Cor Tuum Audire

by Darkswirl

Chapter Five

Author's Note:

This story was originally a request, but I've altered it far from the original idea, and continue to do so. As such, you may notice that Rumble seems like he's going to play a role in the story from the first few chapters, but I decided against it and don't have the time or will to go back and change those lines.

"More sparkly than any of the others!" the tall, slender Diamond Dog noted as he lifted the ring in the air against the gentle flame of a torch.

"And a pretty red gem!" a short, fat Diamond Dog exclaimed as he snatched the ring from the others' paw.

"But there are four of us and only one ring!" a large, bulky Diamond Dog whined. "How do we decide who gets it?"

"OBVIOUSLY I should get it!" the short and slender Diamond Dog spoke. "After all, I was the one who found it first!"

"What about me?" the short, fat Diamond Dog protested. "It was me who found the ponies sleeping!"

"But I gave them the worst nightmares!" the tall, slender Diamond Dog exclaimed.

"Yeah, so bad that they woke up!" the large Diamond Dog snorted.

"At least I can give better nightmares than you, you big dumb dog!" the tall, slender Diamond Dog barked, prompting the bulky dog to growl and tackle the other to the ground.

Before long, all four Diamond Dogs were clawing and biting at each other over who would claim the pretty ring as their own, when the sound of hooves clip-clopping on stone echoed their way into their sensitive ears; causing them all to freeze in fear before scampering into the shadows.

As the sound of hooves grew closer, the short and slender Diamond Dog whispered to his pack: "Whoever can keep the ponies from escaping gets the ring!"

---

"AAAAAAAAPPLELOOOOSA!" Pinkie Pie shouted in excitement as she leapt and twirled herself in the air.

"Pinkie Pie!" Applejack whispered, harshly. "Ponies are trying to sleep! Keep yer voice down!"

Pinkie Pie gave a sheepish, apologetic smile as Princess Luna led the way into town as the sun began to shine the first glimpse of itself on the little desert town.

"The sheriff's office would be the best place to check, but I'd rather go ask Braeburn, personally." Applejack admitted. "Not to say that the sheriff ain't a good pony, but I just trust Braeburn more."

Princess Luna nodded once in understanding as she continued forward through the town and towards the sheriff's office. "Then do so. We shall all meet outside his office when we are done."

Applejack politely tipped her hat towards the Princess of the Night before trotting off towards the edge of town and the local Apple Farm. The journey had been long and cold, but it wouldn't be long before their journey would come to an end, and Apple Bloom would be safe and sound at home... Right after she finished being grounded to the farm for a month.

Applejack gave a little yawn as she began to realize how tired she was, when Braeburn opened up the door to his house and hurried out to greet her. "Howdy, cuz!" Braeburn greeted, warmly, as he firmly hugged Applejack.

"Mornin', Braeburn. I hope yer excited to see me because you've got some good news?" Applejack replied, hopefully; but Braeburn's pulled-back frown and avoiding eyes did nothing to reassure her.

"Uh, not exactly, cuz." He admitted. "I got your letter from the guard and managed to get most of the town out lookin' for your missing fillies while the rest kept watch in case they rolled through, but we got as far as MacIntosh Hills without laying eyes on them. Even sent a pony to Dodge Junction askin' them for help, and they couldn't find head nor tail of the three."

Applejack gave a defeated look as she turned her gaze away from Braeburn, who laid his hoof on her as a show of sympathy.

"We'll find them, Applejack." Braeburn promised. "Apple Family promise."

"I know we will, Braeburn." Applejack said through a yawn. "I'd just rather find her safe than... You know... Let's head to the sheriff's office; Princess Luna is waiting fer us, there."

---

"I think I stepped in drool..." Apple Bloom groaned as she and Scootaloo pressed closely to Sweetie Belle as the unicorn led the way through the dark caves.

"I can barely see your magic." Scootaloo complained. "How far have we gone?"

"I don't know," Sweetie Belle admitted as she continued to light and lead the way for her friends. "But the trail hasn't criss-crossed, yet, so I don't think they know we're following them and trying to trick us into a circle."

"We have to be at least a mile in, by now." Scootaloo guessed. "My hooves are killing me."

