//------------------------------// // 2 // Story: As You Bite It: A Caninody of Errors // by Zaid ValRoa //------------------------------// As the sun made its way down the sky, the creatures of the Everfree got ready for the night. The hydras laid to rest at the bottom of the bog, the manticores went out to search food for their cubs, and the odd parasprite fluttered by in search of something to nibble. And three Diamond Dogs made their way down one of the paths of the forest, looking for a way out. “Now what?” Spot said, trailing behind his two companions. “We keep walking,” Rover said in a more raspy tone than usual, “we find food and we find where to sleep. Yes…” “Do we know where we’re going?” Fido asked. “Of course we do! Now shut up and keep--” Rover’s reply was cut short when he reached the end of the path, and stood on the edge of a large cliff. “I don’t think there’s food here,” Fido said, leaning to the side to get a better look of the sharp drop ahead of them. The rocky cliff marked the limits of this part of the Everfree, and at its bottom was what it seemed to be another dirt road, albeit a far wider and more well-kept than the one they were currently treading. Rover grumbled in exasperation before turning around and facing the other two Diamond Dogs, “I’m out of ideas, and you?” The Diamond Dogs stared at each other for a while, looking up or back at the forest every now and then, trying to think of what should they do now. Thankfully, a solution appeared to them in the form of a bright point in the distance. “There!” Spot said, pointed towards the approaching object, “What is that?” “Seems like… ponies!” Rover said , excited. The Diamond Dogs squinted, and could make out the shape of several carts being pulled by pairs of ponies. The caravan was advancing slowly, but it wouldn’t be too long until it got close to them. “Where there are ponies,” Rover said, “there is food.” “We must stop them and take their food!” Spot said, jumping up and down. “How?” Fido said, scratching his head. This made the Diamond Dogs think. What could they do to stop the ponies? They stood in silence for a moment, unsuccessfully trying to come up with a solution to their problem, until Rover had an idea. “I got it!” he said, “We block road. Ponies stop. We go and take food from ponies.” Spot and Fido seemed uncomfortable, almost as if they wanted to say something, but before either of them could, Rover pushed them back into the forest. “Now, we push the rock when I say now,” Rover said. “You said now, now. Two times,” Fido said back. “No, I am going to say now and then you will throw it,” Rover said, raising his voice. “You mean now?” Spot said. “What? No!” Rover said, his eyes twitching in exasperation. “Now?” Fido said. “No!” Rover yelled stepping away from the rock and pulling down his ears. “Okay, then…” both Spot and Fido said in unison. “I say ‘now’ after this and we push the rock. Got it?” Rover said. “The ponies are passing now,” Spot said, looking down at the passing caravan. “What!?” Rover yelled, “Now, push it now!” “You mean now, or--” Fido started. “Now, push!” And so, they pushed. “We are making good time, Canter,” one of the stallions said to his partner. “Yes, without any unexpected delays, we should make it to Hoofington before midnight,” Canter said. “Thanks to Celestia we’re on the final stretch of the trip, I don’t think our families back home could have hold much longer without these supplies,” the first stallion said “I suppose they will have to make do, somehow,” a voice said, causing the caravan to come to an abrupt stop. “What… Who is there?” Canter yelled into the darkness, his eyes darting back and forth in search of the mysterious voice. “Do not move any further, and nopony will get hurt,” a hooded figure said as she stepped out of the shadows. “Who are you?” Canter said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Who we are is not as important as what we want,” the hooded pony said, walking slowly towards the caravan, closely followed by a group of equally hooded figures, “and what we want is in that caravan.” “No…” Canter said as he gave a frightened step back, “you can’t take these supplies, our town needs them! We will die if we don’t get these on time.” “Does it look like we care?” the leader of the group said as she pulled down her hood, “Your town may not make it without these supplies, but you won’t make it to your town unless you hoof them over.” Canter and the rest of the caravan ponies looked at the mare with a mix of anger and fear. “Well, what will it be?” the mare said, smiling. “D-damn you…” Canter said, trembling on his hooves, “Damn you all to Tartarus.” “Feeling feisty, don’t you? Seems we’re going to have to do something about that…” the mare said as she got ready to pounce over the caravan ponies, but before she or any of the hooded ponies could do anything, a small pebble fell on her head, eliciting a small yelp of pain from the mare, “What is the meaning of this!?” All the ponies looked up, and their pupils turned into pinpricks when they saw the large rocks tumbling down towards them and the trail of dust that followed it. “No! This can’t be happening!” the mare said, the ground rumbling beneath her hooves. Both group of ponies scurried away, to avoid being crushed by the coming avalanche. The hooded ponies darted back and forth, dodging the falling rocks as they crashed around them. The caravan ponies, on the other hand simply ran back, pushing their carts out of the range of the rocks. “Nooo!” the hooded mare said as her group unsuccessfully tried to run away as the last of the rocks fell on top of them. The caravan ponies coughed as the dust settled, and a sensation of happiness and euphoria invaded them once they realised they were safe from the thieves, but once they could see clearly again, they gasped at the sight of three figures jumping on top of the rocks. “Aha! Now the ponies can’t--,” Rover said, but cut himself off abruptly when he noticed the looks of admiration every pony was giving him. “T-the thieves…” “You saved us!” “Oh, thank you so much!” The Diamond Dogs stared, stupefied, at the ponies closing upon them. “Thieves?” Fido asked. In an instant, the caravan ponies started to cheer. Tears were flowing from their tired eyes as they all ran towards their accidental saviours. The Diamond Dogs were overwhelmed, as they didn’t fully understand what was happening. “Quick, pull the thieves out and restrain them! They’ll face justice once we return to Hoofington,” Canter said, ordering a couple of ponies to move. Once the thieves were being tied and gagged, he turned around to face the Diamond Dogs, “Dear sirs, how could we ever repay what you’ve done for us this day?” “Re…” Fido started. “...pay?” Spot finished. Meanwhile, Rover just looked confused. “It is thanks to your heroic actions that the ponies of Hoofington may live to see another day,” Canter said, his eyes brimming with tears. The Diamond Dogs simply stared at him. “I understand, words are not necessary,” Canter said with a smile. He then turned around and called his companion, “take out the chest from the caravan.” “But Canter, we cannot part with any supplies--” “Not supplies, I meant my crate,” Canter said, and the other pony gulped before nodding and going back to the cart, “I hope this is compensation enough for your act of bravery today.” “Bravery?” Rover asked. Finally, the other pony returned, bringing a wooden chest with him. The wooden object was slightly smaller than the pony’s head and, judging by the strained expression the carrier had, quite heavy as well. “I was keeping this in case of an emergency, but with Hoofington being so close now, I no longer had need for them,” Canter said before opening the chest, and pushing it forward to the Diamond Dogs. The crate contained several large sparkling gems. “Gemsss!” the trio said in unison. “It’s the least we could do for our saviours,” Canter said as he trotted towards the rest of the caravan, “Hoofington will always remember you and the heroic actions you performed today.” “What,” Rover said in a flat tone. “Goodbye, our heroes,” Canter said, smiling as he trotted away with the rest of the caravan. “Thank you!” “May Celestia bless all of you!” “I’ll get my daughter a dog when I return home!” The Diamond Dogs watched, befuddled, as the caravan took off. They looked back at the chest full of gems and then at each other. “What just happened?” Spot asked.