//------------------------------// // Chapter Nine—Focuses on Solutions // Story: TOH'S Guardian // by LiterarySerenity //------------------------------// Almost half an hour had passed without any word from Miss Rarity or movement from the dark vines, where the small dragon—Spike, had gotten up numerous times to pace with worry clear in his every feature. Fido and Spot played tic-tac-toe to pass the time, scratching out the X’s and O’s in the dirt and inviting Spike to join them in a few games to also distract him. This was something they invited Rover to do as well. But like Spike, Rover turned them down in favor of keeping an eye should anything happen in the tangle. He could nothing else after seeing Miss Rarity overwhelmed by the vines, yet then hearing her determination to travel through them to the dragon in the cavern. Rover knew he would have cringed, whimpered, and cried out for mercy in her place—which was one reason it was so remarkable. Plus, she was doing this after what Rover and his brother dogs had put her through many moons ago in kidnapping her to find gems in their mine. Actually, that confounded him even more than Miss Rarity walking through the vines in the first place. “What is taking Rarity so long?” Spike murmured then, pacing faster than before. “The vines couldn’t have attacked her somewhere along the way, right, or she wouldn’t have dropped into the gorge?” He wasn’t speaking to anyone in particular, though all the Diamond Dogs’ ears could pick him up. “I am sure Miss Rarity is okay,” Fido said. “Oh, yes,” Spot added, much too quickly, “She’s probably just taking her time and fighting off any of the vines that are coming after—” Here Rover cuffed him on the ear. “Ouch! What did I do?” “You’re making it worse,” Rover growled, pointing at Spike—who had let out an anxious gasp at Spot’s mention of vines going after Miss Rarity. “Thanks, you guys,” Spike interjected, making the Diamond Dogs turn towards him. “I know you’re trying to make me feel better about Rarity, even if she’s probably fine. She has done more amazing things than this in the past.” “Really?” Spot asked. “Tell us.” “Yes, tell us.” Sensing a story in the air, Fido flopped down before Spike, followed by Spot, and finally joined by Rover. “Go ahead,” Rover said. And Spike did, telling the Diamond Dogs of the many great exploits and daring feats of Miss Rarity—who was the most generous pony imaginable and among the strongest in spirit. He spoke to them of a fashionista (or dressmaker, as Spike had to explain to them) who had kicked manticores in the face, confronted enormous dragons, and used powerful magic to help defeat numerous villains. Indeed, Rover found himself awing (along his brother dogs) at the mention of how she had won numerous fashion contests and worked long hours making beautiful outfits for her dearest friends, and oohing when he said how she used a wide variety of gemstones in her designs. Miss Rarity was a pony above all other ponies, beautiful, trend-setting, and kind. And Rover believed every word. In fact, by the end of Spike’s story, Rover, Fido, and Spot were bawling and dabbing at their eyes—which was the oddest sensation. Beyond whimpering and whining, they had never experience anything of the like, and it reminded Rover of the strange sounds Miss Rarity had made when they had taking her prisoner. Oh, what bad dogs they had been! How could they have ever kidnapped some pony like Miss Rarity, who loved gems as they did and was such an incredible pony? This display apparently worried Spike, though, who afterwards came forward to comfort them instead: “Hey, it’s okay,” Spike said. “I’m sure Rarity—” The sounds of shifting vines interrupted the rest of what the small dragon was about to say, and the whole group watched as the foliage retreated into the gorge and disappeared. And peering over the edge in stunned silence, they saw Miss Rarity exit the cavern looking perfect as always and holding her head up high. All of them cheered, running after Spike as he scrambled down the stone staircase towards the heroine of his tale. But then the Diamond Dogs stopped short when the dragon emerged from the cavern as well, following Miss Rarity at a slow walk. *** “Rarity, you’re all right!” Spike leapt the final few steps to hug Miss Rarity around the neck. “Of course, Spikey-Wikey,” Rarity replied. “Why wouldn’t I be?” “I know, but I still worried.” The two looked so happy, Rover felt another case of sniffles coming on—yet it was Fido who let out a happy howl instead. “It just took me a little while to get to the cavern and speak with our friend,” Rarity indicated the dragon. “Diamond Dogs, meet Discord, guardian of the Tree of Harmony.” “Well, I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself that, my dear,” Discord said. “Though it does sound like a rather chaotic pastime.” Then he turned his attention to the Diamond Dogs. “So, we meet again.” He said quietly, seeming to study them. “Rarity said