TOH'S Guardian

by LiterarySerenity

Chapter Six—Hosts Encounters and Petitions

Rarity had experienced several unexpected delays in beginning her trip into the Everfree Forest, although she could hardly complain about them. After washing up the breakfast dishes and making a few extra touchups to her makeup, for instance, Spike had come calling—pulling the small red wagon with squeaky wheels he often brought on their trips to collect gems outside Ponyville. He had hearts already in his eyes, and the sweetest little smile and way of skipping on his toes in her direction.

Simply adorable.

“Good morning, Rarity,” Spike sighed, rather than said. “I knew you have had to go on many gem runs and thought you might need help again today.” His thoughtfulness was marvelous, and Rarity had had to thank him over and over again for everything he did for her in addition to his own duties as Twilight’s assistant. He came over almost every day to help perform chores around Carousel Boutique, or to run errands when Rarity found it too hard to break away from an important workload (specifically when there was a strict deadline involved).

“Good morning, my little Spikey-Wikey,” Rarity greeted him right back, reaching out to brush back his green head frills, which caused his tail to drum the pathway in a fast-paced rhythm. “I appreciate it, but I’m not going on a gem run at the moment. I might need a teensy bit of help with that later, though, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Oh, no. Not at all,” Spike returned. “Anything for you, Rarity.”

“However,” Rarity paused at that point, suddenly reminded in Spike’s kind display of Sapphire Shore’s letter, “I am working on a new fashion line and plan to go visit the Tree of Harmony in the Everfree Forest.”

“Into the Everfree Forest?” Spike was clearly weary of stepping into those woods. Although, in all fairness, they still gave Rarity a fright once in a while. So she could understand his hesitation. “Are you sure you need to go there? I mean, the castle does look a lot like the Tree of Harmony. You could use that for a model.”

“That is true, but it just wouldn’t be the same. And this is for a very important client,” Then, seeing how worried Spike still looked at the prospect, Rarity pressed on. “But I could use the company of someone brave and strong to help me.”

This caused Spike to perk right up, and he saluted her.

“At your service, Rarity. I’ll come along and make sure nothing can harm you.”

“There’s my little hero,” Rarity gave him a peck on the forehead, and that really caused Spike to dance. “Come on, and I’ll let you know all about my plans.”

***

Meanwhile, the Diamond Dogs had run out of ideas while taking in the sight of the gorge now dominated by thorny vines. It was like the dragon had created an upgraded version of the briar patch deeper in the Everfree Forest to keep Rover, Fido, and Spot from coming anywhere near the cavern or gemstones.

But, for the first time Rover could think of, he didn’t really want any gems. Instead, memories from what had happened over the past hours kept assaulting him—causing Rover to do something for a much longer period than he had ever dared to do before outside of a hole: reflect on his actions, while a cold breeze batted his ears and poked through the tears in his vest. There were also patches of fur made thinner or removed entirely by the incident earlier, yet this didn’t bother him at the moment.

His stomach hurt, almost like had eaten something particularly nasty that even he couldn’t handle. The solution would have been to cough it up, but Rover didn’t have the urge to do this either.

It was hard to explain, and Rover kept scratching his head trying to make sense of it—until Fido plopped into a sitting position beside him and spoke at long last:

“I feel guilty.”

Guilt.

Instantly, Rover recognized this as what was wrong. Still, it didn’t exactly give him any relief. After all, being guilty meant they had definitely done something terrible. Perhaps they had even deserved being driven out of Dimondia.

“I’ve never felt like this before,” Rover whimpered. “I guess we really are bad dogs.”

“Yeah, downright rotten,” Spot joined them on the ground, hugging scarred legs to his chest. “Should we leave to dig up those fire rubies after all?” But there was not much conviction in his tone.

“No, Diamond Dogs are honorable,” Rover said, even if in the back of his mind he couldn’t help but wonder if they still fell into that category. “That was what the dragon offered to us, and we went after those other gems instead—not to mention the stone.”

“The last part was an accident!” Spot rejoined. “I backed down. We were going to leave. Fido is the one who let go out of the sling.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Fido replied. “That was an accident too.”

“And then the dragon didn’t even give us a chance to explain,” Spot persisted. “He kicked us out.”

“Maybe he didn’t listen to us because we didn’t listen to him,” Fido replied.