"If you can walk a mile in under ten minutes, you have no business flying, Scootaloo." Apple Bloom explained. "Yer hooves are probably killing you because there's pebbles and jagged rocks everywhere."

"Apple Bloom's right: we haven't been walking all that long. You can't see my magic because my hair is in the way, you dork." Sweetie Belle teased. "I think we're getting closer, though; the trail is getting thicker."

"Thicker?" Scootaloo inquired.

"Yeah. When a unicorn tracks magic, the magical item leaves a trail of itself repeating over and over, like if you were to hold a paintbrush and slowly move it to the right. Each time it moved it created a copy of itself in its place, anchored in that one position." Sweetie Belle tried to explain. "The trail grows smaller and more faint as time goes on, but it really depends on the magical item itself. Some items, like Starswirl the Bearded's spell book still has a noticeable magical trail to this very day."

"Oh... Neat." Scootaloo admitted, unsure of herself as she processed Sweetie Belle's teachings. "Can you only track magical items?"

"I only know how to track items, but a powerful unicorn could track other unicorns by their magic usage if they wanted to." Sweetie Belle explained.

"So what yer tellin' us is that Twilight an' Rarity could be tracking us right now?" Apple Bloom asked, flatly. "Because you haven't let yer magic drop since we got in this cave."

Sweetie Belle gave an awkward, nervous laugh as she continued onward, staying silent to Apple Bloom's question.

"Relax, AB." Scootaloo reassured. "Sweetie Belle hasn't used her magic up until now; there's no way they could know what direction we headed when we left Ponyville."

Apple Bloom opened her mouth to reply but caught herself as her ears twitched forward and a determined look fell over her face. "Hey, quiet down; I think I hear something, up ahead..."

---

"Good morning, Lulu." Princess Celestia greeted as she stepped off of her chariot. "And good morning to the rest of you."

"Good morning, 'Tia." Princess Luna replied, with heavy eyelids, as the rest of the party respectfully bowed. "As you might have guessed, we have made very little progress in our search. However, a few minutes before you arrived, Rainbow Dash brought a message from Twilight-"

"We found their camp in Ghastly Gorge!" Rainbow Dash interrupted, but Princess Luna seemed too tired to care. "Fluttershy found Diamond Dog fur, and the Quarry Eels are all dead. They were headed into one of the caves when I left."

Princess Luna simply blinked for a moment in case Rainbow Dash had anything else to add before she continued. "If the three went into the caves, we could lose their trail. There's no telling how far the network could run, or even if it opens up anywhere besides Ghastly Gorge. We could spend days searching those caves."

"Then we'll spend days searching those caves!" Rarity demanded. "We are not about to let some holes in the ground get in the way of rescuing our sisters!"

"Of course we aren't, Rarity." Princess Celestia reassured. "Luna was simply saying that, by the time we fully search the caves, if we still don't have their trail we may not be able to locate it, again."

Princess Celestia quietly turned thoughts over in her head as she attempted to figure out an easier way through this predicament when a yawn from Applejack interrupted her thoughts. Princess Luna noticed it, too, with a glance at the orange pony, and cleared her throat as she stood.

"I do believe it is time for some rest, and not just for myself." Princess Luna began. "Do not begin to protest; I understand that we all wish to find these missing fillies, but we cannot afford any injuries or more lost ponies because our search party is not well rested. If you have trouble sleeping, I can assist you."

"Luna is right; you all need your rest. I will take a small group of my guards to search the caves, and when the sun goes down I shall return to wake you all." Princess Celestia explained. "Sleep well, little ponies. And heed my words: We will find them."

Before any of the ponies had a chance to voice their opinions and concerns, Princess Luna was already herding them towards Braeburn's farm, with Applejack in the lead.

---

"It's probably just the wind blowing in through the caves." Sweetie Belle guessed. "Come on, I think we're getting closer; the trail is getting brighter."

As the trio entered a small 'room' within the cave, Sweetie Belle's nose wrinkled in disgust as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"This place smells worse than my room!" Scootaloo gagged as she covered her nose with a hoof.

"Well if you'd learn to bathe regularly..." Apple Bloom muttered as she, too, held her nose.

