"So you see, if he travels any further than two hundred feet away from you, the collar will administer a painful electric shock, as shown."
*BZZZT*
*YELP!*
"Oohohohoh, how delightful, again, again!"
*BZZT*
*Whimper*
Rarity chuckled to herself as the Parole Officer demonstrated the power of the 'shock collar' for the umpteenth time. Who knew that something as simple as electrocuting a diamond dog could be so fun? His little whimpers and moans of pain served as the icing on the cake.
"As you can see, a shock can also be administered manually by pressing this button here-" he passed the remote to Rarity "-now I trust that you'll use this responsibly, Miss Rarity. Overusing the shock-collar can lead to serious brain dam-"
*BZZT*
*Whine*
"Yay!"
"Miss Rarity please, this isn't a toy!" chided the Parole Officer.
"Apologies, I was merely testing."
"You've tested it twenty times over already," deadpanned the Parole Officer. "You know if you abuse the shock collar I have every right to take it away."
Rarity hung her head in defeat. "Fine, I'll be good, fashiona's honour." the Parole Officer smiled and nodded acceptingly, believing Rarity's bluff. Rover would have too if not for the devious smile she gave him as soon as the other pony's back was turned
"Great, in that case you're all set to go, Miss Rarity."
"Wonderful! Thank you oh so much for the help, darling," the blue aura of her magic enveloped the crude, club-like end of Rover's tail and hoisted it, along with the lower half of the diamond dog's body, into the air. Rover flailed fruitlessly as Rarity dragged him towards the exit, giving a merry 'ta-ta' to the Parole Officer as she did so.
She dropped her cheerful visage as soon as the door slammed shut.
"Into that alleyway, now." she snapped, not bothering to wait for a response before she gripped his collar with her magic and lobbed him face-first through a pair of trashcans and into a small alley between two houses. Rover was scrambling to his feet unsteadily, a banana peel slipping off of his head, when Rarity sent a fresh wave of magic ploughing into him, pining him to a wall.
"So here's the deal, darling. I'd worked for years on end to make my boutique the most successful in Ponyville. For months on end I slaved over sewing machines and worked knitting needles until my hooves bled. I nursed and loved my business with the hope of it one day becoming something truly marvellous. In other words, that boutique was my foal, my foal, do you understand?"
No.
"Y-yes!" whimpered Rover.
"good!" chirped Rarity. "Now, I'll make myself clear. You belong to me. You do what I want, when I want and how I want. You disobey-" she held the trigger for the shock collar threateningly overhead. "-I hurt you, capiche?" Rover nodded feebly. "Good. Oh, and If you do anything, anything to embarrass me, so help me Celestia, I'll twist off your head and drink your blood from a bootie!"
"A-a bootie?"
"A bootie. Now come along, you have ponies to meet and pain to endure." she said nonchalantly.
Rover glowered at the White Pony as she waltzed out of the alleyway. He'd always been good at following orders- in fact anything that saved him the trouble of thinking for himself was alright in his books- but taking them from a pony? Moreover, a pony with a fancy-shmancy accent? That was downright embarrassing. He was a Diamond Dog, a King of dirt and rock and all things earthy! Not some stupid pony's plaything-
"Oh!" exclaimed Rarity, stopping herself mid-stride. "I almost forgot, I bought a little something for you," she opened her saddlebags and levitated out a brown leash, which she immediately threw over Rover's head and tightened around his neck. "There we go, much better."
Rover tugged at the leash in aggravation. The Rarity Pony had made it suffocatingly tight, no doubt on purpose. He growled in rebellion. "No leash, no leash! Rover not pet!" he snarled, still struggling in vain to remove the leash.
"On the contrary dear, you're as much of a pet as my dear Opal," said Rarity, now using the new leash to wrench Rover along behind her. "Only far more expendable..."
What do you do when you see a small white mare effortlessly tugging along a threatening, green-eyed beast thrice her size?
Nothing. You just stop and stare, unsure whether you should be frightened, worried, or just flat-out confused, as were the citizens of Ponyville.
It was a little discomforting, to say the least. Rover never liked having eyes on him, especially the freakishly big eyes of ponies. It was bad enough that he had to remain above ground and completely exposed, but being the centre of attention for an entire village worth of ponies? Rover had to wrestle with his primal instincts to stop himself from stuffing his head into the ground and burrowing his way to safety, which he would have, had it not been for the leash White Pony had wrapped around his neck.
Stupid ponies and their leashes...
'Rover should run,' he thought to himself. Run away and dig. Ponies not follow him, ponies never go underground. Underground is safe.' he stopped himself when he remembered the shock-collar around his neck. The White Pony had made it very clear that she wouldn't object to using it.
Ahead of him, Rarity drank in the stares of the crowd merrily, flaunting Rover about as if he were some great conquest of hers. That was what Rover hated the most, her Sun-Horse-Damned self-righteousness. All of these prissy little ponies had got it into their mind that they were the dominant species on the planet, and that everybody else was just fighting for second place. Of course, this was complete and utter nonsense. Diamond dogs were the obvious victors when it came to species superiority. They could dig holes, play dead, and even lick their own crotch. How many other species could claim to be able to do that?
*BZZT*
Rover yelped at the sudden shock, glaring at Rarity with a revived hatred.
"Apologies dear, I just wanted you at full attention, we're here!" she made a flourishing gesture towards the quaint house in front of them. The walls were painted a buttery yellow, whereas the roof was a purple not all that different from Rarity's mane. For the most part the architecture matched that of the other houses surrounding it, although the shape of the windows gave it something of a Victorian feel.
Of course, Rover noticed none of this, apart from the colours, that was- ever since his last run in with Rarity, purple had become his least favourite colour.
Stupid ponies and their colour schemes.
