//------------------------------// // Ch11: Of Dogs and Ponies // Story: A Vivid Dreamer // by Kronoxis //------------------------------// A Vivid Dreamer – Ch11 Of Dogs and Ponies Luna had spent the rest of that morning preparing for her departure. But now she was now sitting in her personal chariot pulled by two of her lunar guard, heading towards Dodge City. It was just past noon when they began circling the ‘city’, if it could be called that. As they circled again for an approach Luna looked over the mining town. With its rock farms, and proximity to both the gem rich quarry to the north and the ore saturated earth that was the Badlands, Dodge City was one of Equestria’s main sources of metals and gems. While the gems were easily accessible from the quarries, the Badlands were another story. The desert was filled with wyverns, Quarry Eels and the occasional sand worm, it was extremely dangerous and the safest way to traverse it was underground. And that’s why Dodge City had a treaty with the Diamond Dog pack living within the Badlands, they would bring in ores and gems to trade for services that only the ponies could provide. This would include magic, medicine and even occasionally education; while most dogs learned through the vocal teachings of their elders, it was not unheard of for a dog to be curious. With the treaty between the Badlands pack many of the dogs had come to embrace pony culture, this lead to Dodge City having the highest non-pony to pony population ratio. Over the years Dodge City had become a beacon for pony cooperation, as more and more non-pony species moved into Dodge. Looking over the streets Luna could see not only ponies, but dogs, goats, a few minotaur and even a zebra couple. Luna’s focus was dragged away as she spotted a full griffon weather team moving a cloud bank, them may not be able to manipulate the weather as well as a pegasus but they could clear a sky easily enough; that and the fact that the griffons were more naturally suited to deal with wyverns that strayed from the Badlands. Luna had her guards set down within an ally way; there was no need to draw attention to her arrival. With that in mind, as Luna disembarked from the chariot, she lit her horn; with her magic the regal form of an Alicorn was replaced with the more common appearance of a light blue Pegasus. As Luna left the ally way she looked over her shoulder to see the two lunar guards disappear into the shadows, where they could keep watch over their charge. After watching the display Luna could only think about how blaringly obvious her sisters own guard was, just like her sun. As Luna began heading down the main street towards her objective, the sound of sizzling and a faint aroma caught her attention. What had drawn Luna’s focus was a small food establishment built into the side of a building; it was called ‘Ramses’. Seated on the stools before the eatery, were two dogs, a minotaur and a griffon while behind the counter was, not too surprisingly, a ram. He was busy hacking the scales off of a rather large hunk of meat before throwing it onto a grill, the smell was both tantalizing but a little nauseating to Luna. But it didn’t surprise her that in a town where more than fifty percent its population were omnivores, there would be dining more suited to those that preferred meat. She couldn’t help but marvel at the ingeniousness of Ryan’s cunning; what better place to hide in a nation full of ponies, then where there are the least ponies. Luna suddenly remembered why she had arrived in the first place, and continued on her way down the street towards her destination. She soon found herself before ‘Ingots Blacksmith’; while Luna may not have known the stallion personally she had thanked him on several occasions; for providing services to her guard when others were too frightened by their appearances. Looking around the town his shop was situated in, Luna realised that the stallion was not one to judge by appearance alone, further concreting Luna’s suspicions. That and the fact of what most of the citizens faced nearly on a daily basis from the Badlands, he never had a shortage of work. Luna walked up to the door and let herself in. Walking in Luna was able to see all the stores wares, there were armors of all shapes and sizes. Then there were the weapons racks; Luna could spot the spears that were favored by the dogs, the swords for griffons as well as the massive hammers the minotaur’s liked. Everything looked just like the last time she was here; the wares may have been different but the layout was the same. That was until she noticed the display cases near the counter; they were filled with all forms of jewelry. Within the cases were flowers of gold and silver, broaches made of finely woven gold wire with gems centred within and quite a few bracelets with gem charms. They were beautiful but at the same