Outside of Ponyville there was an area full of large rocky hills. The only creatures that lived in this area were the diamond dogs, it was to dry for ponies as the pegasi didn't distribute clouds that far away from town. This was also the area Rarity had once been foalnapped in, with Spike and the girls coming to the rescue. Ponies typically avoided this area, diamond dogs weren't the friendliest bunch. Spike had given Rarity the address of the gem supplier his mother used for him to avoid further incidents.
Today however, was different. It had been a week since the wedding and the dragon magic Spike received from the golden dragoness seemed to be better acclimating itself to him. New information filed itself away more readily now. Something he had just learned was that under normal circumstances, a hatchling ate it's eggshells as a first meal. The eggshell contained large amounts of minerals, nutrients, and residual magic that would aid in development. Spike himself would have likely done this on instinct, but his shell had been crushed to bits under his magically enlarged form and reassembled later. Spike's new catalog of knowledge told him that if the shell was somehow unusable certain gems would do as a substitute.
Twilight had already expressed her intent for making another M.A.C. for the baby in the future, which would require the eggshell. To make sure he had the necessary replacements Spike was off to the diamond dog territory to barter for the necessary jewels. He was not alone however, Trixie was accompanying him. This had been Twilight's idea, Spike had never spent very much time with Trixie, nor had Twilight spent much time with Macintosh. So the couples had decided to swap partners for the day. Trixie would help Spike get gems, while Twilight and Macintosh dragon-proofed the house.
Spike was currently pulling the Apple family's largest cart through the dusty landscape, Trixie lay in the back wearing her cloak and hat. The pair had been pretty silent, unsure of what to talk about. Spike decided to try and start up conversation.
"So, Trixie. I thought you were past the whole show-mare thing, what's with the getup?" Spike asked as they continued onward toward where the main tunnel system was thought to be.
Trixie seemed to hesitate before answering, Spike was keeping his eyes on the path ahead so he couldn't be sure of her expression. After a moment of silence he heard Trixie sigh before she eventually answered.
"It makes me feel special. I talk big, but I really didn't have much self respect or confidence before you set me up with Twilight. I'm usually okay now, but I'm usually with her. Since we're going to see the diamond dogs I needed some help, I've told lots of scary stories about them over the years. I can't even remember what's real and what I've made up about them." Trixie explained. She chuckled a little toward the end, but Spike knew it had been hard for her to admit that.
"Well, don't sweat it. Big scary Spike is here to protect you. I may not be able to do fire right now, but I still pack a mean punch. Just ask Barktholomew." Spike said taking a moment to look back at the mare and smile.
"Who's Barktholomew?" Trixie asked, raising a brow at the unorthodox name. Spike snickered a bit at the question.
"That's apparently the name of the tree I accidentally uprooted with a light punch. Mac's family has spent so much time in the orchard he and his sisters have named all the trees." Spike said with a warm grin. It was a funny tradition amongst the Apples, but if Mac were half as good at raising children as he was trees then they had nothing to fear.
"That's kind of crazy isn't it?" Trixie replied. She had only been on the farm a few times, but the she had seen no end to the rows and rows of trees. She could never remember that many names, let alone tell all those trees apart.
"Yeah, but I intend to learn them eventually. I've got plenty of time." Spike joked. He had long since accepted his fate, so why not joke about it from time to time?
Trixie laughed weakly in reply, but it was obviously forced. Spike had lived around mares his entire life, he knew that tone meant that somepony was trying to make you think they were fine. Spike stopped for a moment to look back at the mare again. She had pulled the hat down low, likely so Spike couldn't see her eyes. She seemed to be close to tears.
"Trixie? What's wrong?" Spike asked as he let his tail loose from the cart hitch. He pulled Trixie onto his back with it, hoping the closeness would help her.
