As the group headed out of town, each equipped with saddlebags just in case, Gold Heart asked Rarity to tell them about her first experience with the Diamond Dogs. "Well," the white unicorn said, "It all started when Sapphire Shores came into my boutique just after I'd finished a design incorporating my entire stock of diamonds. She was so impressed with it she decided then and there to use it in her next production. However, she also wanted five identical pieces with different colors."
"Sorry to interrupt," Gale asked, "but who's Sapphire Shores?"
"The Pony of Pop of course," Rarity said, "Oh, sorry, I forgot how new you all are. She's one of the most famous earth pony entertainers out of Canterlot. To be asked to design not just one outfit, but six, for one of her shows…" She trailed off with a sigh and a dreamy look on her face. "Anyway," she said, coming back to the present, "Since I didn't have any more gems and a limited time to complete the order, I had to go out and find as many as possible. I took Spike along with me because he can dig faster than me, and I had just had a pony-pedi." She paused and glanced at the out-worlders in case they were confused again.
"I think I get 'pony-pedi,'" Soul Mage said. The other three nodded.
"Good," Rarity continued, "we didn't even know about the Diamond Dogs or their mines at the time, so Spike and I simply sought out the gems buried just below the surface. Unbeknownst to us, the leaders of the Dogs were watching us, and when we stopped for the day they pounced, dragging me underground despite Spike's efforts to save me. He escaped and ran to get the others to come rescue me. As for me, the dogs tried to insist that I do all the work- locate the gems, dig them up, and cart them around. I was not about to be an easy captive, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how easily I could turn the situation around. By the time the others showed up, the dogs were not only willing to let me go, but insisted I take all the gems I'd found with me."
"So, what was the secret weapon?" Ashen Blaze asked, "You said you had them 'wrapped around your hoof' the whole time."
"I simply demanded the treatment a lady like myself deserves," Rarity said, "and I taught them a lesson on the difference between making a proper complaint and whiiining." Her voice shot up several pitches on the last word, causing everypony to wince.
"That… that would do it I guess," Ash said with an appreciative smile, "And they just let you go?"
"They may be rude, crude, and have no sense of personal hygiene," Rarity said, "but they are not all that violent."
"Speak fer yerself," Applejack said, "We had to fight our way into the mines and buck off some guards tryin' to make us into work-ponies as well. Of course, they didn't give us much trouble after that…"
"I'm just worried about how they'll react to you Rarity," Twilight said, "The send-off they gave us seemed to imply we weren't welcome back."
"Don't you worry Twilight," Rarity said, "I'm sure they can be reasoned with."
"If not, you could give a refresher course in 'Complaint 101,'" Soul quipped. He grinned despite the disapproving looks most of the group gave him. Shortly, they arrived at the rock field and Rarity pointed them in the direction of the mine entrances. When the reached the spot, they saw that most of the large holes in the ground were filled with mounds of dirt.
"Ah, look," Rarity said, pointing, "There's one of those mutts."
"Good," Ash said, spotting the canine head popping out of a hole, "Now we'll know how they'll react." He called out and waved to the dog. Its eyes almost bugged out and it ducked into the hole, which began rapidly filling with dirt. "And there's our answer," Ash continued, "Oh well, that gives me an excuse to try something." He walked over to the nearest filled-in hole and began scraping at the dirt next to it.
"You ain't tryin to dig in are you?" Applejack asked, giving the fire-maned unicorn a strange look.
"Just stand back and watch," Ash answered, etching a complex pattern into the dirt. When he finished, he placed a hoof to either side of it and began focusing his magic. His horn began to glow, followed by the pattern, and Ash began to sweat with the effort of working his spell. After several tense seconds, the dirt in the hole suddenly erupted out of the hole and flew off into the distance. Ash began shaking as the dirt continued to fly away, and just before he collapsed the dirt dwindled into a trickle and ceased to emerge from the pit. "Too much… personal… juice," Ash gasped as his legs gave out.
"Are you ok?" Heart asked as she and everypony else rushed over to his side.
"I'll be fine," Ash mumbled, "Just let me catch my breath. And drink some water. And eat a… lot."
"Here," AJ said, opening her saddlebag, fishing out a sandwich, and holding it out to him. Ash grunted his thanks and ate it quickly.
