//------------------------------//
// Gone To The Dogs 
// Story: Every Dog Has Her Day 
// by SilverNotes 
//------------------------------//

Summer had turned to fall, and Precious was still on scout duty.

After the incident with the yellow pegasus, there had been the occasional pony that had made their way up into the mountains, and Precious had done the same thing she had before. She'd hidden--her hiding place of choice was the bushes now, lest she again be betrayed by the trees--she'd observed, she'd done her best to spy the mark on the pony's hips, and she'd made the decision whether they were worth capturing. And each time, the ponies clearly didn't measure up. 

The ones with horns, she knew, were no good for pulling either, and she never saw a single mark that looked to involve jewels, so clearly none of them had magic that was useful for assisting in locating gemstones. The ones with neither wings nor horns were ideal for both strength and resonance with the earth, but the ones she saw tended to have marks like vegetables and flowers, which would be no good for any jobs underground.

So she'd kept her distance, let the ponies pass by, and told herself, each time, Wait until the next one.

Besides, she was in no hurry to leave the surface behind. The trees were changing colour, swapping green for oranges and reds, making her think of rubies and fire opals. She'd tried plucking some of the prettiest leaves from the trees to show the other dogs, but coming home at night meant that she usually came back to a pack that was tired, grumpy, and didn't want to indulge what they still saw as her frivolity when they could be sleeping. Some of the pups had taken interest, but they were a bit too rough, wanting to make the colourful, crinkling leaves into toys.

That was another thing that could be done with the excess gems, making some toys for the pups. Surely, if nodog else was allowed a few nice things, they'd make an exception for the little ones.

"Oh there you are, Precious!"

She jumped at the voice, barely catching herself to keep from falling over. She must have been a little too lost in thought, to have a pony sneak up on her. Though, as she saw the wide smile on Fluttershy's face, she told herself that at least it was this pony, who hurried toward her instead of potentially running off screaming.

"Fluttershy?" Precious found herself smiling. "What are you doing out here? More gems for your dragon?"

"Oh, no," Fluttershy said with a shake of her head, one of her wings flipping open a saddlebag. "This time I came out here for you!"

There was a furious blinking. "...For me?" Precious could hardly believe it. Not a single dog had come up to visit her--she didn't count Rover, Fido, and Spot's occasional trips topside to heckle her--and Ponyville wasn't a casual hop, skip, and jump away. Fluttershy didn't seem winded at all from the trek, however. Maybe she was a little stronger than Precious had assumed before.

"Yes. You see... well..." She moved one of her hooves back and forth in front of herself, briefly hiding her face in her mane with bashfulness clear enough to surpass the species barrier. "I noticed that it was starting to get colder, and I'd been thinking about you, out here watching over travelers." She didn't seem to see the way that Precious's ears drooped at the kind interpretation of her words that summer day. "And I thought you might like some help keeping warm. Not that... I mean, not that I don't think you know how to keep warm, but you were so nice to me when I came looking for gems for Spike, so..." 

The nervous babbling was cut off as she dipped her face into the open saddlebag, pulling it back out with something purple in her teeth and a muffled, "Here."

Precious reached out and took the offered item, and once she could hold it up and look at it, she immediately realized what it was. Wool was a rare item to have in the tunnels, but there were a few items, notably a long scarf that was now pulling duty as soft bedding for the pack's pups, and so she recognized the feel in her paws. This was not a scarf, however, but a sweater, primarily purple but with a few black pawprint shapes on both the front and back. "It's..."

"Do you like it? The purple looked like would go well with your white fur. It's my first time making something for a diamond dog, but I do a bit of knitting sometimes, and sewing, for things for my animal friends, so I have some practice." Fluttershy's voice then turned from hopeful to concerned. "Is something wrong? Do diamond dogs not like sweaters?

Fluttershy had made her a sweater.

"No, it's..." Precious wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her paw, then gave a shaky smile. "I love it."

