buckball. Amber wants to play it.” An annoyed groan could be heard from Fiona. “What’s wrong?” “I’m sick of Amber trying to do things like that,” the princess complained. “She’d always create stains on the bed and carpets. So glad that mom got her out of the habit.” “Well, I expect that from a puppy,” Spike commented. “Do you share any interested in narra?” Pinkie asked. “Narra? I don’t see the point of those comics,” Fiona stated. “There’s no color to their pages, and most characters in stories are fighting 90% of the point.” “But they said to have great details in them.” “Riiiiiiight, but again…. not one of those books has caught my eyes.” She then looked to see Spike trying to pick out some dresses that were too small, much to the surprise of the princess. “What are you doing?!” “I’m helping out picking up clothes,” Spike answered. “They’ll only be good for collecting dust.” The purple dragon tried picking them, only for the princess to fun over and snatch the dresses out of his claws. “Hey!” “These are my dresses! You can’t take them away from me!” “You can’t even fit in them anymore! They’re too small” “Enough!” Rarity pleaded, trying to stop an argument before it started. “Fiona, you have to consider that you can’t keep your attire in the wrong size long enough.” “But I love these!” the princess stated. “We know that, but what are you going to do with them if you can’t wear them?” The golden labrador didn’t know what to answer this and Spike went back to picking out the dresses that were too small. “I’m getting frustrated right now,” Spike noted. “Could you not make this any more complicated?” “What’s gotten you so cranky?” Pinkie asked. “Katherina, of course!” Spike tossed the too-small clothes onto the bed as he grunted under his breath. “We should all take five from this mission. You know, relieve stress so we can think straight.” “Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Rarity commented. “I can have our chefs make us something to eat,” Fiona suggested. “How does that sound?” “Thanks… That would be nice,” Spike responded. With a smile and a nod, Fiona walked out of her room to find one of the castle’s chefs. They decided to put the dresses on hold until then. A little while later, the three visitors from Equestria were sitting in the dining room wondering what they would receive. “Do you think they’ll have meat?” Pinkie questioned. “It’s still kind of weird getting used to seeing it since Gimme Moore’s place opened up.” “Possible since dogs were carnivores too,” Spike said. “I mean… I’ve been tempted to try meat since that restaurant opened up.” This was quite surprising to his pony friends and Spike wasn’t too sure about it either. “I remember Ember said something about me changing my diet at one of the meetings. She said that pony food is stunting my growth…” A bell rang as Fiona stepped in with some chefs walking behind her. They carried in trays of silver cloches and placed them down in front of the guests, removing the lids to show off their meals. They looked to be having breakfast for lunch, a brunch, of course. There are waffles, biscuits, and… bacon… with a saucière with gravy inside. Rarity and Pinkie weren’t too sure about the strips of bacon they were given and handed them over to Spike’s plate. The dragon himself wasn’t feeling too sure about this as Fiona sat down across from them. “I thought that dragons usually ate meat,” she commented. “Well, they do… But I’ve been on the vegetarian diet all my life since I’ve been living with ponies.” “It’s true,” Rarity confirmed. “The only other food he eats is gemstones.” Fiona was about to give her opinion about this when Katherina walked into the room. “Let’s just make this quick,” she muttered. “The kingdom is in a crisis at the moment and the earthquakes are bad enough.” She sat down beside Fiona as she was handed one of the plates of breakfast for lunch. “Hmm, an interesting choice.” “We had a light breakfast because of Amber’s stunt,” Fiona reminded. “Oh yes. Did you tell her about lunch being served?” Fiona just simply shrugged, signaling that the answer was “no.” “I’ll go tell her,” Rarity said. She stood up and amble her way to Amber’s bedroom. When she reached her location, she once again saw two guards still there securing the door. When she got near, they blocked it with their spears, looking down at Rarity. “Pardon me, but lunch is being served and Princess Ambrosia hasn’t been informed.” The two guards looked between each other. “She could be tricking us like that pink pony,” one said. “I can confirm that her mother is wanting her in the dining room. Now, if you don’t want to be in trouble with her…” “Of course not,” the guards said. They moved out of the way and allowed Rarity to walk inside of the bedroom. Inside, she saw Amber reading her favorite narra on her bed, only glancing up when she heard the door open. “What is it now?” the princess asked flatly. “Brunch is being served. You can join if you want. Your mother is waiting for you there.” Amber just shrugged as she placed her novel down. She followed Rarity to the dining room with the guards following them, much to Amber’s annoyance. After getting back to the dining room and sitting down in front of the table, it’s time to eat their brunch. