Chapter 7
The crunch of desert sand underhoof made Rarity shiver. There was something depressing about it, how it emphasized her slow, meandering trudge under the night sky. She was alone right now, and that made her keenly aware of every loud step and every chilly breath. Her lungs felt like they froze and thawed over and over again, the sand was especially grating on her hooves, and wisps of her mane invaded her eyes at the slightest breeze.
There was a knot in her chest, right where her heart should be. Her feelings were all tangled up like a thorny vine, and she didn’t know how to pull it apart to find the truth inside. The only truth she knew now was that she had to stay and fix the mess she’d helped create. It wasn’t a matter of being generous anymore. If she left it now, without even trying, she would unravel. She couldn’t stand the idea of slinking off into the night, never to return, never to feel the sweet satisfaction of closure. Not even that she couldn’t stand it—her mind simply didn’t allow the possibility. No, this wasn’t what she wanted to do. It was simply what must be done.
She saw Little Strongheart in the distance as only a lumpy shadow, indistinguishable even under the bright starlight from the rocks littering the landscape. At least she was still faithful. Or perhaps she just had no idea what else to do, and prayed that by clinging to Rarity’s plan, she might find an answer. Rarity didn’t know. She just knew that doing something was the only thing to do. As she drew closer, Strongheart’s large head swung Rarity’s way, and a weary smile greeted the mare as she approached.
“I am so happy to see you Rarity,” said Strongheart. “I was happy to see you before, but tonight I am more relieved than ever. Please forgive me, but I worried that you would not show and we would be left alone.”
“Never,” said Rarity. “I helped start this fiasco, and I will finish it. I brought my share of the goods. Have you?”
“Of course.” The buffalo turned and revealed the tarpaulin covering a pile of apples that nearly swamped the cart. “All the apples I could fit. I hope it will be enough.”
Rarity pulled out the pie she’d been saving in her saddlebag, giving it a fond pat with her hoof. “It’s not about quantity right now,” she answered. “It is about our willingness to salvage the situation. I may have discovered the root of the problem. After I saw all the ponies in town so quick to circle their wagons and lash out at what made them afraid, when I saw how heartbroken Braeburn was over the orchards, it came to me. Appleloosa has put its heart and soul into the growing and selling of apples. It cannot think of anything else. It cannot… pardon the expression… branch out. Without open-mindedness, without realizing not only apples and apple-growers can live here, they will wither on the vine. We must show them—we must show all of them that there is another path. You and the ponies accepted each other when your traditions were no longer threatened. Now we must all accept that sometimes even the oldest fields must be uprooted.”
“Spoken like a true pony of the earth,” Strongheart said with a cautious, gentle smile. “Are you sure you are a unicorn, Rarity?”
“We are all ponies of the earth, Strongheart,” Rarity reflected, idly pushing sand around with her hoof and staring at the patterns she left behind. “Whatever adornments we have, we cannot escape the one connection that binds us all: we share this land, and we must live in peace upon it.”
Strongheart bowed her head, murmuring under her breath in her native tongue. Rarity guessed it was some quiet act of reverence, or perhaps just a prayer for good luck. Either way, she didn’t interrupted, and Strongheart finished her ritual by stamping her hooves on the ground and snorting, as if bracing herself.
“Let us be off,” said Strongheart. “We should finish this business quickly.”
They found their way to the entrance of the Dust Dog home with less trouble than Rarity anticipated. They brazenly used the very same tunnel she had entered through just a week ago, leaving paw tracks and wagon trails right up to the stone floor inside the cave. The duo made their intentions known at the entrance to the Dust Dog caves as best as they could: Rarity fired off a few signal flare spells, and Strongheart bellowed as loud as she could into the gaping tunnel mouth. No answer came for several minutes.
“We will have to find them ourselves,” Rarity said simply. “I don’t remember the exact way, but the principle from before should still hold true: follow the gems, find the Dogs.”
Strongheart scuffed her hoof. “But we cannot search by ourselves. What if the Dogs do not even try to meet with us? We would perish of hunger before we combed this entire hill range.”
