Short stories about ponies and whatnot

by shutaro

Queen under the mountain

I hear the sound of her hooves in the tunnels. As I turn to look at the entrance I brush bits of rock off me. For a moment I can’t believe that these dirty, broken claws are the same as those immaculate hooficured claws of Twilight Sparkle’s little dragon. Then all that is forgotten as I watch Rarity enter the main cave. She pulls a mine car full of gems, a rusted yoke hung around her neck. Her bright white is covered in dust, chips of stone stick to her where the sweat has run down her legs. Her mane ... if somepony had told me a week ago Rarity’s mane could even look like that, I would have laughed. And then I would have gotten some popcorn and watched Rarity knock the stuffings out of that harum-scarum for insulting her hair like that. Now I wonder if it wouldn’t be more sensible to just shear those rat’s nests instead of trying to salvage anything.

Just like Rarity I have worked hard these last five days, harder than ever before. The dogs haul in the detritus by the waggon-load, and they make me help with sorting and spotting gems in the rubble. At least the food is good: I get to snack on all the broken gems and those with inclusions. I might even like the work but when Rarity returns after a day in the mines, it just breaks my heart. Not because she looks like that, but because she is completely spent. She has just enough energy to wash off most of the grime, then she falls asleep on the makeshift bedroll. Everytime I tried to talk to her, she would only said that the girls will come for us and that we will return to the surface together.

The first evening I even hoped that Twilight would not come too soon because I wanted to rescue my damsel in distress. But that had turned out to be a pipe dream: I can’t remember the way back, the tunnels are swarming with dogs and I probably would have to carry Rarity. No, I won’t save Rarity, but I won’t abandon her in this hole either. She even tried to send me away, but I held my claws over my ears and told her that I would come back, even if the diamond dogs carried me all the way to Ponyville. Now I wonder if I will ever see the sun again. But Rarity won’t see me frown. If she can keep a brave face for me, I will keep a brave face for her. Even if we are slaves to the diamond dogs, she will always be my queen under this mountain.

♦♦♦

The first thing I see in the morning is Spike sleeping next to me, and I can’t help but smile. My knight has tried to keep watch over my sleep again. When the foredog had told me that the little dragon had been found wandering the tunnels, my first impulse had been to send him home. But he wouldn’t leave me, he really doesn’t trust diamond dogs. I know we got off on the wrong hoof back then, but as I traded with them I have found them to be reliable and straight business partners. Maybe he will think better about them once this ordeal is through.

I float my blanket over him and leave to wash up. Not that there is much to do. A short spurt of magic to get the tangles and knots out of my hair, and that’s about it. There is no point in spending time on hoof polish or eyelashes if I’m going to work in a mine for the next twelve hours. Still, I’m kind of happy that my friends can’t see me like this. I walk over to this shift’s foredog and we talk about the plans while I eat my breakfast.

I think I can reach my target today, the gem that will make all of this worthwhile. A perfect, flawless white diamond that will not be measured in carats but in hundredweights. I even made Twilight Sparkle cast the spell too to double-check. I immediately went to see my contact to the dogs. If they found it first they would only cut that magnificent stone down and sell it as appetizers to their usual dragon clientele. The deal was simple: I got my prize and the dogs got all other gems I unearthed. For six days now I have dug, used magic to cut stone and drill through rock. I have never used my magic like this before. I feel a bit guilty that I can’t spend even five minutes with Spike, but I can see in his face that he understands the circumstances.

As I strap myself into the cart I smile about the the situation. In a way I have come full circle: My career as a fashionista started with a rock and now I have returned to this. But contrary to my search back then I have yet to decide what I am going to do with my find. But I know one thing: Tomorrow in Ponyville I will name this gem “Queen under the mountain”.

Author's Note:

Or maybe I'll call it Tom.

---

The Prompt: The world is all darkness. Tomorrow will be pitch black.
Alternative Prompt: Tomorrow will be great day.

I took them both.

Comments

[Sagacity]

Please capitalize your title.

[shutaro]

2559330
Do you mean this?

.. she will always be my queen under this mountain.

I'm not a native speaker, but I'm pretty sure that "queen" should not be capitalized.

[Sagacity]

2559444
Your title. The title. The "short stories about ponies and whatnot" title.
Capitalizing chapter titles would also be a good idea, but I won't press my luck.

[shutaro]

2559670
Oh, right.
[X] done

[YukoAsho]

Cute story, but you should use some sort of separator between Spike's and Rarity's segments.