The Adventures of Test Subject SP-1K3

by Dedion

Chapter 9: The City of Diamond Dogs: Night Time Chats

The flight was uneventful, to say the least. The most eventful thing that the group of dragons encountered was a feral bison. A very old feral bison. Garble dived down from his high altitude and looked as if he was about to collide with the ground, but pulled up in time to change his collision course to the bison's body. The four remaining dragons could hear the sound of the bison's brittle bones breaking from where they hovered in the sky. A quick snap of the neck later and the poor bison was put out of its misery.

It was also here that Spike learned that none of them really knew how to cook. Garble felt as if he didn't need to know as evidenced by his hand gestures saying "Cooking is for wimps. A real dragon eats his prey raw." He then proceeded to eat the bison's left leg as it was. Spike and Little Fang hadn't the faintest idea as to how it was done so they were out of the picture. Jet didn't know because of he the fact that he had Fizzle do must of the cook. However, Fizzle had, at one point, a loose grasp on the art of cooking. That loose grasp seemed to have slipped completely as the meat that the other four dragons ended up eating was almost burned to the point of being considered charcoal.

Noone wanted to waste the food they had. With another day's worth of flying ahead of them, they were going to need all the energy they could get. Once everyone had their fill, they continued to fly onwards towards their destination. Spike, with the bitter taste of burnt flesh in his mouth, started to have flashbacks to the meals at the facility. If he were being honest, those were the only things that he missed about it. However, the feeling didn't last forever as he began to think of all the meals he could have at the diamond dog capital.

More thoughts ran through his head as he tried to imagine what it would be like in the capital. Were they really dogs made out of diamonds? Rock golems were a thing. So maybe it would be like that. But golems needed a magic source to keep them alive, sure there must be a massive magic source there or something else. However, a capital meant a lot of people and a lot of people can use up a lot of magic. So if there was a magic source, it should be dried up by now. Theories on top of theories ran through his head as the sun began to lower itself past the horizon and the moon began to take its place in the sky.

In last few drops of sunlight, Spike could see that they were quickly approaching a mountainside. The three teen dragons touched down on the even ground once they had found an entrance and the two baby dragons hopped off the backs of their older brethren. Spike slumped against the rusty colored dragoness for support as the five of them walked towards the mouth of a cave. With Fizzle taking the lead, the party made their way through the twists and turns of the cave's inner workings. They had walked so long in the dark cave that some of them had begun to think that Fizzle didn't know where they were going. That was until they saw a light emanating from a corner.

Once the five dragons rounded the corner, they found that there was a pathway carved out of the rocks. A series of wooden arches lined the pathway. What appeared to be some sort of... crystal lantern was attached to the arches and proceeded down the pathway, illuminating the darkness. From what Fizzle said, this was a diamond dog mineshaft and well kept one at that. However, the lack of mining carts and minecart rails made Fizzle question a lot of things. The questions would have to wait, however, as the five dragons reached the end of the pathway. A large canine stood on its hind legs. It was easily a few heads taller than Garble, the tallest one of the group. Its massive arms held a spear in one hand and a shield in the other. It wore a metal chest plate and shoulder pads for protection. Its dirty red fur covered most of its body except a large patch of it that was missing from the right side of the canine's face. Which could have probably be explained by the large burn mark that covered the majority of the canine's right face. 'Oh, so this is what a diamond dog looks like.' Spike thought.

The canine seemed to have sensed their presence and immediately tensed up. Its one good eye opened to reveal a light brown iris that stared at the dragons. There was a moment of silence between the dragons and canine before either party spoke. "State business." The Diamond Dog demanded. Its voice sounded rough but held a certain... feminine tone to it.

"We're just here to stay a couple nights." Fizzle replied, "We have an injured kid with us and we'll trade our scales for payment if necessary."

The female Diamond Dog stood silent for a moment. Surveying the group, her eye quickly landed on Spike and his absence of an arm. Her gaze softened a bit and her body seemed to lose some of its tension. A frown quickly took hold of her face before she then turned around to face a large iron gate and pulled a key ring off from a belt that Spike didn't see before. With a twist of one of the keys, the gate was unlocked. The diamond dog stood and held the gate open for the party of dragons. She gestured her head for them to enter. Fizzle thanked that large canine as he and the rest of the dragons passed the threshold of the gate. Once the last of the dragons were through, the diamond dog closed and locked the gate. She then took long strides to get ahead of the group of dragons.