“The Dogs will come. They cannot simply ignore us.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I brought them better clothes.”
Rarity reached into her saddlebags and pulled out several pieces of folded fabric. She gave them a whip while she held them in her teeth, and they unfurled into fine clothes far too big for any pony. Strongheart was impressed.
“Did you just make these before we came out here?”
“It wasn’t difficult,” said Rarity, floating them before her with magic. “They’re hardly my absolute best work, but it will be enough to satisfy a Dust Dog and that is all I care about. They believe that having better things makes them better people, and anything is better than the rags I saw them in last time. Why, I’d give these clothes to them just on principle to get rid of those crimes against fashion!” She slipped them back into her bags, folding them neatly one at a time.
Strongheart flicked her tail, looking confused and impressed at the same time. “If you think it will help, then I trust you,” she said. “But we must find the Dogs first.”
Rarity’s horn glowed brighter, and within the very rock signs of gems glowed with it. They followed the familiar cold and dark paths into the bowels of the earth, the terror and loneliness lessened now by urgency. There were no new tunnels that Rarity could see, and the gems still revealed themselves as easily as last time. When they’d gone a ways, Rarity stopped amid a cluster of manganese.
“This is where the tunnel began to narrow,” she said. “I’d remember this fantastic cluster of rhodochrosite anywhere. Which should mean that we’re getting close to the lake… and the Dogs themselves.”
“Rarity,” Strongheart asked as they began the laborious task of navigating the narrower tunnels, “I have been thinking quite a lot recently.”
“As have I,” said Rarity, picking her way over jagged stalagmites. “If you are worried about the fate of Appleloosa, simply trust that we are doing all that we can, and that will have to be enough.”
“It is not just that,” Strongheart replied, sucking in her gut to worm through a sharp turn. “But I have been thinking about you, too. You have changed since you came here. I recall the first time we met, when Rainbow Dash brought us to the parley, and later in the town. I remember that you were not the mare you are now.”
“How so, dear?”
“You are more like yourself.”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“My apologies. It is a saying among my people that does not translate well to Equestrian. I am saying that you are more like the pony you seem to have always been destined to be. Before you wore perfume and moved with the stuttering awkwardness of a pony who is trying to become someone else. But now you do not need perfume—you did not put on any before we came here. And the way you move, the way you walk, it is with the grace and confidence of Chief Thunderhoof himself. You are more yourself than you have ever been. You know who you are and what you are meant to do. Do you understand?”
“I am not sure I do, Strongheart,” Rarity said, turning and holding the buffalo’s hoof to yank her through a particularly difficult section of tunnel. “But I do trust you. If you say it is so, I will believe you. I know that I’m not doing this because I’m confident or classy or even that sure of myself. I’m just trying to do what’s right.”
“Then everything superfluous has been stripped away by this ordeal,” said Strongheart, popping out of the bottleneck and landing gracefully on all four hooves. “You are going into this with the purest motivations of any of us. For that, I think you can trust that you will succeed.”
Rarity’s heart beat in her chest as she led the way once more, reaching a familiar opening. Beyond it stretched the lake, as old and still as it ever had been.
“We’re here,” she said.
“But still no Dogs,” muttered Strongheart. “How do we bring them to us?”
Rarity smiled coyly. “Just leave that to me, darling. I am about to perform a time-tested ritual that has never failed me before, and will bring those Dogs running like Spike to a gem feast. Ahem.”
She raised her head, perfecting her posture, planting all four hooves in the ground. Then, in a loud and clear voice, she started to whine.
“Ugh, these Dust Dogs are just sooooo lazy and sooooo hard to find these days! Where could they be, it’s just so rude for them to not show up!”
Strongheart covered her ears, grimacing. The sight only encouraged Rarity. If even stout Strongheart was quailing, her voice had to be carrying all the way to sensitive Dust Dog ears. She redoubled her efforts, straining her vocal cords to reach heights of whiny squealing such as had never been uttered before.