As he lay recuperating, Twilight and Soul watched the hole for signs of Diamond Dog activity. "That was a really powerful spell for somepony with his level of training," Twilight said.
"You haven't seen him at his peak," Soul said, "He's used to using the energy of the world around him to power his spells, and I think he's not able to do that in this world. Back home or in most other places we've been, that sort of spell might've been child's play. I've never seen him use it before though, so I'm just guessing."
"A pittance of power," Ash said, struggling to his feet. Rarity quickly moved to support him. "Thanks," he said, eliciting a slight blush from Rarity, "I'll be fine in a bit." His knees threatened to buckle a few times as he continued to breathe deeply, regaining his strength. As Soul turned his attention back to the hole, he spotted a face peering up from around a bend in the sloped tunnel. He quickly shot out a tendril of magic and had it chase the creature as it tried to turn and run. The Diamond Dog managed to slip out of sight, but Soul somehow snagged it around a foot and started to reel it in.
"A little help here?" he grunted as the dog slid back into view, scrabbling at the dirt for all it was worth. Twilight activated her magic and with their combined strength the two unicorns pulled the dog up to the surface. "'Sup pup?" Soul quipped, grinning at the dog and swallowing his surprise at the ape-like size of its arms.
"Grrr, why you ponies come here?" the dog growled at him, "We not kidnapped any ponies! Go away!"
"So sorry to bother you," Rarity said, walking over after helping Ash lay down again, "But we're looking for a gemstone and I couldn't think of a better group of… fellows to lend us some help."
"Geeems?" The dog exclaimed, "You're the magic gem-finding pony Rarity. You don't need help! Search on the surface, leave Diamond Dog mines alone!"
"As much as I would like to," Rarity said, a measure of disgust sneaking onto her face for a split second, "My friends are looking for a very particular gem."
"Soooo?"
"So," Ash said, now standing more steadily, "We have no idea where it is and we hear you lot have quite the collection."
"Our jewels!" the dog shrieked, "You can't have them, any of them!"
"How about this," Rarity said, fixing the canine with a stare, "If you let us look for the gem and keep it if we find it, you can keep whatever other gems we may find along the way. And I promise we'll stay away from you from now on."
"Hrrrm," the dog said, thinking. "Fine," he said at last, "but you better be quick and no making the whining noises."
"Ok then," Ash said, "Let's go. Soul, Twilight, I think you can let him go now." The two unicorns cut their magic and the Diamond Dog dropped down into the tunnel. "Down we go then," Ash said, jumping into the hole. The other ponies exchanged a few glances before following him. As they slid down the dirt tunnel, Rarity decided that as rough as the dogs had been, she much preferred being carried down into the mines. Her coat was simply covered with dust by the time she landed next to her friends in one of the many intersections of the mines.
"Oh, this will take hours to fix," she said, looking to her mane. The Diamond Dog gave her a hard look. "I was just making an observation," she told it before turning to Ash. "Now, how do you propose we conduct this search?" she asked.
"Well," Ash said, looking around, "I assume that since the Diamond Dogs are such avid gem hunters, they've got at least one big stash of gems laying around."
"Yes," the dog hissed, "Our gems."
"Which may hold what we need," Ash continued, "However, there's no guarantee the Emerald has been dug out yet, if it's even here. Therefore, I propose we split up. I'll lead one team to sort through the stored gems, while another accompanies Rarity around these tunnels looking for any possible candidates that are still buried. Remember, the Gems are about as big as my hoof, perfectly symmetrical, and flawless. Anything else is Diamond Dog property by default." Rarity seemed mildly disappointed for some reason. "So," Ash said, turning to face their reluctant guide, "Would you prefer finding us another helper to guide one group around the caves, or will you take us all to the storehouse and then lead the mining group?"
The dog's eyes rocked back and forth as he mulled the ideas over, and then marched off down a tunnel. "This way," he said. The ponies followed in his wake as he moved through the tunnels at a fast jog. Every so often, one of them noticed a large, helmeted Diamond Dog staring at them from another tunnel as they passed by, but no one stopped them until they came to a large cavern, where a pointy-eared Dog in a red vest stood in their path, glaring at the guide.
"What is this?" he demanded in a dissonant voice.
"Uh, these ponies are looking for a gem," the guide-dog said, starting to sweat.