Rover's feeling of unease doubled as Rarity tossed him through the door and face-first onto the carpet. Having a roof overhead that wasn't made of dirt felt wrong in a number of ways, and the distinct lack of that homey 'wet soil smell' only added to his discomfort. The air was thick with the reek of those fancy Prench perfumes that pony mares loved to stink themselves up with. To a pony it would have barely been noticeable, but to Rover's honed nose it was enough to make him gag.
He pulled his mug out of the surprisingly plush carpet to observe his painfully bright surroundings. The walls were a creamy white and the floor a vibrant blue. From the walls hung some of those fo-toe-graff drawings like the ones Rarity's lawyer had flaunted around in court, only most of these were of Rarity with two other ponies and a pony-pup, none of whom he'd ever seen before. The bright colours were enough to sting his eyes.
"I'm hoooooome!" sang Rarity as she pranced gracefully through the door. A head poked around the corner of an open door. It belonged to a white stallion with a large, brushy moustache and thatch hat.
"Father, come! Don't just stand there, come say hello to our new guest!" with his daughter's beckoning, the stallion stepped out into the hallway. His coat was a magnificent white, and three hoofballs adorned his flank. He wore a blueshirt flecked with flowers.
His eyes narrowed as they laid themselves upon Rover, a small spark of fatherly rage dwindling in his brilliant blue irises. He had the same eyes as his daughter.
Rover despised those eyes.
Rarity's father gave a small grunt of disapproval. "So, You're the dog who wrecked my girl's business?" he grumbled, marching himself towards Rover. His voice was thick with anger, not unlike the growl of a beast. The meaning was all too clear. You hurt my foal, and now I'm going to hurt you. Rover could feel the hackles along his back rising beneath his vest, and would have answered the pony's growl with one of his own, had Rarity not administered yet another stinging shock right there and then. Instead, what came out of his mouth was something between a groan and a whine.
"Now now, play nice." chided Rarity, dangling the shock collar's remote threateningly.
He was really beginning to hate that thing.
The stallion stood over him like a statue, his stony face betraying no emotion. His legs were thick with muscle. The cold blankness of his face managed to be far more threatening than a scowl or frown could ever be. Had it not been for the flowery shirt, stupid hat and the fact that this guy was half his size, Rover would've been terrified.
Rarity, on the other hand, was practically ecstatic. Her eyes flicked eagerly between Rover and her father, as if expecting one of them to suddenly explode any minute.
"Rarity, honey, go upstairs and get your sister." her father spoke with a plain finality, one that left no room for arguments. Rarity's smile faltered for a moment, a disappointed frown passing momentarily across her lips. She turned on her hooves, sparing one last glare over her shoulder. Her eyes lingered on her father before passing to Rover. A rueful smirk flashed across her face, one that he'd seen far too many times before.
It was a smirk that screamed 'You're in trouble.'
Rarity disappeared up the stairs, leaving Rover alone with the stallion looming over him. His frown deepened, his bushy eyebrows knotting together. With frightening ease, he lifted Rover by the scruff of his neck until their eyes were level. "You," he growled in his deep, syrupy voice. "You destroyed my daughter's business."
For a cold, daunting moment, Rarity's father simply stared.
And then he began to laugh.
"Thank you!"
Rover raised an eyebrow. Shouldn't this be the part where he beat the crap out of him?
"My little girl, she's been spending days in that carousel of hers. In fact, I think this is the first time I've actually spoken to her in the last two weeks!" the stallion's grin brought out all the little wrinkles in his face earned through a lifetime of smiling. His weathered face seemed to radiate happiness. "That little business of hers robbed me of a filly, but you, man you gave her back to me!" The hug he gave Rover was neither expected nor welcome. The dog struggled to escape his iron grip, but to no avail.
He expelled Rover from the hug, only to firmly grab his paw and begin shaking it briskly. "Name's Touchdown, pleasure to meet ya!"
"I know it seems kind of selfish and all, but-" he was cut off by the sound of hoofsteps coming from the stairs. Without missing a beat, he drove a hoof into Rover's gut, sending him tumbling to his knees.
"You don't go buckin' with another stallion's familiy like that. My daughter put her life into that business, and you blew it sky high! So here's what's gonna happen: You're gonna do whatever my little girl wants, whenever she wants, understand?" he closed the distance between them, stuffing his head challengingly against Rover's. "Because if you don't-" he narrowed his eyes into slits- "I. Will. Massacare you!"
Rover nodded, and Rarity's father smiled contently. "great, I'm glad we understand each other." he took up Rover's paw in his hooves and shook it heartily. "I'm Sunspot, nice to meet you."
Upstairs a door slammed open, and a small, white filly came rocketing down the stairs. The same rancid reek of perfume hung over her like it did her sister. Her mane was a plush pink and purple, and her coat a soft white. Her eyes glistened with innocent, childish wonder.
Rover hated her already.
"We got a DOG?"
Pink champagne glared ruefully at the bags of cherries hanging from her sides. Thirty bits. Thirty bits for a relatively small sack of cherries. She'd virtually been robbed. That prick of a salespony owned the one and only cherry stand in the market, and by Celestia had he capitalised on it! Thirty bits was a ridiculous price, but then again, the cherries were necessary. No I'm-sorry-your-life's-work-got-obliterated-by-a-hapless-diamond-dog cake was complete without them.
She grumbled dejectedly under her breath all the way home. She wasn't exactly happy that they'd be keeping that filthy mongrel in their house - she and her husband didn't keep their home spotless just so some dirty dog could go and spread his dirt and fur all over the place.
The door burst open as she neared her home, her daughter standing in the doorway, giggy with excitement.
"Mom!" bellowed Sweetie Belle, dashing up to greet her. "You've gotta see this, Rarity's got us a talking dog!"