“Why do they have to make it so hard! And eww, there’s mud and dirt and ick all over the place! How disgusting and nasty, this is the grossest place everrrr!”
The wall nearby exploded as a Dust Dog tore it apart with his bare paws. Three more were behind him, all of them growling and snarling, their eyes bulging as they clawed at the air, complaining loudly about the racket. Rarity smiled as she recognized the leader as none other than Ruff, who spotted her and immediately narrowed his eyes. He charged forward, skidding to a halt in front of Rarity and slamming his massive paws down beside her. He stuck his face close to hers and bellowed right in front front her nose.
“Why is pony always whining?!”
Rarity tittered and stroked his chin. “Oh, Ruff, you do know how to make an entrance. I knew you’d come running when you heard it was me.”
“Do not try fancy pony tricks!” Ruff snarled, batting her hoof away. “You come back here after we tell you to leave! After we tell you to stop bothering us! You have broken treaty, broken peace, now you come and whine to us?! We will make you wagon-pony for this outrage!”
Strongheart snorted, baring her horns at him. “You will have to go through me first!”
“Now now,” Rarity said calmly. “I am not here to make a scene. Let’s not make this a repeat of our unfortunate first meeting. I am here to offer a path to peace. One that doesn’t involve anyone giving up anything. An offer of mutual understanding and an initiative that will make sure we all get what we want.”
“Your words make me angry, pony,” Ruff spat. “What do you have that we could not take for ourselves?”
“Well that’s the problem, isn’t it?” Rarity asked, fluffing her mane. “Everyone involved is only interested in what they can take. The ponies of Appleloosa want to take from the land and turn it into a shield. The business ponies hounding them want to take their share of the profits. You want to take the land in general. Everybody wants to take, take, take, and there isn’t a single thought about what can be given. I’m amazed by how hard it is to convince ponies to just give when it can benefit all sides. It’s like pulling teeth. But I am here to give. I am here to give everything that I can.”
She opened her saddlebags and floated out the clothes. The Dogs behind Ruff immediately locked on to the fabrics, which weren’t bright or sequined or even all that matching, but they weren’t rags, and they were new, so it was impressive to the canines. They reached up, as if they could snatch the clothes right out of the air.
“Clothes?” muttered Ruff. “You brought us clothes?”
“Better clothes,” Rarity said with a smile. She felt the weight in her stomach lightening already as she let the clothes down. The Dogs pounced on them except for Ruff, who looked petulantly obstinate. “And there’s more where that came from, and not just from me. I want to propose something that we all may have thought of, but never really wanted to try: that you all simply live together, like the Appleloosans did with the buffalo. They allowed it this first time because the buffalo took nothing, in the end… but now it is time for Appleloosa to realize that they must give of themselves to be truly harmonious.”
Ruff stared at the cave floor, still as a statue. The only signs of movement were the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, and the twitch of his ears at every little noise.
“You bring us this,” he said. “But why Dust Dogs believe you? Why Dust Dogs trust you to make your little town keep your promises? Ponies have robbed us. Ponies have chased us away.”
He pointed up at the ceiling. “Ponies with gold and with spears chase us. Make us afraid of the sky, of the sun, the sound of wind.” He pointed back south, towards Appleloosa. “Ponies with big hats look at us funny, use us, make us angry so we attack them, blame us for fighting back. Now you.” His big paw swung around again, pointing down Rarity’s nose. “You say you are suddenly so different? Because you bring trinkets? Because you bring pie? But you trick us with our desperation.” He patted his own gaunt stomach. “We have little to lose, but that little is all.”
“I know what this could mean for your people,” said Rarity. “But you can gain everything if you trust me.”
“Hmf!” Ruff snorted, turning away. “And what does pony want in return, hmm? Gems, yes? Always ponies want our gems!”
“While you do have an absolutely fantastic assortment of geodes, gems, minerals, and precious metals down here, I can think of something that will benefit Appleloosa much more than that.” Rarity jerked her head towards the lake. “You can give them life.”
