"Well, I think we've made some good progress here," Aaron quipped as he stood up from the water's edge, "but I'm pretty sure I'm no pychologist, so I think we should call it a day and head back? What do you say?"
"I say that I agree."
"Good, because I'm starting to feel sorry for Diamond Dog we left out of our 'touching moment' over there."
"What!? I thought you were alone!" All Ears started mumbling about the hit her reputation was going to take, and how to get back at Aaron for not telling her sooner.
"Um, No. You think I could just navigate these tunnels without help? If I could do that, then I wouldn't have needed to do the challenges in the first place."
"The contest! Almost forgot!" she said as she darted off back towards the Boss room. All Ears stopped in her tracks at the hallway and shouted for Aaron to follow her.
Aaron could hardly see why she'd be in such a rush, but her current behavior was far more agreeable than any of her earlier attitudes, so he decided to follow her lead for the moment. Besides, he was still free to go about his business, after all.
~~~~~
A short jaunt later, All Ears had led them both to the main auditorium. As she began talking excitedly with the other two members of boss, Aaron had the sudden, rising suspicion that he wasn't free to go.
"What are you going on about?" He asked as he finally caught up to the trio. "Cause, if you don't need me anymore, I'd like to go and catch up with the ponies before they get too-"
"Shhh!" The trio shushed Aaron in unison. "Wait!"
Aaron really wasn't liking the direction this seemed to be headed. "Okay..."
Once their short deliberation was finished, the three turned to Aaron with expectant looks on their muzzles. "We reached agreement. Yes?"
"We have, We have!" Shouted Chaser.
"So does that mean I can go now?" Aaron asked impatiently. He was pretty sure he'd get lost in the forest if it got dark before he left, no matter how good the directions of 'just follow the river' seemed.
"No, Aaron." All Ears declared.
"But I thought I was free to go?"
"No, you say ponies could go."
"What about the contest then? I won, so why can't I go?"
"Because challenges were for Boss of pack!" All Ears said excitedly. "We all agree that you win, so now we make you Boss!"
"Um, what...?"
"She say you Boss now, Boss."
"Boss give new orders, yes?"
"Whoa now, I think there's been a little misunderstanding, I can't be your boss, I barely know the first thing about you guys, for starters. How can you expect me to take on that big of a responsibility all of a sudden?"
"We watch you work whole time. You have no problem getting ponies to do things. Diamond Dogs same."
"Well, that may be, but there are so many things about you that I don't know. Things like what you guys eat, for instance. I'm pretty sure that you've threatened to eat me at least once while I was down here. And other than digging out gems thing I haven't a clue as to what else you guys seem to do down here. Wouldn't a Boss need to know these things before he was, well a Boss?"
"I will help," started All Ears. "We don't eat human, or pony. We only say that to scare. Diamond Dogs eat Gems."
"Only gems. Yes."
Aaron thought it over for a minute. "Well that kind of took the wind out of my sails." 'Crap, now how am I going to convince them that I can't do what they're asking...' he thought to himself. "It may be true that you eat gems, and not meat, but my diet requires something other than colorful minerals. I also need a healthy amount of sunlight. I'm not a Diamond Dog, so you guys are going to have to make some sacrifices if I'm going to stay alive down here. If you guys can't get me those things, then I could never be your leader. Not for long, anyway."
"No worry, Boss we get you all those things!" Chaser Chimed in.
"Besides," All Ears began, "You already save both me and Chaser. You worked hard to help me after challenge, also. You are Diamond Dog as far as pack care."
'Crap, there's really no getting out of this is there?' Aaron mumbled under his breath. "And what if I refuse?"
"You do that?" Chaser asked, his ears falling against his head.
"I'm just asking."
"Then we sorry, but we must break promise. With no pony, there not enough gems to feed whole pack for long time." All Ears admitted sadly. "We need them to bring gems from far reaches of mine."
"And I'm saying that there's still a better way to go about your mining without the ponies doing your work for you."
"Yes. You, boss. You help dogs find way. No you be Boss, then dogs must use old way."
Aaron thought long and hard about his decision. He couldn't just blow the dogs off and escape to the surface, not if it meant that they'd start taking prisoners again. Besides, they had been pretty amicable so far, with the exception of the whole slavery thing. Maybe the just didn't know better. Before his arrival, the pack didn't even think that the ponies were more than pack animals, and they promptly ignored any pleas. But with him there, maybe he could change that.
"Alright then. If we're going to do this, then there are going to be changes." Aaron declared, the onrush of new plans and ideas threatening to burst through his skull. "And I mean that there's going to be some drastic changes. Diamond Dogs, as a whole will never be the same when I'm done with you."
"Yes, yes. You can do what we can not."
"We follow all order from new Boss!"
"We accept your offer, Boss."
"Good, then for the first order of business, no more of this 'Boss' stuff." Aaron had to suppress the sudden urge to have them refer to him by some ridiculously ornate title. "You will refer to me by name, understand? Call me Aaron."
"Yes, Bo- I mean, Aaron, sir."
"Uh, what have I dug myself into..." was all he could say before he realized just how long the rest of his day was going to be.