"And you let them in?" Red-vest exclaimed, "What is wrong with your head?" Rarity stepped forward into the dog's view, giving him a smile tempered with a mildly scathing gaze. Red-vest's hands flew to his ears as he scrambled backwards shouting, "And you let this one in?"
"This one?" Rarity said, affronted, "Surely you haven't forgotten my name, have you?"
"N-n-no, uh, Miss Rarity," Red-vest said, "But why are you back? You hate us!"
"Like your friend there said," Rarity replied, waving dismissively at the guide, "We're looking for a certain gem which may be somewhere around here. I assure you I won't stay here longer than I must, but we can't conduct our search if you curs keep getting in our way. So, either help us, or go somewhere where I don't have to smell you."
"You're not going to get to us twice," Red-vest retorted, "Cry, whine, make any noises you want, I will not do what you- eep." He suddenly found himself floating up near the ceiling.
"I think you're confusing us for gentlemen.. er, gentlecolts I guess," Ash said, stepping forward with his horn aglow, "We've struck a deal with your buddy here already: we get to look around for awhile. If we find what we're looking for, we get to keep it. Either way, you keep all the other gems we unearth in the process. You know how good Rarity is at finding them, so I think this is to your advantage. Opinion?"
"Put me down!" Red-vest begged, "Put me down!" Ash brought him down, but kept him just off the ground, giving him a determined look. "All right, fine!" the dog said at last, "Do what you want, ponies." Ash nodded and released him. "Just leave us alone after you leave, please!" He ran off down a tunnel. Ash glanced at the guide, who flinched and began jogging along again. Within a few minutes, the group arrived in a chamber piled to the ceiling with gemstones. "Very nice," Ash said appreciatively.
"Uh, thanks," the guide said cautiously.
"All right," Applejack said, "How're we dividing up? I'll go with Rarity."
"Me too," Heart said.
"And our guide makes four," Ash said, looking at Soul, Gale, and Twilight. "Would you three mind staying with me? That'll give us three unicorns to speed up the sorting and three ponies who know exactly what to look for."
"Fine by me," Gale said as Soul nodded.
"I guess that's ok," Twilight said, looking to Rarity.
"Don't worry about me," Rarity said to her friend, "I'll be fine. A little digging won't hurt me. Much." She prodded the guide with a hoof. "Lead the way if you please," she said. He plodded out of the chamber, followed by Rarity and Heart.
"Here," AJ said, opening one of her saddlebags, "Y'all better take half the food in case you get hungry before we return." Soul transferred the food into his saddlebags, and then Applejack trotted off to catch up with her group.
"Ok folks," Ash said, lifting a bunch of gems out of the pile, "let's start sorting."
After several minutes of sorting, Twilight started to get a feel for the general shape and size the others were looking for, and had managed to collect a small pile of them. Ashen Blaze, Soul Mage, and Gale weren't stockpiling their gems; each time they found a candidate they stepped on it briefly before shoving aside as a reject. Twilight was about to ask for an explanation, but was cut off by the arrival of Red-vest and another, bigger Diamond Dog. "Sup pups?" Soul asked them flippantly. The two dogs didn't answer; they simply sat down by the wall and watched the ponies with suspicion. "Ok then," Soul said, getting back to sorting, "glower away."
They worked on in silence for another few minutes until Twilight's curiosity got the better of her. "Something's been bugging me," she said, "I'm not an expert of transformations or anything of course, but it seems like you three and Gold Heart have adapted rather quickly to being ponies."
"This isn't our first pony world," Ashen Blaze said, "We wound up in a world similar to this one a few jumps ago. I'll spare you the details, but it was probably the worst and shortest episode of our quest, and only partially because I wasn't a unicorn there and thus had no magic whatsoever." He caught the lavender unicorn's eye and added, "From what I've seen so far, I have higher hopes for this version of pony-land."
"Equestria," Twilight said, "It's called Equestria."
"The other one wasn't," Gale said. She dug out a gem, looked it over, and then kicked it into the reject pile.
"Oh. So, how many worlds have you… tried to save so far?" Twilight asked.
"This is the fourteenth, counting our own," Gale said, "Two pony-worlds and twelve like home in some way or another. All in all, I think we've been chasing Tau'rin for… close to four years now."