“Water?!” Ruff snarled, rounding on Rarity once more. “You want our water, pony?!”
“They need that water to cultivate more land, better crops!” Rarity shot back. “Appleloosa is all but ignored by the weather makers further north; they just get cast-offs and errant thunderheads. But with an aquifer like this, they can irrigate ten times as much. They can regrow what you took from them in half the time. And the surplus of that bounty will turn into food for you and your Dogs. I’m sure you’ve smelled it since I came in here.” Rarity shared a smile with Strongheart as she slowly slipped the pie out of her bags, waving it in front of the Dogs. They snapped to attention, following it wherever it floated in unison.
“Its intoxicating aroma, the gentle scent of slow-baked apples underneath a heady mixture of cinnamon and brown sugar,” Rarity exclaimed, the words rolling off her tongue in seductive, measured tones. “But imagine this supplemented by sweet, crunchy carrots and the scent of warm bread fresh from the oven, savory tomatoes or crunchy asparagus! A bumper crop every year, a feast that you can indulge in due to your life-saving efforts!”
Ruff and the Dogs were panting, drooling, slavering at the very thought. Their tails thumped the ground, claws flexing as if imagining tearing into the food already.
“And with those formidable claws,” Strongheart added, “it can be harvested in record time. Ponies will be grateful.”
“Graaatefuuul,” Ruff whispered, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.
Rarity felt a twist of guilt in her heart. She was using their hunger to gain their trust, she knew, but when you were giving the other party exactly what they wanted while leveraging their lack of it, was it really coercion? But when she looked at the Dogs, really looked at them, she felt pity more than anything else. These poor creatures had no idea what to do but what they’d always done: dig and steal and hide in the dark. They were gullible because they were so ignorant, not from any masterful manipulation on Rarity’s part. No, no matter what she felt, this had to be done. She had to help them all.
“Help give Appleloosa its bounty, and you will share in it,” she said, gently setting the pie down in the midst of them. In seconds the Dogs had torn it apart, shoving great handfuls into their mouths and licking their claws clean.
“Oh, and some gems too of course,” Rarity coughed behind her hoof.
Ruff looked up from his meal, spitting crumbs everywhere. “WHAAAT?!” In an instant he leapt up and crashed back down, punching the ground with his paws. “Those are our gems, pony! Our gems! You cannot just have them. What do Dogs get in return? For water, food and clothes. For gems, what?”
Rarity steeled herself. This was where the moment of truth would be, where she would make or break everything she’d worked for. “For gems,” she said, “you will have friendship.”
Utter silence for seven full seconds. Then every Dog in the cave burst out laughing, their mocking voices echoing over the lake.
“Friendship?!” Ruff asked. “You bring us friendship? What use have we for friendship? What use have we for ponies?! You! You come here, try to make fools of us! We will not have it, you see! We will not be tricked again! Not by you or anyone. Taking water is bad enough. Taking gems? Is stealing!”
“You will have no greater treasure than a staunch ally,” Rarity countered. “Appleloosa is in dire straits. They need finances to stay afloat, to buy the necessary supplies to grow instead of stagnate. They will put in a good word for you with the rest of Equestria, if necessary. And when everyone sees what good and helpful creatures you are, I know they will react favorably.”
Rarity knew she was reaching here, making promises she couldn’t necessarily keep. But without a little faith, what good was any of this? What good was being a pony?
Ruff stared at the cave floor, still as a statue. The only signs of movement were the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, and the twitch of his ears at every little noise.
“You bring us this,” he said, “and you say you bring us food. But why Dust Dogs believe you? Why Dust Dogs trust you to make your little town keep your promises? Ponies have robbed us. Ponies have chased us away.”
“You have no reason to believe me,” Rarity whispered.
“I do not,” said Ruff.