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Spike put their bacon strips to the side while Amber was just eating away. Fiona and Katherina just gazed down at her with antipathy, as her method did look pretty unladylike. Aside from the various munching sounds, the dining room was awkwardly quiet. Pinkie Pie was the first who determined to break the silence. “So, I wanna ask, Your Majesty, how do you know Moonbeam in the first place?” she asked. Katherina seemed to smile as she looked interested in talking about this. “Good question. I have good memories of her. I remember when I was still a princess, we, along with Indi and Jenn, would play around like Pawball and gem digging. Moon loves to get dirty and she did have funny jokes to say now and then.” “That sounds lovely,” Rarity commented. “How did they get to where they were now?” “Being royal has a lot of advantages. When I first became Queen of Caninia, I gave Jenn and Indi’s boutique good funding, making them our official tailors for special occasions. I also put in a good word for Moonbeam because of her vast knowledge of gemstones.” “About that,” Spike said. “You said you used gemstones to help with parts of the kingdom. Why were you going to throw those elemental gems away? What’s up with that?” Katherina’s happy expression quickly dissipated once the gems were brought up. Amber and Fiona noticed this and they were curious. “Mom, how many of those gems have we dug up?” Amber asked. It was one thing for the Queen to be asked that question by her guest, it was another thing to be asked by her daughter. “You’re on thin ice right now, Amber,” Katherina said. “As of now, you have no right to speak any inquiries like that!” “Sounds like you’re avoiding the question,” Spike muttered. “And you’re pushing your boundaries.” “By not answering a simple question?” Amber asked. Katherina then slammed the table with her fist as she furiously stood up from her chair. “Young lady, you’re already in enough trouble as it is.” Amber also bitterly stood up as well as her mother did. “But what about you? What’s wrong with just answering one question?” The mother and daughter stared at each as the conflict was starting to build again. Fiona wasn’t liking where this was going and tried looking for a way to break this up. “Mother, I don’t think I paid for my dress with the gems yet,” she said. “Mind if I head back into town and take care of that?” Katherina just sighed before responding. “Just make it quick,” she muttered. Fiona nodded and got up from the table, wanting to get away from this conflict. Spike and the ponies knew they had to end this before things got worse. “Your Majesty,” Rarity said, “I understand if you have something you don’t want to talk about…” “Stay out!” Katherina ordered. She looked back at Amber, who had her arms crossed. “You were the one who’s constantly sneaking out.” “That’s because you’ve been shielding me for my whole life!” Amber stated. “You just let Fiona buy whatever she wants to make her happy, want me to be happy? Let me play Pawball!” A sudden earthquake started again, making everything on the table shake. Drinks spilled, food fell to the floor, and some of the guards lost their footing. After a few seconds, it finally stopped, leaving a big mess in the dining room. “…Perfect!” Katherina groaned. “I was about to calm myself for a moment, and this kingdom reminds me otherwise.” The Queen walked away to find the maid and have the mess cleaned up. Amber looked to her guests, who were concerned about what was going on. “Things are getting tense now,” Pinkie commented. “No kidding,” Amber groaned. “You know, she hasn’t explained anything about those special gems until now. I want to know what she’s hiding.” “Same here,” Spike said. “It’s got to be the reasons why we’ve been called here.” “How do we get her to talk though?” Pinkie asked. Amber brought her paw to her chin and thought for a moment. She then heard footsteps and saw her sister walking to the castle gates. “I have an idea,” she proclaimed. “I need you to keep Fiona distracted before she leaves.” “Okay, will do,” Spike said. He quickly got up and went to catch up with the princess. Fiona walked closer to the gates until she noticed Spike flying towards her. “Yes?” “You need someone to accompany you to the boutique?” “Um, not really,” Fiona admitted. “Why do you ask?” “Well, I might need a break from Katherina’s orders. Is she always like that?” “Mostly towards Amber. Can I tell you something?” Spike just nodded. “I’ve been curious about my father.” “Your father? How so?” The two carried on their conversation as they started walking towards the castle gates. “I only have vague memories about him, but… I have no idea what happened to him.” “I’m guessing that your mother hasn’t talked about him, huh?” “Exactly. She has never given me a straight answer when I asked, and now that I know she’s throwing these gems away…” Both of them were interrupted by Amber dashing past them on a skateboard. Several guards chased after her with Pinkie, Rarity, and Katherina running up to the gate. “Ambrosia Muffinbuns! Get your tail back here now!” the queen cried. On all fours, she dashed her way to chase her. Spike and the ponies all looked at each other before Pinkie spoke up. “Maybe we should’ve asked her what the plan was,” the pink pony muttered. At the mine’s entrance, the foxhound and pug were standing in front of the tunnel, holding their spears, feeling bored. “Hey,” the foxhound said. “Hmm?” “Do you ever wonder why we’re here?” “Well, it’s one of life’s