"Wow," Twilight said, completely forgetting about the gems for the moment, "How'd you four end up being the ones to try and stop Tau'rin? No, wait, let me guess. You discovered a prophesy about him being released from some ancient prison and took on the challenge of stopping it, and then stopping him?"
"That's not a bad guess," Ash said, "Completely wrong, but perfectly reasonable. No, I think Tau'rin and Gems have actually been jumping around from world to world much longer than we've been involved. Soul, Heart, Gale, and I had met up years before Tau'rin appeared in our world and devoted ourselves to fighting evil and chaos. We called ourselves the Order-naries."
"Ordinaries?" Twilight asked, "That's a weird name for a team of heroes."
"No, Order-naries," Soul said, pronouncing it slowly, "As in mercenaries for the cause of Order, opposed to Chaos and whatnot."
"It was luck alone that got us involved with Tau'rin and gave us enough time to figure out how to use the Gems effectively." He rolled his eyes as a wistful smile crossed his lips. "And it was sheer, dumb, once-in-a-lifetime luck that we figured out we could hitch ourselves to the energy of the Gems and get pulled along after Tau'rin unleashed the Ultimate Chaos." His smile faded as he hung his head. "After that, it's been a horrible cycle, and all we've learned is that there's not much besides the Gems that can hurt Tau'rin, but bringing all of them together has always resulted in failure on our part."
"Then why bother gathering them?" Twilight asked, "You're only speeding things along by finding them."
"If we don't find them, Tau'rin will," Ash said, looking at Twilight with a grim expression, "Once, we tried staying hands-off. We barely managed to catch a ride on the out-bound Gem energies before that world collapsed on us. Our only options are to claim the Gems and fight, or die." Twilight stared speechlessly at Ash as he turned back to sorting through the pile of Gems.
"Sorry to put all that on you," Soul Mage said. Twilight just looked at him for a second before pulling out a sheaf of papers and began writing on them.
"I hope the Princess has some advice," she muttered, "And I hope I hear back from her before it's too late."
The guide dog led Rarity's group down a maze of twists and turns, and they stopped every so often when Rarity's horn lit up in the presence of hidden gemstones. At the end of a half hour, they'd filled both of Heart's bags to capacity, forcing the usually airborne Pegasus to walk, and Applejack's empty bag was close to full again. "This is not what I was hoping for," Heart groused.
"No, this is good," the guide said, visibly happier at the haul of gems they'd acquired, "They'll all be so happy with me for letting you in."
"Glad to help," Heart replied with undisguised sarcasm.
"I think this tunnel's cleared," Rarity said, looking around, "I'm not sensing any more gems."
"Come come then," the guide said, running off, "We try this way next!" Heart heaved a sigh as she followed the group down the tunnel.
"You ok sugar cube?" Applejack asked, looking over her shoulder at the golden-yellow pegasus.
"I'll be fine," Heart said, her gloomy term giving lie to her words.
"Don't like it underground much I take it?" AJ asked.
"Well, maybe a little," Heart said, "But it's more… let's just say I'm not used to being apart from my brother for so long." She muttered something else that Applejack didn't quite catch. She was about to pry when Rarity came to a sudden halt, her horn glowing and pointing down a side-tunnel they were passing. The guard continued on for a few steps until he realized the ponies had stopped.
"What is wrong?" he asked.
"There's a gem down there," Rarity said, nodding toward the tunnel.
"Not possible," the Diamond Dog said, "we dug that out completely months ago; no gems are left."
"The horn doesn't lie," Rarity said, walking into the tunnel.
"Are you sure there's nothing down there?" Heart asked the dog.
"Yes," he answered, "Can't dig there anymore anyway- too unstable, unless gems are in the floor."
"Hmm," Heart said, looking at the retreating figure of Rarity. A wry smile crossed her face and she galloped off after the unicorn.
"Guess we're goin' that-a-way," Applejack said, following them.
"Crazy ponies," the dog muttered, sitting down at the tunnel entrance. Heart pulled up even with Rarity and began looking around wildly in the light of Rarity's magic. When Applejack caught up to them, Heart thought she saw the light glint off something in the distance and ran ahead.
"Whoa there," Applejack called out, "Don't go too far! Ya might get lost." Silence was the only response for several seconds. All of a sudden the tunnel was flooded with light, leaving Rarity and Applejack blinking as their eyes adjusted.