“Then believe in a future for your people,” Rarity replied, raising her chin. “Believe in a day when you live underground because you want to, not because you have to. Believe that you will have the respect you crave when you show ponies that you are better at making friends than they could have imagined. Believe in your own capacity for goodness and forgiveness. Dare to be generous with your heart like I am now.” She looked away, tired and sad. “I have almost nothing left to lose anymore, Ruff. I am not fighting against any single pony or group of ponies. I know that now. I am fighting against that age-old obstinance that sees enemies everywhere, that puts up fences and borders and thinks first of anger and readies their hoof to strike instead of give. I am the Element of Generosity, and sometimes even I forget how to be generous. But I am trying to do that, now: I am giving everyone another chance to fix this before it’s too late.”
She looked back up at the Dust Dog, who regarded her with beady eyes that darted back and forth. “So can you do that, Ruff? Can you reach out and take that chance just one more time?”
Far in the distance, water dripped onto the surface of the lake, disturbing its pristine surface. The Dogs behind Ruff sheepishly picked at their new clothes, all of them exchanging looks that said none of them wanted to be the first to speak. Little Strongheart sniffled and rubbed her nose, melancholy and proud of Rarity at once.
Ruff grunted, a low, amused sound. “Pony has much better words than Dogs,” he said. “Pony may be lying. But pony might also be telling the truth. Never know. Never know.” He scratched his wide nose, making little noises of consideration. “Perhaps… is good to try. Much good to have. Much bad if we fail. But we have always had bad things.”
He looked back over his Dogs, who stared at him uncertainly. Rarity noted the way they wanted, needed direction.
“It is time my Dogs had something good,” Ruff decided. “And we will not have that chasing and being chased and hurting ponies who will only hurt us back. I think we will try.”
Rarity felt her legs sag, her entire body seeming to exhale out of her as she breathed, her head drooping nearly to the floor. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you. You don’t know how much this means to us. How much it can help us all.”
“We will believe when we see,” Ruff answered. “Now what does whiny pony want us to do about town? About ponies who thieve from us? They must be punished! They must pay back! You ask us to give, give, give. But we will hear from horse’s own mouth what we receive.”
“Appleloosa will make full reparations for any of your damaged goods,” Rarity promised. “We will even buy you new equipment if that is necessary. Surely the bounty you help them reap will pay for it.”
“Puh,” said Ruff. “Dust Dogs do not think all ponies are as… generous as you. Think you are making promises you may not be able to keep!”
“Even a promise written in stone can be broken,” answered Rarity. “No, ultimately I cannot control the ponies of Appleloosa. You must all make these decisions for yourselves. But they will, because if they do not, their town will die.” She could hear the angry voices of farm ponies ringing in her ears, but she knew that every side had to be expected to give a little in order to get a little. She only hoped that she wasn’t making a terrible mistake.
“What must we do now?” asked Strongheart.
“Now,” Rarity answered, “we find a way to speak with the town. I suspect by now Bonny has whipped the ponies into a frenzy. So we will return, and I will confront Bonny myself, refuting her poisonous logic and telling the Appleloosans of the agreements I’ve made in lieu of their good sense. It is high time that we settled our differences once and for all. We must present a united front, so, Strongheart, Ruff… will you both be so kind as to accompany me when we return?”
“Of course,” said Strongheart.
“Dogs will come,” Ruff grunted, scratching his chin. "But I think that we will need many rubber band guns.”
“It won’t come to that,” said Rarity. “Bring nothing that might convince them that you are a threat. Only yourselves.”
“Ponies think Dogs in general are threat,” said Ruff, “but I agree. We will bring no rubber bands.”
Rarity rubbed her eyes. “Good,” she said, her voice thick with sleepiness. “Good. I am… I am so very grateful that, oh… oh!” She let out a yawn, covering her mouth with her hoof. “Oh goodness gracious me, I am so sorry.”
“It is late and we have traveled a long way,” said Strongheart. “We would be ever so grateful if you could allow us to remain here for the night. I would not even object to us both sleeping here by your shores.”
“You would... sleep here?” Ruff asked. “With dirt and non-pony beds? Among Dogs who hate you?”
“Well, if you’re offering,” Rarity said, grinning nervously; she didn’t relish the prospect at all. “But if there’s no room, there’s no room!”