"Twilight, she told me about the magic that made her into an alicorn. Nopony knows exactly how long she'll live, she could be completely immortal or she could die tomorrow. I-I've never had anypony before, I was an orphan that ran away to make something of myself as soon as I could. I've never gotten attached to anypony, I just kept moving from place to place. Then I was shown up by her and lost what little I had because some baby space bear crushed my wagon. I did hard labor on a rock farm to get money for my revenge scheme and got possessed by ugly jewelry. I was looking for somepony to blame for all my misfortunes and Twilight had absolutely everything. She didn't deserve that, and somehow after I messed up yet again you give me the chance to make up with her and now I think I love her and... and-" Trixie was cut off by a slap to the cheek planted by the spade of Spike's tail. She had been breaking down in tears toward the end. Spike hadn't known about Trixie's past, but he could worry about it later, he needed to help her.
"I'm really sorry about that Trixie, but this isn't exactly friendly territory and you were kinda losing it. I think you just need to talk to Twilight about this, maybe Shining Armor too. Cadence is in the same boat as Twilight, you should see how he copes." Spike told the surprised mare. She sniffled a bit and nodded as she wiped her nose with a colorful rope of intertwined hankies from within her cloak. Presumably a remnant of her days doing tricks for crowds. She took a few deep breaths and calmed herself before speaking again.
"Thank you, I'm sorry I snapped. You were just joking about time and... I'm sorry." Trixie said as she hung her head in guilt.
"It's alright Trixie, not everyone has my kind of time. But it's not always a gift when you care about so many others. Mac and I are past it, but our girl's going to have to deal with it too. All of us are just going to have to learn to appreciate each other for as long as possible, and the memories after. No matter what happens, I think you and Twilight have changed each other for the better." Spike replied. Trixie took it to heart, she was having a hard time believing that Spike was younger than her. He was pretty wise for someone in their late teens.
Conversation took on a lighter mood after that. Spike told Trixie of adventures past, specifically ones Twilight had neglected to mention. Trixie was in stitches after the want-it-need-it story, and the Pinkie sense story worried her a bit, Twilight had taken a beating during that one. Soon after he finished the story, they came to a series of holes marked with different numbers of stones to the sides of each. Presumably this was the main system of tunnels. Trixie slid down the smooth scales of Spike's side and looked at the holes in front of them.
"So, we can't exactly knock or anything. What are we supposed to do to get their attention?" Trixie asked looking down the hole nearest her. Spike rubbed his chin in thought for a moment before grinning like mad.
"Just move back and cover your ears, I don't usually do this on purpose so I'm not sure how loud it will be." Spike said moving Trixie out of the way, keeping her back with his tail.
He took in a massive breath, Trixie thought he was going to try fire, but thought he had mentioned he couldn't do so. She was about to ask exactly what he was doing, but he suddenly craned his neck into the hole. A mere second later a roar that literally shook the ground could be heard coming up from the various tunnel holes. Trixie wished she had taken Spike's advice, the roar rung out through her ears and shook her to her core. Spike pulled his head from the hole and coughed, he had breathed in a little dirt as he finished the primal shout. He smiled and looked back to Trixie.
"Do you think they heard me?" He asked sarcastically. He wasn't usually one for being petty, but those dogs had caused a lot of trouble in the past.
A large dog poked it's head out of a hole a bit further away from them to get a look at what had interrupted their business. It was one of the gruff, heavily muscled dogs that served under the alphas. It's nearly imperceptible eyes bulged at the sight of Spike. It was about to duck back into the hole, but Spike grabbed him by the helmet he and all the other grunts wore.
"We'd like to speak to the management please." Spike said before dropping the surprised dog, letting him fall back into the tunnel.
"Was that really necessary? That made you seem way more intimidating than you actually are." Trixie said from behind the smug dragon.
"That's sorta the point, I can't do a whole lot with the baby to protect. So, I'm making sure they think they shouldn't mess with me." Spike replied as they waited for the leaders to show up.
After a few minutes three dogs emerged from nearby holes, they were familiar to Spike. They were the same three diamond dogs that had kept Rarity hostage, that is until she whined them to near death. The tall one, the short stumpy one, and the medium one that seemed to be a bit smarter than the other two. Spike hadn't actually learned their names due to the prior circumstances, but it didn't really matter. They still wore the same red vests and studded collars as before, though age seemed to be taking it's toll on them. There were many wrinkles on their faces now, it seemed the concept of dog years seemed to be true for diamond dogs as well.
