//------------------------------//
// Chapter 11: Canine... Comedy? 
// Story: A Harmonic Sonata 
// by keaton-furman-prower 
//------------------------------//

As the six ponies marched through the woods, the tall spires of the Castle of the Two Sisters were slowly starting to come into view. As they saw it, they were filled with excitement.

“Girls!” said Sonata. “There’s the castle!”

“Wow!” said Fluttershy. “It’s so big!”

“We’ll get to see it up close really soon!” said Amy. “Now let’s get going!”

It was at that moment that the ground beneath them exploded. The six ponies screamed as a number of large figures burst from beneath the ground. There were a total of nine, and their front paws were bursting with muscles. They were each wearing a collar containing several gemstones, as well as a dirty vest. Their heads varied somewhat in shape, but they were all recognizably canine.

“Ooh!” the largest one said. “Ponies! Ponies find gems! Ponies work in mines to get gems!”

“Diamond Dogs!” yelled Amy. “They’re greedy hoarders who take enslave ponies to mine for gems!”

“Hey!” said Sugar. “That’s really rude!”

“We no rude!” the leader said. “Ponies have lots of gems, but ponies never share gems! We just want fair share!”

“Fair share?!” yelled Tennis. “What have you ever done to deserve any gems?!”

“We no talk with bossy ponies!” yelled the leader. “We take ponies now!”

The dogs slowly began to walk towards the ponies, who readied themselves for a fight. However, Sonata didn’t know if they were capable of taking them on; they were outnumbered, and the diamond dogs, while lacking in brainpower, made up for it in brute strength. True, the ponies had magic and wings on their side, and Sonata might be able to use her voice on one or two, but she wasn’t sure if they had a chance.

“So, you want to take us prisoner?” Sonata yelled, hoping to sound at least somewhat intimidating. Her hopes were quickly dashed as the dogs laughed.

“Pony sound stupid,” said the leader. “Pony should run away!”

“Are you gonna steal our cutie marks?”

Immediately, everypony and dog turned towards Sugar Belle, who had her hoof pointed upwards.

“Why would they want our cutie marks?” asked Glides.

“And how would they even get them off?” asked Tennis.

“Ponies dumb!” the leader of the dogs barked. “We no care about butt marks! We only want work ponies!”

“Oh,” said Sugar. “That’s good. I was worried for a moment.”

The dogs stared at her blankly, while the ponies looked at her uncertainly.

“What you talking about, pony?”

Sugar grinned and reached into her mane.

“Oh, nothing. Just something that happened a long time ago. But compared to that, this will be no biggie.”

Before anyone could react, she threw a barrage of cupcakes out of her mane. The dogs had no time to dodge as the confections flew into their faces, covering their faces with frosting and crumbs.

“Ah!”

“My eyes!”

“Pony attack!”

Sugar smiled as she pulled out a bunch of pies and flung them towards the ground, where they landed perfectly upright. The dogs, blinded by the bits of cupcake in their eyes, failed to see where they were going and stepped right into the pies. They then slipped onto the ground, falling face-first into the remaining pies.

For a moment, the five ponies stared in amazement at Sugar’s unbelievable feat. They then looked at the Diamond Dogs, who lay covered in bits of pie and cupcake.

Then, laughter filled the forest.

“Oh my gosh!” said Sonata. “That was awesome!”

“I know!” said Tennis. “I had no idea you could do that!”

“Well, I’ve learned a lot about baked goods,” said Sugar. “It’s my special talent, after all.”

“That’s really impressive,” said Amy. “I mean, it doesn’t surprise me that you’re able to make great baked goods, but being able to use them like that is really impressive!”

“PONIES NOT MAKE FUN OF DIAMOND DOGS ANYMORE!!!”

The six ponies turned to see the dogs lunging towards them angrily. Before they could reach their target, however, Sugar reached into her mane and pulled out a huge, ten-layered cake out of her mane.

“Come and get it!”

She then tossed it at the dogs as they flew towards her. The dogs had a split second to panic before they slammed into the cake. Each dog was now trapped between two layers of cake. squirming as they tried to escape their unexpected predicament.

The ground beneath them then collapsed, sending them screaming back down into the tunnels below.

“And that’s how the cookie crumbles!” said Sugar. “Or, cake, I guess.”

For a moment, nopony spoke. Then, Fluttershy began to giggle. Sonata was next, and soon the entire group was laughing hysterically.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” said Sugar. “We still have to get the elements!”

Sonata gasped.

“Ohmygosh! You’re right! We have to beat Hellfire Sun! Come on everypony!”

The other five ponies nodded, and together they set off towards the castle.