The Diamond Dogs escaped from the briar patch in a confused tumble, covered in scratches and bemoaning the numerous tears in their vests (especially the pockets, which would make holding onto gemstones much harder). And in fact, they had lost these minerals somewhere in the process, although Rover could not have said whether this happened while fending off the briar rabbits that had clung to them for most of the trip out or while sailing through the air to their painful destination.
“What now? And, more importantly, what happened?” Spot groaned, as the trio limped away from the patch—shooting cautious looks back in case one of the briar rabbits chose to pursue them (which they, thankfully, failed to do). And it was proof of how bad he felt that he looked to Rover for this answer, rather than try to start another argument. “Somehow we got ejected from our own pitfall trip, and the gems disappeared! Then there was the missing dragon. We saw him fall in, but he wasn’t in there.”
But Rover didn’t have any answers, since he was still himself was still trying to figure out how a spring had gotten into the trap—or how his plan had gone so wrong.
“He’s a magic dragon,” Fido said, with such odd insight it made the other dogs freeze in their tracks and stare at him in confusion. Then he burped and started scratching under one particularly stinky armpit.
Magic.
That would explain how the dragon disappeared, and even how those precious gemstones had wound up in the hole for them to find.
And then it began to dawn on Rover that the dragon might have tricked them.
Outsmarted by a stupid dragon. Something about that thought seemed insulting to his pride as a Diamond Dog, and stirred his imagination for the second time that day—in which Rover could practically see the creature standing in back in the gorge, and laughing at him in terrible glee.
This image was like the thorn driven into his foot, which didn’t let up even when Rover managed to get the latter out with a stinging yank.
“How dare he laugh at me,” Rover snarled. “We’ll show him who is in charge!”
“I think he already did,” Spot was grim-faced. “And what are we supposed to do against magic?”
“Oooh. I know,” Fido perked up. “If he’s magic, why don’t we ask him to give us gems to take to Dimondia?”
“Are you insane?” Rover burst out. “He’s a dragon. And Dragons don’t give gems away or help Diamond Dogs.”
“Why not?” Fido asked.
“They’re too greedy, and it just isn’t done,” Rover said, unable to say exactly why it wasn’t done. But whenever Fido asked these bothersome questions related to what he had said, telling him that was how things worked always helped to quiet him—as it did now.
“If you say so,” Fido replied, with clear confidence.
“Well, we’re going back here,” Rover declared at last. “And this time, the dragon won’t be able see us coming.” For it had occurred to him how the dragon had scanned the gorge, after Fido and Spot made such a commotion in their hiding place. Perhaps his brother dogs had given them away after all. That had to be the only explanation of how Rover’s brilliant plan could have failed. “We’ll sneak right past him, quietly. And it won’t matter if he has magic.”
Then, sensing some hesitation on the parts of Fido and Spot, Rover appealed to their pride:
“We’ll prove no dragon is smarter than a Diamond Dog.”
And it worked—or, at least, Fido and Spot gave resigned yips in reply, which was good enough for him.
***
Discord awoke too soon afterwards to another ticklish alert from TOH, dazed and with the distinct sensation of having been yanked for a fascinating dream—though it was one he, sadly, had already forgotten. The only part he could remember at all was the bright light engulfing him, and now he was once more in the cavern stretched upon his clouds, wanting nothing more than to close his eyes and drift off back to sleep.
But he couldn’t, because those Diamond Dogs were tunneling under the cavern. Discord could sense them drawing close to TOH’s roots (which extended deep into the earth). However, one did not need magic to see their progress. They hadn’t had the foresight to dig deep enough to avoid pushing the stones of the floor up in a lined path towards the tree—which made him sigh anew at how their kind had changed over the years.
Even so, he almost wondered if this was nothing more than another part of his dream, because surely even Diamond Dogs wouldn’t be so foolish as to keep returning to try stealing the Elements of Harmony after that briar patch incident.
If they had, it showed a persistence Discord had to admire despite it all.
Still, he had to stop them.
With a snap of the fingers, a great shovel materialized in the air, came to hover over the cavern floor in the path of the tunneling, and shot into the ground at just the right moment.
Bang!
The handle of the shovel twanged with the impact, and he heard sharp yipping noise from whichever dog had been in front—and who emerged from the stones alongside his fellow pack members, rubbing his head before staring up at Discord as if he were some dreadful monster ready to tear off their heads. His paws were already raising as if to shield himself from such an attack.
This was one thing that had not changed during the centuries gone by, whether or not these Diamond Dogs knew the legend regarding their kind and dragons—and they cowered in the same way as their ancestors most likely had before the revolution.
Or, it could have been because Discord probably didn’t look all that agreeable at the moment (and who would when roused by intruders?), standing over and staring down at them.
Regardless, Discord was tired of ponies (or Diamond Dogs) being scared of him. That time was past. He had reformed, in more ways than one.
