They're called diamond dogs for reason, and it's not because they dig for gems.
For as long as the ponies of Equestria have known, the common conception of the diamond dogs are that they are nothing more than savage bipedal canine creature that have a penchant for causing mischief and scouring the rich earth for gems and minerals. However, that is not the truth.
When tasked with an objective that is far too difficult for the royal guards and even the elements of harmony to handle, Shining Armor turns to the princesses for guidance. What he receives for back up will end up surprising more than the stalwart captain.
If I said that this wasn't inspired by metal gear solid five: the phantom pain, then I'd be lying.
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light” - Plato
* * *
A new day had begun for the denizens of Equestria as Celestia’s sun rose over the horizon for a radiant dawn, basking the various towns and cities that dotted the great continent with a warm, golden glow. The birds began to sing their morning tune, the gentle sunlight peered through the windows of every home as each pony rose to start a brand new day. It was such a peaceful moment in time, on the surface that was.
Far away from the sleepy little town of Ponyville, home to the bearers of the elements of harmony themselves, is a small rock quarry. The rock quarry itself was the complete opposite from what it is when compared to the rest of the world. It was just a large patch of dirt, sprinkled with various boulders and rocks along with the occasional tree or two. In other words, it was unremarkable to the naked eye.
Underneath the dirt, however, was where all the beauty was. Beneath several layers of the soft soil are countless numbers of gems of all shapes and sizes, just waiting to be collected and appraised. Each gem that got unearthed would glisten in the sunlight that beamed varied in polychromatic hues. But we’ve only looked a few feet underneath the surface of Equestria, for there are more than just gems and worms that live beneath the dirt.
Several meters underneath the quarry, in an area that spanned around several kilometers are burrows that form a complex network of tunnels and dens. These burrows are home to one of Equestria’s lesser known, and to a certain extent, less appreciated members of Equestrian society.
These creatures, are the diamond dogs. Bipedal canine creatures that have made their homes in the catacombs of Equestria’s subterranean depths.
While the diamond dogs share the same soil with the ponies, they are commonly referred to as savages. Relics from another time that refused to modernize, and to conform with the modern age of progress. Monsters that lurk beneath a child’s bed, waiting for the right opportunity to snatch a new slave for the mines. Untrustworthy brigands that don’t deserve to be on the same continent as their neighbors.
To say that the overall view of the diamond dogs in general is negative would be an understatement.
Their story is muddled, muddled to the point of blatant obscurity. Ponies can’t even open up a book anymore to read about their kind without some sort of stigma plaguing the diamond dogs. Perhaps their kind is doomed to play the heel in the grand scheme of things, fated only to scour the dark depths in search of gems.
Who knows what lies in store for the diamond dogs? But what they do know is that their future, is tethered to the past. There lies more than just precious minerals in the depths of Equestria.
Most fallen heroes are buried underneath the dirt, others still live and breath in the depth of the earth, waiting for their time to come...
* * *
The sound of the rooster’s caw echoed throughout the underground burrows of the diamond dogs, resonating throughout each rocky surface until the sound eventually died off in the tunnels. It was time to wake up, according to the bird. However, there was one individual in particular who refused to wake up, only because he was trapped in a nightmare.
Lying on the dirt floors of the den was Rover, leader of the diamond dog pack.
He was an average sized diamond dog, roughly the size of about one and a half ponies. His legs were short, however, this was offset by his broad torso and his long, muscular arms. His head was egg shaped, with leaflike ears and a strong lower jaw. His tail was short but not short enough to be stubby, and had various hairs sticking out of place.
He had eyes that showed years of experiences, experience not yet mentioned, and had a mouth that has spewed more than it’s fair share of orders and profanity. His fur was a dark gray, absent of any vibrance yet it somehow remains bold. His only attire was sparse to say the least, he wore nothing but a worn red vest that and a black studded collar around his neck.
Rover tossed and turned as horrific images plagued him in his sleep. His memories of a time long past resurfaced at the worst of times, and had warped itself into a grim orchestra of screeching noises and blood curdling screams. It was all too much for him, he had to wake up.
Rover’s eyes wildly shot open as he felt a wave of pain rush throughout his head and towards the rest of his body. It was instantaneous, lasting for only a few seconds before finally settling down. Whatever pain that he felt earlier numbed instantly, he was back to good health but whatever he felt earlier left him with a migraine that constantly picked at his skull like there was no tomorrow.
He let out a loud and exasperated sigh, he wasn’t about to let a little headache and a nightmare stop him from getting onto his two feet.
He struggled slightly at first, wobbling left and right before he managed to get his footing and maintaining his balance as he stood upright. Rover stretched for a couple of minutes, the sounds of bones and joints popping into place felt extraordinarily comforting and enjoyable, even if it was just for a morning stretch. With a quick smack of his dry lips and a scratch behind his ears, Rover let out another audible sigh before he made his way out of the den.
