The History of the Alicorn Amulet

by Old Ben Kenobi

Chapter 7- Rambling Rock Ridge

As Starswirl trotted quickly away, he started to feel a little bit regretful. He had intended to keep his mission a complete secret and find the Ruby alone, but he now started realising how lonely he felt. He paused for a moment.
"Bah," He grumbled, "The more ponies I get involved, the more likely my invention will attract unwanted attention, and anyway, she'd only get hurt. She barely even knows anything of the land yet. How could she help me with this quest?"
Starswirl cantered off at a faster pace, attempting to shake off his feelings of regret.
After walking over the grass plain, Starswirl finally approached the sheer cliffs that surrounded Rambling Rock Ridge. The top of the cliff was just in Starswirl's field of vision, meaning he could teleport to the top if he concentrated. Starswirl shut his eyes and disappeared in a flash of blue light.
Starswirl landed on the top of the cliff and was greeted to a sight of a seemingly endless desolation-there were only a few scattered bushes and trees here and there, and none of the forest's larger denizens, such as manticores, would be able to hide in them. Starswirl smiled grimly. This would be perfect.

Starswirl trekked forwards across the harsh, rocky ground. After walking for some time, he saw a glint on the ground. Intrigued, Starswirl cantered towards it. When he reached it, he saw something that left him stunned.
On the ground, there lay a red, sparkling gem. Could this perhaps be what he was searching for? Could this be...a fire ruby?
Starswirl realised later he should have been more suspicious. For as soon as he stepped forwards, he felt a force pull him upwards towards the treetop. He felt a net made of a cold, black metallic material underneath him. It was a trap!

Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes, and three grey figures popped out. They were bipedal and they were quite short. Starswirl couldn't quite see them from his position, but he could still hear their voices.
"What have we found here?" Rasped one voice.
"It's...It's a pony!" Hissed another.
Starswirl tried to teleport out, and his horn glowed blue, and then suddenly fizzled out. He tried again, to no avail.
Curses! He thought. The net's material must be blocking my magic!
"Wait."growled a third voice. "It just glowed blue. I think this one's a unicorn!"
The figures started howling in excitement. Starswirl could not take much more.
"Shut up!" He yelled. The figures immediately stopped. "Who are you and what do you want?" Starswirl demanded,
"We are Diamond Dogs!" The first voice rasped. "You are magic pony. Magic pony will help us find gems. More gems than we have ever dreamed of!"
At this, the dogs started howling in excitement some more.
"Wait," shouted Starswirl over their racket, "Could you at least let me have that red gem?"
"This?" Cackled the second voice. "This is Rose Bloodstone. It's worthless!"
The dog threw the gem at Starswirl, who groaned. Tricked by a worthless gemstone!
Starswirl felt himself being pulled down in the net. When he hit the ground, one of the dogs inched towards him, carrying a black rope. He bound Starswirl's legs together with it.
"This will stop pony from getting nasty ideas about escaping!" He cackled.
As the dog bounded out if the net, Starswirl felt himself being dragged along the ground in the net. It was not pleasant.
After what seemed like hours, Starswirl felt the net stop. He looked up and saw the three diamond dogs attempting to light a fire. Assuming the dogs weren't too bright, he decided to try and trick them.
"I know a spell to light a fire." He shouted to them. If you could just untie these ropes..."
"Nice try, pony," rasped a diamond dog, "But we can make this fire ourselves."
After several minutes, the dogs managed to get a small fire going. The largest diamond dog pulled out a satchel containing some meat. The dog broke off two small pieces, and gave them to his companions.
"Take this one, Bert," he grunted to the first dog. "And you take this one, Bill." He growled at the second.
Bert bit into his meat.
"This meat tastes like chicken, Tom" he said.
The largest dog, Tom, replied "Everything tastes like chicken."
"Except chicken," Bill added, with a mouthful of meat, "Wot tastes like fish!"
Suddenly, Starswirl had an idea.
"Where can we get some real food?" Said a voice that sounded much like Bert's.
Tom turned to face Bert and shouted "What did you say?" at him.
Bert said back
"I didn't say anything! You're hearing things!"
"Hearing things am I?" Snarled Tom. "You are a liar and a whiner." He said to Bert.
"Whiner yourself!" Said a voice that sounded very similar to Bill.
"You shut your mouth!" Tom roared at Bill.
"I didn't do anything!"
As the argument continued, Starswirl grinned to himself. If he could only pull off these ropes, he would be able to escape. These voices were really hurting his throat.
Just as he was about to loosen the rope, he felt two strong paws holding him down.
"You miserable little worm!" Tom's voice growled at him. "I know what your game is. I'm keeping an eye on you!"
Dejectedly, Starswirl settled back into his uncomfortable position in the net.

Author's Note:

This took me a while to upload, since it's not as easy typing on an iphone as a computer. I was planning to post a longer chapter, but I really have to go to sleep now. Anyway, please comment if you can, and /) to anyone who figures out what this chapter was a reference to.