"Rarity, Applejack," Heart said, flying back with a large diamond between her hooves and a distinct lack of saddlebags, "This is the Diamond of Light."
"Wow," Rarity said, staring in awe at the diamond, which was glowing with an internal light, "Can… can I get a closer look, please?"
"Go ahead," Heart said, dropping the gem in front of Rarity, "You should probably carry it anyway- I can't handle it and my bags at the same time." She flew back down the tunnel and returned a minute later with her saddlebags hanging loosely from her back. Rarity picked the Diamond up with her magic and looked it over.
"Simply perfect," she said with admiration, "Oh, the outfits I could build around this…" she smiled sheepishly at Heart's look after she said that. She cleared her throat and asked, "So, how does it work?"
"You concentrate while touching it," Heart said, walking toward the tunnel entrance, "but be careful- if you overdo it you might blind someone."
"Say," Applejack said, "Since you were makin' it glow, does that mean any pony can use it, or is that only 'cause y'all are... special?"
"Anyone can do it," Heart explained, "The Gems are so powerful that anything capable of thought can use magic if they hold one. However, that magic would be limited to the Gem's element."
"Interestin'" Applejack said simply.
"Do you want to try Applejack?" Rarity asked, moving the gem to float in front of the earth pony.
"Nah," AJ said, shaking her head, "I've been getting' along fine without magic mah whole life. I don't need to start dabblin' in it now, 'specially since I ain't going keep it, right?" Heart just nodded as Rarity put the Diamond into her bag. When they came out into the main tunnel, their guide gave them a quizzical look. Rarity pulled the Diamond out and showed it to him.
"Pretty," the guide said, entranced by the diamond.
"It's what we came to find," Heart said, "Here, you can take these." She pulled off her saddlebags and tossed them at the dog's feet. "I'm tired of carrying them, so if you want them, you carry them." She jumped back into flight and hovered until the dog slung the bags around his shoulders and began leading them back to the storage chamber.
Back in the storage chamber, Ash's group had sorted through the entire pile, rejecting almost all the gems out of hand. When Rarity's group arrived, Ash had turned his attention to the line of ten gems Twilight had picked out which hadn't been tested yet. Soul waved as Rarity, AJ, and Heart entered. "Hey girls, how'd it go?" he asked.
"We may have found something," Heart said guardedly, eyeing Red-vest, "How about you?"
"About to finish up," Ash said, "mind lending a couple hooves?" Heart nodded and flew over to the line. Soul and Gale also walked over, and each of them placed a hoof one of two gems. Heart kicked away the diamond under her left hoof, prompting Ash to discard the one he had and each took one of the remaining two. They all focused for several seconds, but nothing happened. "Welp," Ash said, kicking his two gems back toward the pile, "That's disappointing. So, where's the Diamond, Heart?"
"Rarity's got it," Heart said, going airborne again. Ash looked at Rarity, who pulled out the Gem. Ash grabbed it and put it into his own saddlebag.
"No offense," he said, "but the last time you held onto a Gem…"
"I understand, believe me," Rarity said, "Now, may we leave this wretched mine? I am in dire need of a full spa treatment."
"I'll pass on that," Applejack said, "but a simple bath sounds good to me."
As the ponies walked back to Ponyville, Rarity tried to talk each of the girls into letting her treat them a spa session and dropped some hints that's she'd consider doing the same for Ash and Soul. Applejack stuck by her earlier statement that all she wanted was a bath, or even a quick dip in the lake to rinse off the worst of the dirt, while Twilight readily accepted. Gale declined, taking AJ's stance until Heart talked her into accepting a warm bath and pony-pedi.
"The baths are really quite nice," Rarity said, turning her attention to the stallions.
"I'm fine, really," Soul said, brushing off a little dirt.
"If I were you," Ash said, not taking his eyes off where he was going, "I'd be cautious with my money since my source of income has been replaced by a bunch of rocks."
"Oh, pish-posh," Rarity said, "I can certainly afford one round of pampering for everypony here. And if I ever do wind up short on cash, I could always sell a few gems. There's always a market for them in Canterlot."
"Pardon my uninformed opinion then," Ash said dryly, "I guess I shouldn't say no to washing off the aromas I've picked up today."
"Very well then," Rarity said with triumph, "To the bathhouse! Step lively!" She picked up speed, taking the lead.