She proceeded to lead them through a series of twisting and branching mineshafts before reaching what appeared to be a large metal hut. The diamond dog rushed forward and stood next to a small panel that stuck out from the inside of the hut. "Come inside lift," she ordered. The dragons followed suit and were now standing behind the Diamond Dog. With a push of a button on the small panel, metal shutters began to close off the entrance to the hut and mechanical noises emanated throughout the hut. It was somewhere between here and having the ground beneath his feet feel as though it were falling that Spike fell unconscious. The world turned black and Spike was allowed a brief moment of quiet before the voices returned.

"CaN't..."
"...breATHe..."
"...Must..."

Spike's eyes snapped open and found his vision impaired by a mass of light red fur. He tried to breathe but found that to be quite difficult. Moving parts of his body seemed impossible as moving a mountain with just his tail. Panic soon began to take hold of Spike's body. His right arm began to glow a soft purple as a familiar heat started to build up inside of him. He dug deeper into his heat and touched his inner dark magic. A small explosion erupted from the purple drake. Several loud thumps could be heard in the room as whatever was pinning Spike to the ground fell from their short trip into the air. As he desperately took in the oxygen that his lungs craved for, he looked around the room and saw the culprits who were stopping his lungs from getting the life-continuing air they needed.

There were an estimated five or seven little red diamond dogs that lay scattered across the room. Some had awakened from their sudden flight. Others continued to give light snores in their sleep as if nothing happened. The ones who had been forcefully awoken turned and faced Spike. Both parties took too long to respond to each other's presence. Whether it be from post-slumber grogginess or sheer confusion, the silence between the two species was painstakingly long. The only thing that broke the silence was the sound of loud footsteps approach. Spike turned towards the source of the footsteps just in time to see the female diamond dog from before nearly burst through the door and shout at the top of her lungs, "Remance said for her pups to sleep!" With her one good eye gazing around the room, her look of anger faded into confusion as she saw Spike awake and staring at her. The two stared at each other for some time and the silence continued. The growling of Spike's stomach caused the silence to be broken yet again. "Dragon pup hungry?" Remance asked blatantly to which Spike quickly nodded his head. "Can dragon pup walk?" the female diamond dog asked. Spike tried pushing himself off of the floor but quickly discovered how useful having two arms could be.

After a few minutes of struggling, Spike managed to figure out how to stand. He used his right arm as support while he let his lower body do most of the work. It took a moment for the young drake to find his balance, but once he did, he knew that he was okay to be walking for a while. He looked towards Remance who gestured for him to follow her. Spike exited the room while Remance stayed behind for a moment. "Remance's pups will go back to sleep. Big day tomorrow." Spike heard the big red canine demand.

---

Remance and Spike walked down a hallway which seemed to have been cleanly cut out of the surrounding rock. Upon the wall were paintings and photos. Most of them were of landscapes, but a few of them held images of ponies, dragons, diamond dogs and a black equine creature that Spike wasn't familiar with.

As Spike continued to travel down the pathway he started to recognize the bandages on what was remaining of his left arm. Remance saw the young dragon inspecting the bandages and saw it as an opportunity to speak. "Remance has experience with burns," she said, "Remance patch dragon pup up nicely."

"Oh, thanks," Spike replied, "You can call me Spike by the way." To which Remance nodded. The two turned right and started to head down a flight of stairs.

"May Remance ask how Spike got burn? Spike should be fire blood from what other dragons say," Remance inquired. Spike could easily see how she could be confused. Dragons had a natural resistance to what their elemental ability was. Fire blooded dragons like Spike and Garble could not get burned naturally. They could take a swim in an active volcano and it would feel as if it was nothing but hot water. Something unnaturally had to have happened to him for almost all of his left arm to have been burned off. Spike's eyes became half-lidded as he stared off into space. He stopped for a moment to think. How should he go about explaining it? It was a lot of information to give and he wasn't sure if he had all of the facts. Deep down, he could feel that a part of him didn't care about the facts.

"I'd rather not say," Spike answered. Remance nodded in acceptance as she led him onward. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you get burned?"

Now it was Remance's turn to think. Her eyes closed as she attempted to obtain a memory from her brain. "During early days of war, Remance stood guard for trading market. Diamond dog capital, Ritania, still allowed trading between ponies and dragons then. Fight broke out between angry pony and young dragoness mother with egg." Spike visibly winced. To say a dragoness was protective of her children would be an understatement. He could only imagine what the fight actually looked like. "Remance tried to break up fight, got hit with flaming tail. Was off-duty for two months after."