That big, bright smile was back. "You should try it on, just to make sure I got the sizing right. If it's a little off, I can try making you another one."

Precious nodded, and slipped off her vest. As drab as the garment was, she did feel strange without it, as it'd been hers ever since she'd reached adulthood and been given the hand-me-down. Clothes were the only kind of personal belonging a diamond dog had, and even then, when they died, the vests and collars would be passed on to the next generation when they came of age. Pups didn't wear clothing, because they grew too fast for it to be practical, and so gaining the outfit was seen as a rite of passage, the sign that you were an adult now with all of the responsibilities.

She set the vest aside, and slipped on the sweater. Wool felt odd against the fur of her torso, but not a bad odd, and the garment was indeed warmer than what she'd been wearing before. She ran her paws along the sleeves, then her front, smoothing it out, as her tail wagged furiously behind her. Fluttershy walked a circle around her, and Precious found herself with an urge to strike a pose, an urge she gleefully indulged.

"It looks like it fits," Fluttershy said with a small nod and a giggle. "Is it too tight anywhere?"

Precious shook her head. "It's perfect." She then lifted her paw, about to pat Fluttershy on the head like she had during their first meeting. A head pat didn't feel like enough of a show of appreciation, however, and so she pulled the paw back, then scooped Fluttershy up and hugged her instead, to the little pegasus's surprised squeak. "Thank you, Fluttershy."

The little pony was stiff for a moment, and Precious worried that what she'd done may have been some kind of cross-species faux pas, until Fluttershy's wings opened to hug her back. "You're welcome, Precious. I'm so glad you like it."

The hug lingered, until Precious found her arms trembling. Then she slowly set Fluttershy down, and wiped her eyes again. "I'll wear it every day," she promised softly.

Fluttershy giggled again. "Just the cold ones, I hope. I wouldn't want you to overheat." She went about making sure the now-empty saddlebag was shut. "I'd better get back to Ponyville, though. They're going to have the Running of the Leaves soon."

Precious's ears drooped at the thought of Fluttershy leaving--it was safer for her not to linger long, she knew that, but she felt an ache in her chest all the same--but then perked at the unfamiliar term. "Running of the Leaves?"

"You don't know?" When Precious shook her head, Fluttershy looked all the more surprised, but if she had a problem with explaining it, she didn't show it in any way Precious could read. "That's when the ponies in Ponyville run a long race, to help the local trees drop their leaves. Some of my friends are going to be racing, so I was going to go watch." She smiled. "Do you want to come?"

There was a moment when every part of Precious, from her nose to her tail, wanted to say yes.

"I... can't..." The words came out slowly, and she gestured a bit at the space around her. "Have to keep watching."

Fluttershy's head drooped. "I guess that is very important. It would be bad if somepony were to come by, need your help, and you not be there to help them." It rose again, as her ears perked and her tone turned hopeful once more. "I'll come by afterward and let you know who won?"

Coming back again was dangerous. Every time this far-too-friendly pony came back would be another time that they could be caught together.

Precious looked down at the sweater again, and tried to remember the last time anydog had done something so thoughtful for her. 

"I think... I'd like that."

As the two waved goodbye, Precious took a deep breath. She would have to be careful about this. If she saw those three coming--though more likely, she'd smell them before she saw them--she would have to hide Fluttershy quickly. She would need to hide the sweater as well; it pained her, but she may have to find an out-of-the-way spot to bury it each night to keep the other dogs from finding it. After all, even if she came up with some kind of excuse for why she had it, it would just end up as more soft things for the pups to sleep in. 

Not that Precious wouldn't normally happily give up something for the sake of the pack, but Fluttershy had given it to her, and it seemed insulting to immediately give such a heartfelt thing away.

Besides, days were starting to get cold. Did anydog even care that she'd be out here, exposed to the chill air all day? Or was that part of the punishment?

Hide the sweater. If need be, when she came back to tell her who won the race, hide Fluttershy. Precious could do that. Things would be okay.