The largest and smallest dog seemed a bit worried as they looked upon the dragon and showy unicorn before them. The middle dog however seemed relatively calm, he had an extra gem hanging from his own collar. Spike presumed it was something like a show of rank. After both parties looked each other over the lead dog spoke.
"What dragon want here? Steal our gems? Eat dogs?" He asked with eyes slanted in suspicion. He seemed to be holding back anger as well, normally they would likely challenge anyone he deemed a threat to the pack. Spike however was likely a threat he knew he couldn't take.
"Actually, I have a proposition for you. I've got a kid on the way, and she's going to need some special gems when she's born. I'm going to offer to purchase these gems from you for a substantial amount of gold. I'd also be interested in any regular gems you'd be willing to part with." Spike replied as he pulled a large sack of bits from the back of the wagon with his tail. It was nearly twice the size of Trixie and made an impressive thud as it hit the ground.
The diamond dog's eyes widened at the sight of the obese bag. They huddled together to discuss the matter for a moment. Trixie and Spike looked at each other and shrugged, they could understand the confusion. A strange dragon comes into your home and offers you a sack of gold the size of a small cow. Not exactly an everyday occurrence. After a moment the dogs turned to face the pair again.
"Why dragon need so many jewels? Baby dragon need start a hoard?" The tallest of the dogs inquired.
"It's true most dragons hoard but I don't and my daughter won't either. Dragons eat gems too, they're good for us, helps us grow up strong. They don't taste too bad either." Spike explained. He had just assumed the dogs knew why he would want them, he assumed that's why they mined them too but couldn't be certain.
"So we give you gems to eat, you no eat us and give us gold?" the shortest of the diamond dogs asked, making sure he understood the situation.
"That's right, and depending on how well my daughter likes what we give her I might buy more from time to time. I can get you something else if gold isn't what you want, but this area has lots of gems and isn't too far from where I live. If at all possible I'd like us to come to some sort of arrangement." Spike replied calmly, this was going pretty well so far. Hopefully he could get what he needed. He gave Trixie a nod and she took a paper containing a list from her cloak that Spike had given her to hold onto. She floated it over to the dogs using her magic, the lead dog accepted it and looked it over carefully before coming to a decision.
"We have deal, gems are many here, but gold is hard to find." He replied. He gave the list to his companions and shooed them off into the holes presumably to get the gems.
"Are you sure you have everything on the list? There are a few harder to find ones on there." Spike asked as he took a seat on the ground in wait.
"Yes, yes. Dogs have all kinds of gems, we trade with other packs. We be rich with gold now too, envy of all neighbors." The remaining dog smiled smugly.
"Oh yeah, that reminds me. I have a friend who uses gems to make pretty clothes for ponies, she'd like me to ask if she could work out a similar arrangement with you but wasn't sure it was a good idea to see you again." Spike remembered suddenly. Rarity had been curious about the willingness of the dogs to negotiate, but disliked the idea of being thrown underground again.
The dog reappraised Spike for a moment, thinking back several years. It had been less than a decade for Spike but probably much longer for the diamond dogs. His eyes opened wide at the realization of who Spike was and who he spoke of.
"You little dragon, friend of whiny pony! We have headache for weeks after she whine at us. We only do business through you!" The dog punctuated his declaration with a powerful stomp that kicked up a small amount of dust.
"Yeah, alright I get it. No problem. Rarity sort of figured you'd say that." Spike said holding his claws in front of him defensively.
After a few more minutes several grunt dogs emerged from the holes and began loading the cart from a large number of bags. Each bag was full to bursting with gems of all sorts. The wagon was filled in no time at all. The other sub-alpha dogs returned with a smaller bag of gems, they handed it off to Spike who looked through it's contents. Within it were several unusual gems, even a small uncut fire ruby. These were the gems containing an abundance of natural magics and other things dragons required to grow properly. Spike smiled widely at the sight of them.