you wanted to speak with me.” “Mr. Discord,” Fido spoke first. “We did a bad thing.” “And we’re sorry about the slingshot and stone,” Rover added. “We didn’t want to hurt anyone.” “Yeah, yeah!” Spot put in. “We’re really, really sorry.” “I accept your apology,” Discord said after the slightest pause, which made all the Diamond Dogs start. “You do?” Rover couldn’t believe his ears. “Indeed. Rarity convinced me that I’d been too hard on you before—and that I overreacted a bit,” Discord and Miss Rarity exchanged a glance. “Besides, your mistake pales in comparison to numerous ones that I have made in the past, so who am I to accuse any pony?” He grinned. “Although, you could have had the sense and saved us a lot of trouble if you had taken me up on my offer of huge fire rubies earlier.” “Discord,” Rarity chided, gently. “We know,” Spot said. “We were just desperate to get the right offering.” “Desperate?” Discord asked, “Offering?” “Yes. We got banished from the Kingdom of Dimondia because of losing all those gems to Miss Rarity, and chased out by our fellow dogs,” Rover explained. “Goodness!” Rarity said then. “I had no idea you’d been exiled from your home because I left with those gemstones.” “They insulted us, and threw stones at us,” Fido said, nodding his head. “It hurt a lot, and we didn’t want to be exiled anymore, so we decided to find something precious enough for them to take us back. That’s why we thought those gems would be perfect to get.” Then, he added, with a look at Discord, who now wore a more thoughtful expression, “But we didn’t want to throw stones at others. So that was really an accident.” “Well, I hope you’ll excuse me from saying so, but those Diamond Dogs in Dimondia don’t sound nice at all,” Rarity stated. “Why would you want to go back there, when they were so mean to you?” “Because Dimondia is where our pack is—was,” Rover said. “We have nowhere else to go, even if the Kingdom is mostly aboveground.” “You find that objectionable?” Discord asked, stroking his beard. “Actually, yes,” Rover said, which was true now that he thought of it. “We’re gem collectors.” He gestured to Fido and Spot. “We prefer being in the mines underground to being up in the sunlight, although we can’t go back to the mines we used to have either because our packs members kicked us out.” “Hmm. Perhaps you are closer to your ancestors than I thought,” Discord said, so low Rover almost didn’t catch it. Yet Spot did: “What do you mean by that?” “It does appear what happened this morning was one big misunderstanding,” Discord said instead. “So maybe I should give you small sign of goodwill for coming back to apologize, and changing in general.” And before Rover and the other Diamond Dogs could so much as flinch, Discord reached out a lion’s paw and tapped each one on the snout. Instantly, Rover found himself assaulted by a whole range of new smells and delicious scents. It was as if his nose had gotten much stronger—which was the only way he knew to describe it. His fellow dogs also appeared excited by this change. “I can smell diamonds deep in the earth right here!” Spot said, tail wagging viciously. “And I didn’t even realize they had a scent, but somehow I know they’re them, or they’re here, or—how do I know?” “Me too. Me too,” Fido hopped in place, clapping his paws together. “Mr. Discord, thank you. You truly are a magic dragon.” “Well, I am actually called a ‘draconequus’.” Discord corrected, but Rover barely heard him. There was so much to sniff in the world, even in the daylight. But he did hear when Discord went on to say, “What I have given you is simply a sensibility held by Diamond Dogs in the past, who could smell gems as well as dig them out of the earth. They didn’t need help finding precious minerals buried in layers of bedrock.” “Idea!” Miss Rarity suddenly exclaimed, eyes lighting up. “How would you Diamond Dogs like a new job collecting gems?” “A job collecting gems?” Rover asked, unable to believe his ears now. “From who?” “Me, of course,” Miss Rarity said. “I didn’t have the chance to say so before, but I came to see the Tree of Harmony to get some inspiration to develop a fashion line for a new client. In addition, I need help finding gems for that project, and many others. In fact, I’ve been swamped with gem-related requests for some time and have had trouble just keeping up.” She smiled at the Diamond Dogs. “With this said, I thought you might like to work for me, and maybe mine those gems at that place Discord was talking about. Are there more than Fire Rubies there, Discord?” “Of course,” Discord said. “The land just past the Pie Rock Farm has untold riches in minerals, and I suppose it wouldn’t take these Diamond Dogs long to find innumerable gemstones or create extensive mines—given their tunneling abilities.” “So what do you say?” Rarity asked the Diamond Dogs. And there was only one thing they could say. “We accept!” Rover, Fido, and Spot howled, grabbing Miss Rarity up into a hug.