So instead, he decided to give these Diamond Dogs another chance—lifting them from the floor with magic and speaking in a firm yet straightforward manner. There was no booming voice involved, or tightening of his grip on them. Discord strove to be gentle in this, though concise as well:
“Listen well. Behind me is the Tree of Harmony, and the gems upon its branches are not yours to take. They are powerful elements meant only for a select few. So you had best stick to your mines or reserves elsewhere for your minerals.” Discord set them down, gently as possible before repairing the floor. “Understood?”
“But we need gems,” the largest of the Diamond Dogs said, while the other two simply continued to stare at him. They seemed frozen in place. “Lots of rare gems.”
“There are plenty of gems just past the Pie Rock Farm outside Ponyville. I can even tell you where to uncover one particular vein of enormous and rare fire rubies.”
“Gee. Thank you, Mr. Dragon.” Now the same Diamond Dog was beaming in delight, which Discord found he liked very much. The gesture made him look like a happy puppy. “Thank you, Mr. Dragon. That’s real nice.”
“Discord, if you please.”
“Thank you, Mr. Discord.”
Well, that was close enough, and Discord went on to relate to the Diamond Dogs the exact location of the promised vein of fire rubies beyond Ponyville. Then they left the cavern, with the largest Diamond Dog bidding him farewell and the others tagging along in silent bewilderment.
All right.
That was that (again). Perhaps now the Diamond Dogs would leave the cavern and him alone. In fact, as Discord watched them move up the stone staircase at the end of the gorge, he tugged on his beard and chuckled softly.
Maybe he should have spoken to them from the beginning. It may have made things easier. And despite their appearances, they did appear to be reasonable creatures (no matter how they differed from their ancestors).
So he counted the experience as a lesson learned for himself and good deed performed, flopped onto his bed of clouds, and drifted back off to sleep.
***
“That was humiliating,” Spot grumbled, when they had reached the safety of the forest trees once again. “I thought you said the dragon wasn’t supposed to have seen us coming, Rover.” The dog crinkled his nose in distaste, glaring at Rover out of the side of his eye while rubbing raw paws. Apparently, these still hurt him—not that each one of them were not smarting from what had happened so far that morning. “So much for another of your plans.”
“Be quiet,” Rover growled in response. “I don’t see you coming up with anything.”
Spot started to rise as if in challenge when Fido interrupted:
“But it worked just fine, and he was an awfully nice dragon.” Fido’s tail wagged. “Let’s go.” And he seemed ready to stride off to do exactly that. But Rover grabbed ahold of him.
“What are you doing?” Rover said.
“Going to that place Mr. Discord talked about, with the fire rubies.”
“You fool. That was probably just another trick to get us to leave!”
“A trick? I don’t know, Rover. He seemed to be telling the truth.”
“You actually believed what a dragon said, especially after what he did to us?”
“Well—”
“I do think he was telling the truth about one thing, at least,” Spot broke in at that moment, paws rubbing together like he usually did when he thought he was onto something big (which wasn’t that often; or, at least, not as often as Rover). “That dragon—”
“Mr. Discord,” Fido corrected him.
“Thing,” Spot pressed on, “said those gems were for a special few. They must be the only ones, which makes them all the more valuable for us. We could get fire rubies anytime, but no Diamond Dog would have what’s in that cave.”
Rover, for once, found himself agreeing with Spot. It seemed that in this matter, they were true comrades and decided on pursuing those gems until they could deliver them to the Kingdom of Dimondia. Fido was too dim to understand how commonplace fire rubies were, even if the dragon had promised them “enormous” ones.
Besides, what Fido also didn’t understand was how the matter had turned into something more important than simply getting “rare gems.” It invoked their principles and pride as Diamond Dogs, which the dragon had stung several times without much effort at all, making Rover feel powerless each time—before trying to trick them again into traveling all the way past Ponyville and abandoning these precious gems for other Diamond Dogs to possibly come along and take.
No.
Rover wasn’t about to get tricked again. That dragon had fooled them too many times already.
“And I have the perfect idea of how to get rid of that dragon,” Spot said at last, cackling. “While we collect those gems.”
***
“Hey guys?” Fido said, not too long afterwards. “Are you sure this is okay? It feels wrong. What if Mr. Discord gets mad?”
“Oh, stop thinking about that dragon,” Spot snapped, “and keep ahold of the vines.”
The trio now stood a ways beyond the cavern, at the bottom of the gorge steps. They could see where the dragon lay snoring away upon the clouds in front of where their prize and goal hung—which was not more than a stone’s throw away.
Or, in this case, a stone’s shot away. For they had managed to put together a sort of ramshackle slingshot of sorts under Spot’s direction. And Rover had to admit that building things (especially makeshift devices) was something Spot did better at than he did. They had used a series of sturdy branches and made the actual sling out of vines. According to Spot, it was supposed to work perfectly, sending a hard stone or peddle right at the dragon.
“If all goes well, it will knock him out even more than he already is,” Spot said, “and he won’t be able to wake up for a while and bother us.”
“This doesn’t seem very nice, Spot,” Fido persisted.
“It isn’t supposed to be nice, Fido,” Spot returned, moving to the inside of the slung (a perilous position) to check the tension, and that everything was in place. He had brought along a fair-sized rock to place in the center and shoot off. Grunting with the effort, he lifted the stone to get it into position, digging in his claws to keep a good hold on it. “We’re Diamond Dogs, he’s a dragon, and we have to get those gems no matter what.”