time she had not known Ingot for his delicate hoofwork, these were too finely crafted. Luna was pulled from her admiration by the voice of a gruff aging stallion, “you liking what you’re seeing?” “Quite, they are extremely detailed.” Luna said as she lifted her head to regard the stallion. On the other side of the counter stood a tan brown stallion with a cropped and graying mane, his cutie mark was that of an anvil overlaid by a blacksmith’s hammer. “They are little beauties’ aren’t they? They were made by my apprentice, his even received requests from the nobles in Canterlot for his works. Makes me wonder what them stuck up ponies would do when they find out who’s been making them.” Ingot said as he regarded a small broach; a dark gem dressed to look like a golden spider sitting within a web made of silver wire. “Ah yes, that is why We are here.” Luna said as she let her disguise fall. To his credit Ingot only looked on with slight amusement. “Well hello Princess—“ Ingot was interrupted by a loud crash from past the door that lead to the back of the shop; where the furnaces and other tools used for smithing was kept. Luna raised an eyebrow as a fierce scowl crept onto Ingots face as he reached under the counter. Turning to face the doorway he raised a hoof that now held a decent sized hammer, and yelled, “Oy, that is not your armor to be going around and dropping.” Another voice called out from outside Luna’s sight, one that seemed both familiar and foreign “Sorry, my ha—paw slipped.” Ingot yelled again but Luna hear the jovial tone that laced his words, “weren’t you the one that always telling me that thumbs are far better than hooves? I haven’t dropped one single thing since I’ve opened this shop” The strange voice sounded again, “I’m still not sure how you do it, you have—“ there was a soft thud followed by a clatter, cause by the hammer that Ingot had loosed through the doorway, “…ow” A small smile worked its way onto Ingots muzzle, “now look what you’ve gone and done, you’ve broke mah hammer.” “Hah! We can all be as soft headed as you now can we?” Was the reply, after the little bout Ingot turned to regard Luna again but with a small smile on his face. “Sorry about that, anyway what can I help you with Princess.” “We are actually here to meet with your apprentice.” “Oh is that all,” Ingot said raising an eyebrow before turning to face the back of the shop again, “hey Stone get up here, the princess wants to see you.” All either of them could hear was the chatter from outside the shop and the crackle of a fire burning. Ingot began to frown at the silence and was just about to call out when the voice spoke up again. “uh… sure… just give me… hold on,” there was a sound of moving tools and a rattle of what Luna suspected to be a chest piece for a suit of armor, “coming.” There was the sound of soft feet on hard wood floors; Luna prepared herself for what she expected to see. But was still taken aback by what appeared in the doorway, she was expecting something entirely different. What stood in the door way looking up at Luna was a Diamond Dog, as she took in the sight she began to notice all the small details that varied from the traditional look of a Diamond Dog. The first was his size, he was barely taller than a pony, his eyes leveled with the base of Ingots ears. Then there were his ears; instead of flap-like ears that drooped down, on each side of his head were pointed ears each about the length of an average unicorn’s horn and tufted, they were both rotated to face Luna. She couldn’t see his eyes as they were hidden behind the massive coloured lens of the goggles that sat on a pointed muzzle, contradictory to the squashed muzzle of the dogs that were found within equestrian, and it ended in not a black nose but one of light pink. The biggest difference was his front paws, unlike most dogs wherein they reached from shoulder to ground, his paws only came down to his first set of knees. Since his arms were not of the expected massive proportions his posture allowed him to stand straight up instead of hunched forward. Luna then began to take in what he was wearing. From the bottom up Luna saw a loose pair of leggings, which was wrapped in a heavily padded apron; the pouches of which were filled with the tools of a blacksmith. Wrapped around his chest, but still exposing the front, was a dirty olive green vest which had its pockets stuffed with the more delicate tools of a jeweler. That was when she noticed the one article that was missing from his body; the collar. The collar to a Diamond Dog was their most valued possession; it signified their connection to their pack and was given to them when they would first open their eyes. A dog without a collar was a dog without a pack, either meaning he was disowned or never had a pack to begin with. With her mind concluded that he was a stray, one without a