But Sweetie Belle either did not notice, or did not care about the stench as her eyes followed what remained of the trail in front of her, until the white strands of magic stopped leading forward through the air and instead turned upward...

Sweetie Belle screamed in shock as a Diamond Dog fell from the ceiling to tackle her to the ground; her voice echoing off the walls and causing the large, bulky Diamond Dog that had dropped to land on Scootaloo miss; giving her ample time to turn on her hooves and slam her legs into the dog's snout.

As the bulky dog let out a pained cry and scooted away, clutching his bleeding nose, a third dog grabbed Apple Bloom from behind and hefted her into the air; holding the pony close to his chest so that she could not escape, as the fourth and final dog made a move for Scootaloo.

Despite the tight space and the dim lighting, the orange pegasus was too quick for the short, fat Diamond Dog who leapt into the air in order to tackle her down. Ducking down and darting forward, Scootaloo was able to dodge the Diamond Dog as he came crashing down into the floor with a loud grunt, before she charged at the dog who held Apple Bloom in his clutches, jumping up into the air to slam her hooves into his face.

As the tall, slim dog whined in pain, his grip on Apple Bloom fell as he turned tail to flee deeper into the caves; leaving three dogs left. With another loud yell that made the remaining dogs yelp in pain and cover their ears, Apple Bloom charged at the short, slim dog who was struggling to keep Sweetie Belle down and under him.

As their heads connected and the Diamond Dog flew off of the unicorn, Sweetie Belle stood up and quickly grabbed him in her magic, as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo kept the remaining two dogs down. "Give me back my ring!" she shouted, causing the Diamond Dog to cower and stutter.

"I-I don't have it! T-The fat one does!" the Diamond Dog explained, pointing out his friend who was pinned under Apple Bloom's hooves.

"Traitor!" he shouted, struggling underneath the earth pony to no avail. "I'll drive you out of the pack!"

"Shut up, both of you!" Sweetie Belle shouted, again, before turning her head towards Apple Bloom. "Get the ring, then drive them into the caves. We're leaving."

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom gave each other a frightened look at Sweetie Belle's furious demeanor; the earth pony quickly finding the ring clutched tightly within the Diamond Dog's paw. When it was secured, she let him stand before giving him a firm kick to his rear and sending him yelping off into the caves.

The large, bulky dog, however, simply gave Scootaloo a fearful look as he continued to shiver and hold his bleeding nose; giving no signs of leaving, but no signs of resistance, as well.

"Alright, Sweetie Belle, we got it." Apple Bloom explained. "You can let him go, now."

Sweetie Belle simply continued to glare menacingly at the small, shivering Diamond Dog in her magical grasp, before flinging him to the side. As he picked himself up after hitting the wall, he whimpered as he ran down into the caves, with Sweetie Belle yelling after him. "And don't you EVER pull a lady's hair AGAIN!"

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom shared another worried look as Sweetie Belle calmed herself. "Was that really just because he pulled your mane?" Scootaloo asked, cautiously, as Apple Bloom nudged the ring over to her friend.

"Yes, it was," Sweetie Belle grumbled as she took the ring and slipped it back onto her horn. "because it hurt."

"Well, I'm sorry that happened to you, but at least we're all safe an' sound, an' we got the ring back." Apple Bloom said, hopefully.

"Yeah, I guess you're right..." Sweetie Belle admitted, with a calm sigh. "Come on, girls, let's get out of here."

"You won't hear a 'no' from me." Scootaloo joked as the trio pressed against each other, again. "So, uh, you said you knew how to track magic usage from unicorns, too, right?"

Sweetie Belle gave a loud swallow and an awkward laugh as she turned her head to view the room. There were at least six tunnels leading to this one room alone, and the trail from the ring would have disappeared most of the way, by now...

"H-Heh..." Sweetie Belle began. "Oops..."

Comments

[DNA Hochburger]

Well this chapter was... interesting. I was half expecting for Celestia to stand behind them when they wanted to leave. Keep going.

[Leave a Whisper]

way to go girls!

[Twilight is the BEST]

Hello, when is the next chapter?

[Darkswirl]

6744118 Sorry, but I'm at a really rough point in my life, right now. I sincerely doubt I'll ever come back to FimFiction, and I apologize to you for leaving your story like this.