“It is also a long way back to our homes,” Strongheart said, almost obliviously matter-of-fact. “It would be an excellent sign of trust for us to stay here, at least overnight.”
“Oh, well, perhaps we could…” Rarity kicked at a little stone, watching it roll into the lake. “Find our own accommodations.”
No!” said Ruff with an emphatic wave of his paw. “Pony and extra-big pony are guests now. Dust Dogs will prove themselves! Make things even better for us later, yes? And make you extra guilty if you back out! Yes. Ruff likes that part a lot. You will stay and know our hospitality. Then you will be our best friends, and everything will be nice,” he finished with a shark-like grin.
Strongheart and Rarity grinned back nervously as Ruff waved towards the tunnels. “Pony will sleep here tonight. And extra-big pony, too.”
“I am a buffalo,” said Strongheart, testily.
“Buffalo will also stay. It will let Dogs get used to their scents, and trust them. We believe you can trust no one that you cannot smell.”
“There’s a strange sort of wisdom in that,” Rarity said with a little smile. “Very well, then. Lead on. And you may keep the clothes. They are for you after all.”
“Pony is very nice,” said Ruff. “Come, both of you We will go back to inner sanctum and you will sleep in the warm embrace of the earth! Dust will be your blanket, and the rock your pillows.”
“Oh my,” said Rarity, fanning herself with a hoof. “That sounds dreadful…ly lovely! Dreadfully lovely.”
“Do not worry, Rarity,” Strongheart said, smiling. “I am very well accustomed to sleeping in the rough. I will show you the tricks by which you may get a good night’s sleep even when there is nothing beneath your head but gravel!”
“You are not making me optimistic about my chances,” Rarity muttered. “But if I must, I must.”
“No, not gravel! Even better!” Ruff hefted a large flat rock. “Igneous!”
Rarity put a hoof over her face and groaned.
Stats
Page generated in 0.024 seconds
Total duration
992 users online
174,300 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Wonderful chapter. Loved Rarity's speech, it was really moving.
Good work, Rarity. Good work.
Here it is, Rarity at her finest, putting her money where her mouth is.
I must say, this is one of the best Rarity fics out there. The focus on her character and her character development is really amazing.
Well played Rarity, turning a threat into a new investor that will give Appleloosa a lot more autonomy than some Manehatten corporation!
One thought though: I know Diamond Dogs are kind of dumb, but they seem singularly focused on owning things and getting a good deal. Their gems are investment capital. "Friendship" is a good start and all, but I hope the Diamond Dogs demand guaranteed food and other material goods, that manifests in a contract granting them equity in the Apple fields/the company managing the apple fields, in exchange for their investment. Buffalos are happy to get a single pie for their work, but they are obviously a heck of a lot less materialistic than Diamond Dogs.
I'm very glad she won't just give up on them, that she's determined to fix this.
Wow, that is deep
that's not an earth joke I swearHah, finally she found someone she can charm with simple generosity. :V
I would not have considered Thunderhooves "graceful". <.< But Strongheart's words are otherwise solid. I really like her insight.
Oh god, the whining XD
No amount of
can adequately address this situation.
I love this so much.
Extra period.
And here's where it came from!
They accidentally the warm embrace of the earth.
Maud would like these guys. :V
Exactly Rarity speak the truth
At least you and the diamond dogs have one in common with each other you guys really hate whining noise
Well this is going to be a very long night for you Rarity but I'm sure you got this
Okay it looks like things are starting to look up again so Rarity and little strong Hearts decide to visit the dust dogs and this time with a little peace offering from each side and once they got there it looks like the dust dogs were not too happy to see her mostly ruff but Rarity gave a little speech and point of views of this whole situation and hopefully we'll have a common ground between two cities and kind hopefully they can help each other so all of them can actually live in peace and after a couple of that it looks like ruff agrees and even going with her to talk with the Appaloosa tomorrow which they probably need it because Bonnie is already making things worse so hopefully they can get through to everybody