pack, she took in his colouration. The fur around his head was a dirty white, his chest grey and his front paws nearly black. Luna then realised why it had taken her so long to notice the missing collar; his fur. It was too fluffy, instead of the short coarse fur of most underground dogs, his fur was almost invitingly soft especially around his neck; it looked like someone had shoved his head through an overstuffed pillow and left it hanging around his shoulders, the fur of his neck fluff almost reaching his chin. Luna suddenly found herself fighting the urge to climb over the counter and hug him, just to find out if he was really as soft as he appeared. Luna was brought back to reality when he began to speak, pulling off his goggles revealing eyes with rounded irises of crimson red; he bowed his ears spun around to lay flat against his head. “Welcome your majesty, I am LodeStone, but you may just call me Stone. If you would allow it I would like to wash up, I am currently covered in soot.” This was another nail in the coffin that was Luna’s suspicions, almost all dogs spoke in broken Equestrian, but here he was forming complete sentences. When those sentences made it through her mind she realised she had gotten his fur colour wrong; they weren’t greys and blacks, which were instead soot from the furnaces. Wishing to see his true colours, she decided to let him clean up before they had a little chat. “Very well We shall wait her for your return.” “Thank you your highness.” Luna watched him as he rose again and turned around to walk back through the door, only for Luna to spot his tail; instead of the knobbed clubs that was meant to be the dogs tail, his tail was a mass of fur, nearly a ball, but it tapered off to a point at the base of his spine. As soon as he was out of sight Luna turned to Ingot, “Do you know where he comes from? He does not seem to be a native Diamond Dog that is for certain.” Ingots face suddenly went flat, “nopony really knows, Bertha found the pup just over a week ago wondering the tunnels leading to the badlands, no collar and no gems.” “Pup?” Luna raised an eyebrow the timing seem a lot more than mere coincidence, “how old is he?” “19” Luna frowned, for that was an extremely young age for a dog to be without a pack, if he truly is a dog she mentally added. Luna was about to question Ingot more while she waited when they both heard a door open and nearly being slammed closed again, it had come from the back of the shop, in the same direction LodeStone had left to go. Looking to Ingot to see the worried expression Luna immediately jumped the counter and headed into the back of the shop, running past the furnaces and partly finished projects she burst out through the back door followed closely by Iron Ingot. Looking over the yard Luna spotted Stone climbing a mass of chopped firewood, when he reached the top he turned around and spotting Ingot said, “…sorry” With that said he jumped down the other side. With Stones actions nearly confirming her suspicions, Luna couldn’t let him get away. Charging her horn she levitated each and every piece of wood into the air, only to reveal there to be a hole in the ground. She quickly placed all the wood in another pile on the other side of the yard as she stuck her head down the hole. Looking through the tunnel, too small for Luna to fit through, she could see Stone running on all fours away from her. Luna shouted a command for him to stop in the Royal Canterlot Voice before she pulled he head out and began running along the surface following the underground tunnel with her magic. That was until Luna came to a screeching halt, the ground ahead of her suddenly erupted in a geyser of dirt and stone. There before her stood a Diamond dog, nearly a head and a half taller than Luna herself. The dog that just erupted from the ground was wearing a bright red vest, pockets full of gems, and a mass of chains around its neck with a small emerald dangling from the ‘collar’. It stood there holding Stone by the scruff of his neck with only two claws. Suddenly royal guard pegasi began landing in circle to surround the large dog and Stone, it was then that Luna realised that the dog was part of the local guard forces, as indicated by the golden helm and pauldron that adorned its right shoulder, emblazoned with the royal symbol. It was at this time that Celestia herself descended into the circle of guards and faced the giant dog. But it was the dog the spoke first, “what does pretty pony want with pup? Pup has done nothing wrong.” Luna was surprised to hear a female voice rumbling out from the massive dog. Facing the dog Celestia said, “I am sorry Bertha,” and then turning to face the limp form of Stone said, “LodeStone you are hereby under arrest as a threat to national security.” Luna was just on the outside of the ring of guards when she heard a response. “…crap”