"Thank you gentle...dogs? Whatever. Anyway These are exactly what my little girl needs. The rest should keep the both of us well fed for some time too. Worth every bit. If you're interested I could actually get you in touch with the government. They'd pay pretty well for the gems you guys have a knack for finding. I happen to know someone who can keep you in touch with Princess Twilight Sparkle." Spike said confidently, as he used his tail to point directly to a surprised Trixie. He had heard Twilight and Trixie talking about finding her a job now that she was going to be living in Ponyville.
The lead dogs looked at each other and whispered amongst themselves for a moment. They returned their gazes to Spike and nodded with great enthusiasm. He looked back to Trixie and smiled, Trixie blinked several times in confusion. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't quite find the words. His smile seemed to dim after a moment however, and his eyes became cold and thinned into reptilian slits like a snake's. Spike snorted a small plume of black smoke and looked back to the dogs.
"That said, the princesses and this pony here are very important to me. If you wrong them, or hurt anyone here to do business with you for any reason I will make your pack and your descendants pay. Dragons live a very long time and have very good memories." Spike flat out threatened.
To punctuate his statement he plucked a rather large diamond from the cart with his claw. He showed it to them and crushed it to small pieces with little effort. The lead dog's ears flattened down to his head, he nodded nervously without hesitation. Spike tossed back the gem fragments like they were pills and swallowed them. He lifted the enormous sack of gold at his side and tossed it to the nearest grunt dog. He caught it, but fell over from the heavy impact.
"You've got your gold and I've got my gems, we'll send somepony to see about the trade agreements, alright?" Spike asked the dogs after returning to his normal demeanor. They merely nodded and watched him and Trixie walk off. Trixie looked at Spike cautiously, she had never seen anything so predatory before. Even the Ursa Minor seemed just a touch disgruntled compared to the cold fire in Spike's normally bright eyes. They were a few dozen yards away from the dogs before she spoke up.
"What the buck was all that about?! First you invent a job for me out of nowhere, then you turn into the most threatening looking creature I've ever seen. I thought I was going to die or something." Trixie exclaimed loudly, she was incredibly uncertain about everything currently happening. She had seen him go from friendly and thoughtful to bloodthirsty killing machine in a few seconds seconds.
"Well, I don't advertise it much but my hearing is amazing since I grew. I heard you tell Twilight you wanted to find a job, so I made you one and gave you some insurance, so to speak. I don't use political power very often, but I doubt anypony will have an issue with me opening trade agreements with the diamond dogs." He explained as they continued on with their cargo. Trixie looked at him like he had just claimed that he had merely forgotten threats were bad and that he didn't see anything wrong with how he had handled the situation.
"Okay, yes fine thank you. But it still felt like death was possessing you to tell those dogs to piss themselves, you were talking about protecting me and I thought I was going to piss myself!" She bellowed still half in disbelief.
"Oh... That. I think it's something instinctual, something primal. Most dragons hoard treasure and stuff, I don't. I keep my money in the bank like ponies do. But I think I do have a hoard. You and the girls, mom, Luna, Mac of course, and the baby that's on it's way. Maybe Discord. I treasure you all more than my own life, I honestly don't think I could stop myself from destroying something that hurt any of you. It, my instincts, sort of slipped out when I warned the dogs about behaving. I didn't want anyone to piss themselves." Spike explained, his face contorted into a frown several times during the explanation. It was obviously something that was difficult for him to put to words, and more difficult to live with.
"Well, warn a girl next time. That was scary, not quite as scary as when Twilight tries to cook, but up there." Trixie said playfully punching the dragon in the shoulder. It was her turn to cheer him up. The two shared a small laugh before being on their way.
Twilight had, as was often the case, been proven right. Trixie and Spike had indeed gotten to know each other better. There were a few rough patches but all was well with the world. They would soon be back with their own significant others and would be a better family for the time spent with one another. Spike silently hoped that Twilight's dragon proofing hadn't somehow destroyed the house however.