"... I'm sorry you had to go through that," Spike apologized. Remance patted him on the back.

"Don't fret. Encounter not all bad. During first few days of off-duty recovery, close chef friend came barging through wall of Remance's personal quarters. Paws blooded from digging he had not been used to in years."

"Oh... was he okay?"

"Chef offered Remance his mark and Remance accepted," Remance turned so that her back faced Spike. A red pawprint lay in the middle of her dark blue vest. "Remance was also given his first litter." A light blush spread across Spike's face.

"That's... one way to get a mate... I suppose. Did anything else happen?"

"Freed was arrested for two weeks. Illegal tunneling."

"Oh..." There was a moment where the two were lost as to what they should say next. "So those pups that were suffocating me were your first litter?" he questioned. The beginning of the war was a good while ago. However, Spike didn't know how diamond dogs aged.

"No, those are Remance's second," She answered. Her tail began to wag quickly. "Freed and Remance's pups grew up big and strong. Tomorrow pups receive first job assignments ahead of time. Mother is proud of them!"

Spike froze in thought for a moment. A memory surfaced for a brief moment. An elegant purple was dragon towered over him. It lowered its head so that the two of them were face to face. Its draconic emerald eyes shined with a warmth that penetrated the young dragon. He reached out to touch the dragon's face and tried to move closer to the warmth that radiated from it. "My, my..." the face spoke in a feminine voice that warmed Spike to his core. "... you sure came out to play a bit early my little drake." Spike felt the face snuggle against him and he basked in the warmth it provided. "Well, you know what they say, 'The early dragon gets the gems'. Your mother is very proud of you."

The memory soon faded as quickly as it came. Spike looked around and saw that Remance was lost in thought too. Her tail nothing more than a blur. "Uh... Remance?" Spike brought the female diamond dog out of her trance. "You were taking me somewhere to get something to eat?" At that Remance apologized and continued to lead Spike towards their destination.

Familiar voices started to become louder as the dragon and canine approached a large room. "Hold still ya big baby!" Jet fussed, "A few more and I'll be done!" A pair of pliers was held in one hand while another held Garble's arm in place. Garble grunted in pain as another one of his red scales was plucked off. Jet observed the red scale. He nodded before putting it in a small pile of red scales. Spike looked around the room and found that it was quite large. Now that Spike thought about it, calling it a room would be an insult. This was a large cave. A young adult dragon could have easily lived here at some point and still had enough room to stretch their wings. Various wooden and metal walkways rested along the higher walls of the cave. No doubt that they lead to other hallways.

A delightful smell filled Spike nostrils, taking his mind off of the cave he was in. Spike's body moved on its own accord and was now in pursuit of the source of the smell. It was then that Spike began to realize that he wasn't observing his surroundings like any normal person would. Somehow he failed to notice the massive amounts of chairs, couches, and tables. He didn't even notice the massive platform carved out of stone that seemed to serve as a large kitchen. On the platform was Fizzle standing next to a tan colored diamond dog that came up to Fizzle's chest. He wore an open white vest that had a red paw print on the back of it.

After Spike made his way up onto the platform, he heard the two's conversation. "This stuff can last for years?!" Fizzle asked surprised. The diamond dog nodded. "But how? It's just dried meat mixed in with animal fat!"

"I thought the same," the diamond dog said, "But I found out that by rendering the fat and making sure meat is dried, pemmican lasts much longer than other foods."

"Well, now that I think about it... with all the rendering down and drying, there should be little to no water in the fat or meat to cause much reaction..." Fizzle mussed as he soon began to become lost in thought. The pink flames continued to roar underneath the pan that he was cooking in and whatever was in the pan continued to sizzle.

"Fizzle..." The diamond dog said worryingly. The albino dragon quickly came back to his senses and quickly took the pan off of the pink flames. A slightly bitter smell mingled in with the wonderful smell emanating from the pan.

"I didn't burn it too much did I?" Fizzle asked the diamond dog.

"Just a little bit. Don't worry about it. You're not cooking for any royalty tonight and my Remance isn't picky about her food." the diamond dog joked. The two chuckled for a bit.

"Freed," Remance called out. The tan diamond dog turned his head and let his ruby eyes meet the ever large female canine. "Dragon pup hungry." Spike felt the eyes of Fizzle and Freed land on him. Fizzle quickly rushed towards the little drake and knelt down to examine his eyes.

