The Moon was high in the sky, casting its light glow over the ground below. The mantle of stars framed the moon, causing the sky to look like a sparkling tapestry. It stood as a work of love and devotion from Princess Luna to all the creatures of Equestria.
Meanwhile, three Diamond Dogs walked down the road, disregarding the spectacle above them.
“What do we do now?” Spot asked in a tired tone.
“We have no food,” Fido said, rubbing his stomach, “We ate all the fruits from the forest.”
“Stop complaining! There is plenty of food here!” Rover yelled, throwing his arms in the air.
Fido and Spot looked around them, they could barely find an odd small patch of grass growing amidst the barren soil that surrounded them. They both turned around and faced their self-appointed leader with a hard glare.
“We just have to know where to look,” Rover said defensively, “Now come, we will find food.”
Rover then turned around and kept walking. Letting out a tired sigh, Fido and Spot went after him. Together, they kept trudging along the empty lands, unsuccessfully trying to sniff out something edible, until finally they caught a scent, a scent that reminded them of something familiar.
“Are those…?” Fido asked as he sniffled the air.
Rover grimaced as he muttered a single word, “Ponies.”
The Diamond Dogs ran forward, until they reached a grand plateau. Exchanging glances, the walked up to the summit. Once they reached the top, the trio of dogs huddled behind a large rock, peeking from one side at the scene in front of them.
A large encampment could be seen at the far end of the mesa, and Several groups of ponies were walking around, pulling carts behind them. Though initially the Diamond Dogs couldn’t see what they were doing, they soon recognised the unmistakable glimmer of--
“Gemsss!” The three Diamond Dogs yelled in unison, and quickly scurried back behind the rock to avoid being seen by the group of ponies.
“They’re mining gemsss, so many of them!” Rover said, barely able to contain his excitement.
“We must have them!” Spot said, clenching his fists.
The Diamond Dogs once again stared at the group of ponies from behind the large rock, and stayed there, immobile, as they waited for them to go back to their tents. Once they couldn’t see more movement, they jumped from behind the rock and ran for the open field.
“Where do we start digging?” Spot asked with an anxious edge in his voice.
“The ponies seem to be digging over there,” Fido said, pointing at one of the several holes made by the diggers.
“Then we start there!” Rover said as he took the lead.
Soon, the three Diamond Dogs found themselves at the edge of one hole, and just a simple glance revealed the gems still buried underneath the soil.
“There are so many!” Spot said as his eyes watered.
Not losing a single moment, the Dogs started to dig, only to find several gems after only a few scoops of dirt, and they kept finding more and more. They were so enthralled by the sheer amount of gems they kept finding, that they didn’t notice the dampness in the soil they had just unearthed.
At least, not immediately.
“Report,” an auburn mare asked to the two unicorns who had just entered the tent, she removed her glasses and leaned back on her chair, letting go of the map she had been studying.
One of them simply shook his head, while the other one removed his scarf, “I’m sorry, Miss Meadows, we still haven’t been successful.”
Miss Meadows slumped in her chair, as she let out a long, sadness-filled sigh, “It’s already been more than a week, and still no results.”
“We’re sorry, Miss Meadows,” the stallion said in an apologetic tone, “It’s just that the large amount of gems make it hard to locate anything else.”
“You don’t have to apologise, Radiant, it’s not your fault,” the mare said.
“Lush, it’s not your fault either--” the first stallion said before being abruptly cut off.
“Yes it is! The ponies of our village entrusted me with this task and I promised them I would see it fulfilled, and I failed them,” Lush Meadows cried, “I’ve failed all of them…”
The two stallions stood, mouths agape, not knowing how to react.
“If we can’t find any source of water soon, we will have no choice but to leave the village behind,” Lush Meadows said in a whisper.
“Lush, but we can still buy water from the nearest towns with all the gems we are finding,” Radiant said, trying to cheer her up.
“But for how long, Radiant? Our families can’t keep going like this, we can count on other towns helping us out for the time being, but not forever,” Lush said.
“But we can’t simply--”
Their discussion was interrupted by three shrieks of horror in the distance, followed by a loud gushing sound.
“What in the name of Celestia was that?” One of the stallions said before running outside of the tent.
Radiant looked at Lush Meadows before heading outside as well, only to be tackled by the returning stallion with a huge grin plastered on his face.
“Meadows, Radiant! You won’t believe this, you have to see it, it’s a miracle!” the stallion cried in ecstasy before running away one more time.
Both Lush and Radiant looked at each other in incredulity for a moment before exiting the tent, and finding a most peculiar sight.
A water column, as wide as the widest of trees and nearly as tall, rose from a gaping hole in the surface of the plateau, and towered above the encampment.
“Thanked be Celestia…” Lush whispered as she started to tear up. The other ponies, for their part, had either fallen to their knees and were sobbing with happiness, or were prancing around the water column in sheer ecstasy.
It was only after the celebration had died down, and the water column started to decrease its pressure, that the ponies heard once again the cries of fear that came from the top of the water column.
“Quick! See who is responsible for this!” Lush Meadows ordered a couple of unicorns, who used their magic to grab the creatures and bring them down.
The entire group of ponies let out gasps of surprise when they saw the three large, wet figures as they landed on the ground.
“Water…” Fido muttered as he trembled in shock.
“So much water!” Spot cried, trembling as well.
“Who… Who are you?” Lush Meadows asked the trio.
Rover looked up at Lush Meadows, and stared at her in silence for a moment before jumping to his feet and shaking the water off of him, “We’re Diamond Dogs.”
“Diamond Dogs…” the words were echoed by the group of ponies all around them.
“Dear gentle-uh-dogs…” Lush said, pausing for a moment to collect her thoughts, “I cannot express how much we appreciate what you’ve done this night for us.”
“What we did?” Spot asked.
“The water must have been collecting underneath the ground for centuries, but the gems were acting as a barrier, preventing it from reaching the surface!” An old stallion said as he examined the rising water levels.
“What is pony talking about?” Rover said.
“When the Diamond Dogs managed to remove all those layers of gems, the water was no longer trapped and came out, releasing all that pressure!” The old stallion yelled as he jumped in place.
“You did it!” Radiant said, throwing himself at the feet of the Diamond Dogs, “You managed to find the water that our village so desperately needed!”
“What,” Rover deadpanned.
“In this day, you have saved our town from certain doom,” Lush said as she walked towards the Diamond Dogs, “We could never thank you enough for your help.”
Fido, Rover, and Spot, blinked at the same time, but neither of them said a word.
Lush then motioned at one of the ponies to bring her one of the carts, “You’ve given us something far more valuable than gems, today. You’ve given our village a chance,” and after saying this, the ponies gave the Diamond Dogs several bags full of the largest gems they had seen.
“Thank you, and may Celestia bless all your actions,” Lush Meadows said before bowing in front of the Diamond Dogs.
“Thank you!” Radiant said, still laying in front of the trio.
“Thank you, Diamond Dogs!” the rest of the ponies cried out in unison.
The Diamond Dogs looked at the group of ponies, who were still smiling. Then, they looked at each other, and at the bags of gems they were carrying.
“Thanks again,” Lush Meadows said as she waved.
The Diamond Dogs turned around and walked away, not entirely sure of what had just happened.
“Ponies… are crazy,” Rover said, and the other two nodded in agreement.