As he made his way out of his own personal den and into the main atrium of burrows. He looked around to see that his other comrades were out and about with their business. He walked through the room, silently acknowledging all of the greetings that he was receiving from his peers all the while making his way towards his two oldest friends, Spot and Fido. As he approached the two, they both saluted him and stood at attention as Rover saluted them back.
Spot was smaller than most diamond dogs, he was a short golden pug that was around hip level when compared to the rest of the dogs. However, that didn’t stop him from helping out the pack. If anything, his small size and enhanced agility along with his high intelligence made him one of the more valued dogs in the pack.
Fido was a larger brute of a diamond dog, towering over most by just a nose, He was a bulldog with light gray fur, whose loyalty and diligence dwarfed all others. His sheer size and strength has also made him a formidable foe to face in combat.
“At ease you two” said Rover as both Spot and Fido relaxed themselves “I know it’s a little early, but can you give me a status report?” he asked. Spot nodded in return before motioning for the two of them to follow him.
“Of course, sir” said Spot as he he led both of his friends towards a small table all the way on the other end of the atrium, one that was overflowing with various documents and maps that depicted the entire underground with incredible detail. All the while that they were walking, Rover looked around the room again and smiled a little. It was nice to see how dedicated and diligent the pack was.
On one corner of the atrium was a room where rations were being prepared for the day. There, diamond dogs cooked various root vegetables as well as some small rodents that they would find underground into a rich and hearty stew for everyone to enjoy as they worked through the day.
In another, various diamond dogs were either going through intense physical training or practicing their weapon skills. Some were performing push ups, others curled with makeshift dumbbells, most were practicing their close quarters combat maneuvers with each other. It was quite the sight to see, like watching a well oiled machine in action.
When the trio finally reached the table, Spot immediately ruffled through all of the paper and pulled out a large piece of parchment that was the map to the entire burrow. He began to give his report on the situation at hand as Rover and Fido examined the documents.
“As you can see here” Spot pointed to a big X that was drawn over one of the tunnels on the map “The eastern tunnel collapsed last night, I’ve already dispatched a cleanup crew to go and clear all of the debris. And over here” he pointed to a big O drawn on another side of the map “Construction of the western air tunnel has been completed. We won’t have to worry about losing oxygen down here should another tunnel collapse” Rover furrowed his brow before turning to Fido.
“Sounds like everything is going ahead of schedule. How did the reconnaissance go? Are there any ponies nearby?” He asked. Fido, in turn, shook his head.
“Negative, boss. Me and my team did a perimeter sweep earlier today, it’s just another average day” said Fido. While Rover was content with the news, there was something in the back of his mind that continued to nag him. The migraine he got earlier began to surface itself and Rover clasped on the the side of his in an attempt to alleviate the pain. Fido took notice to this and spoke up.
“What’s the matter boss? You got headache?” he asked. Rover just waved it off as he tried his best to look like he hadn’t suffered through an entire night of suffering. Fido, however, saw through his guise and raised an eyebrow “Boss, did you have that nightmare again?” Rover conceded to his friends perception and sighed.
“I’m doing a terrible job of hiding it, aren’t I?” said Rover. Spot and Fido simply chuckled together.
“You were never the best when it came to hiding secrets, Rover. Unless you were being tortured of course” Spot remarked.
“Oh, you just had to go and bring that up again, didn’t you?” said Rover with a soft chuckle “Anyway, it’s nothing to worry about. I’m fine”
“Yeah, but your nightmare probably had something to do with...” before Spot could say anything else, Fido shushed him.
“Hey! We swore never to talk about that again!” Fido scolded Spot “We vowed a pact of silence for the fallen, we would never speak of it until the right time came!”
“I was gonna say if his nightmare had anything to do with when that Rarity pony came here a few years back” said Spot “You remember don’t you? The one where we all had to fake being stupid mutts just so we can keep up the whole facade up?”
“Oh, yeah. That” said Rover before the trio bursted out into jovial laughter. The laughter soon died down and the joyful mood slowly contorted into gloom. the three said nothing for a while, they all just stared at the ground. While the former memory was hilarious (and somewhat humiliating) to remember, what Spot said afterwards threw everyone into a state of deep thought. Rover was the first to speak out.
“How... how long has it been?” he asked.