“But—” Fido murmured. “Mr. Discord let us go. He told us where to get gems. He helped us.”
The fact that Fido kept protesting (even while holding back the sling to as far back as the wood could stand) caused Rover to hesitate. After all, until now Fido had usually gone along with all their plans. So for him to try and resist this much had a way of making even Rover rethink things.
And after all, getting hit with a stone at such a high speed could actually be pretty dangerous. Rover understand how heavy, sharp, and forceful they could be from his time as a miner. But he had been so intent on getting back at the dragon that he hadn’t considered that possibility, despite the fact that the creature was a dragon and had tricked them.
They weren’t that cruel, weren’t they?
Rover whimpered.
What were they doing?
“Stop that!” Spot said, though Rover could see now that even he was beginning to waiver. “We are proud Diamond Dogs, and we have our honor to uphold.” Then he added, in desperation. “What are we supposed to do otherwise?”
“But this isn’t very honorable. Mr. Discord could get hurt,” Fido pressed on. “And we didn’t like it when our pack threw stones at us.”
This statement reminded Rover of getting cast out from the Kingdom of Dimonida again, being chased by his brother dogs and having stones tossed at them—including the small one in his pocket from Granny Woof-Woof.
Looking back, he hadn’t really liked getting hit with a stone. It had been a bad thing.
Did that mean the pack at Dimondia had acted like bad dogs?
And wouldn’t doing the same thing basically make them bad dogs?
Rover didn’t want to be a bad dog.
He couldn’t do it.
“Argh! I can’t go through with it,” Spot grunted, as if he had heard Rover’s thoughts, while still holding the rock aloft. “I hate to admit it, but Fido is right. This isn’t a good plan at all. And at least Rover’s plans didn’t involve someone getting hurt.”
With that, it seemed the Diamond Dogs had reached an understanding.
“Maybe we should go try those fire rubies after all,” Rover said.
“Yeah,” Spot replied. “At least we might have a chance, that way.”
“Oh, good,” Fido said, seeming glad at the turn of events. In fact, he clapped his paws together in joy.
But this was the worst possible thing.
Because he let go of the sling, and a half-second later Spot was no longer standing and chastising Fido.
Now Spot was hurtling along, curled around the stone, at high speeds, right towards the dragon sleeping in the cavern.
“Uh-oh,” Fido said.
Rover started to cry out some warning to the dragon in the cave yet knew it would do no good.
So he cringed instead and hoped for the best.
***
If Discord had believed the alert from TOH was a disruptive wakeup call, receiving a Diamond Dog right in the face was a far nastier one. For not only was there the surprise from getting a hard lump of fur with briars still submerged throughout in the eyes, but the thrust was enough to send them slamming into the trunk of the Tree of Harmony—with Discord taking the brunt of the blow, causing his body to twirl around TOH at high speeds and setting off something of a chain reaction.
A shrill chorus of music sounded through Discord’s head, and for a moment it as if he were there and everywhere at once, peering across Equestria from the highest tower in Canterlot, to a darkened bedroom, to before Timberwolves in the Everfree Forest, to the streets of Ponyville, to Sweet Apple Acres, to a party (of some sort), to Twilight’s palace, and then back again.
It was so much to handle, and his head was literally spinning on his neck, which must have been quite a sight for the small Diamond Dog just reaching his senses on the floor.
Of course, the Diamond Dog had much to worry about, because Discord hadn’t cared for getting interrupted again in such a way, or causing TOH distress (the stone carried by the Diamond Dog was also a clear indication of something far more sinister at work). And indeed, he glimpsed the huge slingshot outside the cavern, where the other two Diamond Dogs stood looking frightened.
“I tried to be reasonable,” Discord said, aware that a certain resonance had entered his tone. There was magic swelling about him. “I attempted to talk it out with all of you in a sensible way, but it appears you would not listen.”
“Wait!” The smallest Diamond Dog squeaked out, scuttling backwards across the floor. “This isn’t what it—”
“You came back,” Discord interrupted, wings stretching and tail fluff bristling. “And you had the nerve to attack me and harm TOH.”
The Diamond Dog’s eyes were wide in fear by the time Discord leaned down to glare into his face. Discord could see his burning yellow eyes reflected in them.
“So, I will try to make this clear, so that even you can understand it.” Discord snapped a finger, calling up great tangles of thorny vines, which would provide protection around the cavern, and outside it. And the Diamond Dog seemed just as frightened of them as he did of him just then:
“GET. OUT.” The words boomed.
The vines chased the Diamond Dog out of the cavern, and caused his brother dogs to turn tail and run, filling the gorge along the way until they had completely blocked out Discord’s view of anything else.
He took a deep breath, willing himself to calm down before turning to pat TOH.
In hindsight, he had probably overdone it a bit, but if those Diamond Dogs were willing to go so far as to attack him, it was time to take action. And if a huge show of magic and anger was what it took, he supposed it had to be done.
Discord had misjudged them.
And, really, that fact truly disappointed him.