greatest mysteries, isn’t it?” the pug said. “...What? No, I mean…” The foxhound paused when he noticed a certain blonde lab skating towards the mine. “Princess Ambrosia?!” “Don’t look at me dude, I was with you the whole time.” The two didn’t have enough time to react as Amber zoomed past them with the rest of the castle guards chasing her down. They saw their sergeant stop beside them. “Sir, what do we do?” “Stay where you are. One of you can’t be trusted.” He looked towards the pug, who didn’t seem to care so much. “Hey, you can’t pin the blame on me this time. You’re in charge of the battalion.” The sergeant didn’t say anything and just ran off to catch up with the chase. Amber was making her way to the hospital and leaped off her skateboard, running inside the building. She made it to the room where Moonbeam was resting and was pleased to see the purple Terrier was looking better. “Hey, kiddo,” Moonbeam said. “Where’s the fire?” “I need to ask you about the gems, Moonbeam,” Amber said. She looked back at the door, closing and locking it so she would lower the chance of being spotted. “By that, I mean the ones like the one that shocked Fiona. How many of those gems do you find usually?” Moonbeam took a minute to think about these details. “I recall picking up gems that were hotter or colder than they naturally should’ve been. Then… there was this one time one of my workers got a serious injury, broke his arm clean in half, could’ve sworn I saw bone. But, anyway, we managed to get his arm in a sling and had him hold onto an emerald we found.” “Why did he do that?” “It made him feel better in more ways than one. When we got him to the hospital, the x-ray only showed that he had only a few cracks in his bones. We told this to your mother and found that these gems had several different abilities.” “Then how come I haven’t heard about them before?” “You and Fiona were young puppies back then, and there was this disaster that happened with…” “AMBER!” roared a voice. “OPEN THE DOOR!” Both dogs heard Katherina screaming at the top of her lungs, causing both of them to get worried. There was a loud knock at the door, both dogs knowing who it was. Katherina was outside trying to open the door, but it was locked thanks to Amber. “I swear, when I get my paws on her,” the queen growled. The guards were stepping back from the Saluki, as they thought she was scary while angry. “Um, should we bring your three guests to help you?” the pink husky asked, bracing himself. “They’re with Fiona. Give me a spear. Now!” The husky jumped and handed his spear over to the queen. She firmly stabbed the spear into the small gap of the door, and with all of her might, she forcefully tugged it to break in. Her livid grunts and groans can be heard as she keeps pulling and pulling and pulling… until she heard the violent click from the latch. She could almost hear the scuffling inside the room. Once again, with all of her might, she kicked the door open with her hind legs. She went in and found… only Moonbeam resting on the bed. “You could’ve knocked,” the sick diamond dog said snarkily. “That door almost broke…” Katherina wasn’t in the mood for games. “Enough! Where is Amber?” the queen asked. Moonbeam just simply looked around the room until she saw an open window. “I told her it wasn’t going to be easy.” The queen ran over to the window and could see they were closer enough to the ground so that Amber wouldn’t get hurt. This didn’t make her any less angry, so Katherina and the guards raced outside to find the princess. Meanwhile, Fiona was with the Equestrian guests back to the dress store, which now had a couple of customers inside. They stopped and stared not only at the visitors but also Princess Fiona. They weren’t quite used to being around royals in public. They approached Jennino, who was surprised to see them so soon.  “Oh… What brings you back here?” Jennino asked. “I think I forgot to pay for the dress with gems on it,” Fiona said. “I brought my bag of bits and I’m pretty sure they’ll be enough for you.” She handed her bag of bits to the store owner when they heard the door burst open. They saw Amber, standing in the doorway, fairly out of breath. “Amber?” Jennino gasped. “I thought you were grounded.” “She was,” Rarity said. “We just happened to help with her escape.” Indiana walked in from the back to see who walked in and saw both princesses in the store. “Ah, man,” Indiana groaned. “I’m not going to be caught in Katherina’s drama.” She walked over to the winded Amber and tried to get her out of the store. “Indi, did you notice anything about the gems that you used?” Amber asked. “No, and you shouldn’t be here,” Indiana stated. “If I get caught in your mother’s turmoil because you can’t follow orders, I and Indi will be in big trouble.” Jennino and Fiona walked over to them, trying to see if they could stop any conflict. “But she’s not telling me anything about the gems!” “What gems!?” Fiona asked in a confused tone. Indiana and Jennino glanced at each other, having a feeling that Amber was catching onto something she wasn’t supposed to know about. “Amber, you should head home,” Jennino suggested. “Right now.” “...Are you trying to hide something from me?” Amber questioned. The two shop owners didn’t quite know what to say to this. “You’re pushing your luck,” Indiana fumed. “And you’re lying to me!” Fiona jumped at her sister’s outburst. “Um, sis,” Fiona