Meanwhile, Rover took in this exchange, coming to a decision that seemed to ease the rumble in his belly and ease his nerves. It was hard to do, because he wasn’t used to thinking this much unless there were gems involved. Feelings were more difficult for him to consider or grasp, although Rover supposed it didn’t mean he did not have any.

“Then we have to go say we’re sorry,” Rover stated, which caught the attention of his brother dogs. “Afterwards, we wound be free to get those fire rubies. If not, it’d be like stealing and the pack would never let us come back. And if the dragon still turns us out, then we can say he was not so honorable as us Diamond Dogs.”

“Yeah,” Fido agreed. “We just have to go back to the cavern.”

“There’s only one problem with that,” Spot interrupted.

“What?” Both Rover and Fido rejoined.

“The vines,” Spot answered.

Oh, right.

In their resolution, they had almost forgotten about that fact.

It was then (while the sensation of defeat begin to steal over them) that a certain strong odor wafted over on the breeze and caused Rover and his companions to take a deep snuff of the air. And it seemed to Rover that he had smelled this somewhere before, which was a mixture between flowers and many other overpowering fragrances that were actually kind of pretty and brought to mind—

The white pony stolen for the mines.

“Could it be?” Rover mused aloud, and a moment later they heard voices coming along the road in their direction. “Quick, dogs! Hide.”

“Right!”

Rover, Fido, and Spot dived into the brush just in time to see two faces none had probably thought they would encounter again: Miss Rarity and her dragon servant. Or, at least, this was how it seemed to Rover—for the dragon seemed to hang on Miss Rarity’s every word.

She must have been even more powerful and crafty than Rover had imagined, when she and her friends had wound up leaving the mines with the cartloads of gems.

But what could she be doing way out here?

And, perhaps, would she help them?

***

“So you see, Spikey-Wikey,” Rarity finished. “It was a big honor for Sapphire Shores to entrust me with creating her ensemble for such an important concert. She even called me her ‘favorite designer’! This could make or break my business, so I need to make sure everything is perfect and vibrant as possible. That is why I need to visit the Tree of Harmony, and perhaps I might even borrow some samples of those pretty flowers from the cave.”

“That sounds incredible, Rarity,” Spike said, seeming much calmer now that they were almost to their destination. The walk had also been a relaxing once, without even the smallest sign of wilder creatures like Timberwolves and similar, which was a blessing. “I know Sapphire Shores will love what you design.”

“Yes, collecting all the gems needed will also present a daunting task. But together I know we can pull it off.”

“Of course. Just say the word, and I’ll be there.”

“You’re such a sweetheart,” Rarity beamed, quite content at how well things were progressing today. Getting to spend some quiet time before the Tree of Harmony should have been any artist’s dream, since it was so stunning and fabulous.
With any luck, there would be no further obstacles.

This was when there came a heavy rustling from the bushes, which made Rarity and Spike pause in their tracks.

Spike, brave soul that he was, puffed out his chest (even though he was clearly scared) and stood as if to face whatever should emerge from the Everfree Forest.

“Stand back, Rarity,” Spike’s voice quivered. “I’ll protect you, and—” He trailed off, as three very familiar Diamond Dogs popped out of the bushes.

They were a mess, with bristling tangled all over their fur, torn couture (which had clearly been made from subpar fabrics), and numerous scars. Rarity considered them a fright, though not in the sense she would have turned tail and run—for a true lady never fled so easily, especially when there was work to be done. Besides, she recognized and had handled these Diamond Dogs before. Surely, she could do so again, even if they tried to kidnap her to find gems for them.

“All right,” Rarity said, keeping her tone even and unyielding. “What do you want this time?”

“We want—” The Diamond Dogs growled as they approached, paws lifting as if they might fall upon Rarity and Spike in the savage way they had last time before dragging Rarity away. Rarity, and Spike, braced for just such an occasion.

And this made it all the more surprising when the Diamond Dogs collapsed to their knees on the pathway, bowing their heads with their paws stretched out before them.

“Your help, oh great Miss Rarity!”

Author's Note:

^_^

Comments

[PegaSeraph]

I like the speed with which you update, good sir

[LiterarySerenity]

5557794 Thank you! It helps when I know there are people who will enjoy the story waiting. ^_^