"How are you feeling Spike? Any pains?" Fizzle said. Spike admitted to a dull pain in his chest. Every once and a while it would suddenly spike in terms of intensity before returning its original state. Other than that and his stomach begging for food, he was fine. "That's good," Fizzle sighed in relief. "I've almost finished your medicine. Why don't you get some food in you while we wait for Fang to come back with the last ingredients."

The albino dragon took the whatever that was in the pan and placed it on a few metal plates. Freed and Fizzle took the plates and placed them one of the nearest tables. Upon finishing collecting scales and cleaning up their mess, Jet and Garble soon joined the group as the smell of the cooking finally gotten to them. Seeing that Spike was up and about, Jet took it upon himself to joke about how Spike had passed out on the way down there. Spike chuckled as he sat at a table that seemed to have been made completely out of stone.

With a fork in hand, Spike began to eat the food that was placed in front of him. Fried potatoes and onions were one of the first things the dragon tasted. They were quickly followed by the taste of meat. Spike didn't know what type of meat it was, but he didn't care. He was just happy to eat something that wasn't completely burned. There were a few other flavors mixed in, but the most powerful one was a certain spice that Spike couldn't put his finger on.

There was a small *tink* as Spike's fork hit the empty plate. Nothing but a couple of tiny puddles of sauced lay on the plate. "Does dragon pup want seconds?" Remance asked. The offer was tempting and Spike nearly accepted it. However, his stomach was satisfied and since his stomach was satisfied, he was allowed more energy to think for a moment. The diamond dogs had taken them in and were no doubt spending their resources to help them. Resources that had to be paid for and the dragons didn't have much to offer in terms of payment. Offering their scales as payment would only get them so far and they were on a time limit so they couldn't really work to pay off any debts they made.

"Thanks for the offer, but no thanks," Spike said. Remance looked as if she were about to say something but decided to stay silent for the time being. Freed pulled his mate away to another table saying that the dragons should have some time to talk to each other. The four dragons now sat together, waiting for someone to speak up first.

"You know..." Jet started, "... this place isn't so bad." He leaned back in his chair. "We've only seen a few places so far, but I feel like I could hang here for a while."

"What places?" Spike asked.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you took a five-hour nap."

"I was asleep for five-hours?!" exclaimed Spike. "What time is it?!"

"Probably almost midnight by now." Little Fang spoke up. The sudden appearance of the young dragoness made the other dragons nearly jump out of their scales. Garble nearly choked on his food. "What? Did you guys seriously didn't hear me come in?!"

"No! Where did you even come from?!" Fizzle nearly yelled. Fang pointed to an opening to the cave just a few yards away from them. A large pale red canine with a light brown underbelly stood at the entrance. They were snacking on what appeared to be candy.

"Sasha over there not much of a talker, but she's been a great help getting these things." Little Fang said as she plopped a sack onto the table. Flowing from the sack was a pile of blue glowing mushrooms. A light chime could be heard emanating from them. Fizzle's jaw nearly came unhinged.

"I only needed a few lunar mushrooms, Fang! How did you even get so many?!" he nearly flipped out. Little Fang chuckled a bit.

"The guy that had them wasn't being cooperative so Sasha... handled things." Little Fang said.

"What do you mean by..." Jet started to ask, but he was interrupted by Little Fang.

"Sasha. Handled. Things. Nothing more, nothing less." Her cobalt pupils shrank a bit. Whether it was because of anger or something else, Spike wasn't entirely sure. "Anyway, You've got your mushrooms. Make Spike's medicine so I don't have to relive what happened on the lift down here," she grumbled.

"It was that bad?" Spike asked.

"You drooled all over her, dude," chuckled Jet. "Like, a lot. It's not the most common way of leaving your scent, but hey, whatever floats your boat, my dude. It's a shame that we can't have a ceremony for the new mates." A thumbs up was given by Jet. Spike and Little Fang felt their faces heat up quickly. Both of them looked at each other before turning back to the dark purple dragon. Any words they could have said to rebuttal him became lost in their throats. Jet laughed at the top of his lungs.

"Th-that's not funny!" yelled Little Fang.

"You should have seen your faces!" Jet laughed, "No price could be put on that!!" Spike could hear a rough sounding chuckle from Garble followed by a pained grunt. Spike found himself laughing too for a moment. He cherished the moment while he could. He knew he probably wouldn't get many other chances to in the future.

Comments

[DragonPony]

great chapter showing more of how the D.Dogs are and how things are a few moments of peace. That is before the serious talking happens and the ponies come to cause some more issues yest again.

[looker2611]

Love the ddogs a lot more than before,also glad their more of a goron Esq race than a dodongo based race