said, “How about we get something around here. We could get matching outfits or…” “How many dresses do you already have, Fiona!?” Amber exclaimed. “You can’t just keep filling up your closet with things you won’t even wear. I mean, remember those dresses you wore on our 10th birthday?” Indiana and Jennino were both surprised by this. “You still have that dress?” Indi questioned. “Um…. I think so,” Fiona shrugged. “You didn’t remember what dresses you have at home,” Amber proclaimed. “Some were already outdated!” Rarity, Pinkie, and Spike stood back as they knew things were getting ugly. “I’m putting an end to this,” Rarity proclaimed. She used her magic to push the diamond dogs apart from each other. “Stop! We’re not all informed about what’s going on here. I don’t blame Amber for not being informed as some creatures haven’t told you something important.” Jennino and Indiana didn’t want to talk about this inside of the store, so they thought that they should move the conversation outside. “Everyone, outside,” Indiana sighed. Once they were outside they continued their conversation. “Listen here, we’ve wanted to tell you,” Jennino admitted, “but your mother has her concerns.” “Of course,” Amber groaned. “She isn’t here now, so why can’t you tell me?” Before either shop owner could speak, a net flew out of nowhere and struck Amber to the ground, much to the shock of everyone else. They looked to see where the net came from to see Queen Katherina was standing beside some of her guards. “So, we’re not getting in trouble for targeting the princess?” the sergeant questioned. “Not this time,” Katherina declared flatly. She stepped over to her daughter, who was trying to untangle herself from the net. The Saluki helped her out before holding her daughter’s arm tightly. “No talking, we’re going home!” The two started walking towards the castle with Fiona deciding to follow behind to avoid any yelling. Everyone else was thinking about following along until Amber suddenly stopped and yanked backward, breaking out of her mother’s grasp. They followed in the short chase, which ended as soon as Katherina tackled her daughter to the ground. “What is with you today!?” “Get off me, mother!” Amber growled. She struggled to get out of her mother’s grip again as Fiona was having a hard time taking this. “Please, stop!” she begged. Indiana decided to step in and had the mother and daughter separated by pushing them apart. “Okay, this is going on long enough!” the Alaskan malamute noted. “We’re fixing this right here right now!” “Indy, you’re already pushing your luck by pulling that stunt,” Katherina proclaimed. “Katherina, I didn’t want to do this, but I have a feeling that Jenn was right, we should’ve told the twins years ago.” “Indy…, I… I… I’ll have your store closed for this!” “Closed for what? Spite?” A low growl escaped the queen’s mouth while she clenched her teeth. Pinkie thought this would be a good time to lighten the mood by walking in between Katherina and Indiana. “Hey, here’s an idea,” the pink pony said, “Let’s go back to the castle, blow off some steam, maybe play a game or two, then we can talk.” “How about here… right now!?” Amber yelled. “Young lady, you’re in enough trouble as it is,” Katherina stated. “Like keeping a secret from the family?” The mother looked past her troubled child and noticed her other daughter was looking upset. “Mom, what aren’t you telling us?” Fiona asked. Katherina paused. She didn’t know what to say, let alone in public. She remembered something she didn’t want to, but… It was too much conflict for her. Suddenly, Pinkie noticed her tail twitching. “Oh, not good,” she muttered. A few seconds later, another earthquake began to form. Barely anybody managed to stay on their feet. Things quickly got worse as the ground began to crack open. It started between Amber and Katherina. The cracks started to form around Fiona, Pinkie, and Indiana. They’re about to escape quickly until it was too late when the earth underneath them began to sink. “AMBER! FIONA!” The queen quickly reached out for her daughter’s paw until the ground suddenly swallow the pony and three dogs into a sinkhole with their death-threatening screams fainted away. Katherina only had a few seconds to witness their freefall before the hole was quickly covered up by rubble just as the earthquake stopped. There was a long moment of silence before Katherina started hyperventilating. As for Rarity and Spike, they were horrified when they see Pinkie fall into the hole like that’s her final destination. And for Jennino, it was the same. “No. No! No-no-no-no-no! MY BABIES!” she screamed. The queen jumped down into the crater and tried digging them up. Her foot suddenly got swallowed by the rubble as it didn’t look stable. Seeing this, Rarity levitated the queen back onto solid ground, despite her resistance. “Let go of me!” “Your Majesty, the ground isn’t safe to dig up,” Rarity said. “I think there’s still a chance of saving them,” Jennino commented. “There are tunnels all over this kingdom, maybe they fell into one of them.” Jennino could see the queen was breathing heavily with her eyes bawling with tears flowing like a waterfall, so she placed her paw on her shoulder. “They’re going to be okay. We’ll make sure of it.” Katherina held her paws together before looking at the covered sinkhole, worried about the two most important things in her life.