“I think it’s been close to a decade since we got stuck living a lie full time, boss” said Fido “Who would’ve thunk that the cover story the diamond dogs have been using for hundreds of years would be our prison, with Equestria as our cell” his head hung low “What happened boss? We used to be the best in the business, now we’re reduced to playing the boogeyman in a kid’s book”
“What happened? The world happened, that’s what” said Rover “Grr... forget about it, it doesn’t matter anymore. Let’s just get back to work, we need to check to see if the food is running low or not”
“The food fine, sir. Along with everything else” said Spot “We already ran a full check. Everyone else is just enjoying their leisure time, and you should too, how about a drink?” he offered as Fido pulled out a large barrel full of cider from storage.
“Drinking? In the morning?” said Rover with a raised eyebrow.
“Um... sir, it’s around three in the afternoon” said Spot “We figured since you done such a great job of leading us so far, we decided to let you sleep in today. I assumed the rooster woke you up? It’s been doing that lately, it squawks for no apparent reason”
“Ugh... damned birds” Rover muttered beneath his breath “Fine, maybe a drink will be nice. But note, I said a drink, then after that I’m going to see if the pack requires anything else” both Fido and Spot shrugged.
“You’re the boss” said Fido as he cracked open the top of the barrel as Spot passed around the mugs. Fido then began to pour out the drinks, filling up each mugs to the point where it would have a picture perfect head of foam on each one. Once the mugs were filled, the trio smashed their drinks together for a toast before downing the sweet apple drink.
“Ah! Now that is what I am talking about” Spot exclaimed as his cheeks flushed a bright pink “You *hic!* guys are the best!” was the last five words that he said before falling over and passing out. Rover and Fido couldn’t help but snicker at their friend’s drunken state.
“Heh, he could never handle this stuff very well could he?” said Rover before a thought came to his head “Hey, where’d did you get this cider anyway? I thought we drank all of it a month ago”
“Me and the boys procured it from that one orange pony down by the farm” Fido said with a laugh “You shoulda seen the look on her face when she and her brother when they witnessed a freshly made batch of cider disappear from right underneath their hooves, heh heh! Hilarious!”
“Fido, what did I tell you that I told the rest of the pack about stealing?” Rover’s tone became stern “If the ponies find out about what really happened then it will never end for us. Whatever balance we’re trying to maintain is already shaky as it is, the last thing that we need is for all of tartarus to descend upon us over one little theft!” Rover slammed his paw on the table.
“But, boss I-” Fido could say no more as Rover cut him off.
“This is not just for you! This is for everyone in the pack! We are a team, we work as one! If one of us falls, we all fall! We each have a responsibility to maintain our secrecy and our facade whether we like it or not! This may be our home but this is not our world! I will not let us be persecuted for an act that a single diamond dog committed!
“I will not tolerate your failure to comprehend the magnitude of our situation, Fido! I will not tolerate my own failure in being the leader of this pack, is that understood!” shouted Rover, whose voice echoed throughout each of the caverns and tunnels for every dog in the pack to hear “I said is that understood!” Rover roared once more.
“Sir, yes, sir!” The entire pack roared in accordance to their leader. The resulting acknowledgement was so loud that the dirt from the ceiling rumbled and crumbled down. The whole atrium remained silent for what felt like hours, no one dared to say a word in the presence of their fuming leader. The apparent anger that was on Rover’s face faded away to show an exhausted dog.
“At ease everyone, just... go back to whatever it was you were doing” said Rover as he slinked onto a nearby stool. His face found it’s way into both of his paws as he sighed like so many times that he had done today, it was starting to get repetitive. He was drained, even after waking up he realized that he hadn’t even gotten anything to eat yet. The nightmare that he had earlier already left him feeling like crap, now learning that his closest friend could get him and the rest of the pack kicked out of their homes was just too much.
“Boss” Fido finally spoke up. Rover looked up from his paws and saw that Fido and the dogs that helped him steal the cider were all standing before him at attention “I understand what you mean boss. It’s our fault, me, Lou, and Tiny. We deserve whatever punishment that you give us for endangering the pack” they stood tall, prepared to be sent to the brig if they had to.
“No, it’s alright. If anything, let this serve as a warning to us all” Rover said in a low tone “You didn’t get caught, which is good. This would have been catastrophic for us if you did though, even if it was just petty theft. Regardless, you all know the drill, just be more careful and mindful when you’re topside, is that understood?” he asked.
“Yes, sir!” all three dogs saluted their leader as he saluted back.
“But what are we gonna do with this cider then?” Fido asked “We can’t just return it”
“It’s already here, might as well continue to enjoy it” Rover said with a grin on his mug “Since you all worked so hard to steal this for the pack, we should have a little celebration since we’re all on our leisure time, wouldn’t you say?” the three dogs looked at him with a confused expression before smiling alongside him.
“Boss, you can be a hypocrite sometimes, you know that?” said Fido with a laugh.
“Hey, even hypocrites need to eat. Which reminds me, I haven’t had breakfa- um, lunch yet, let’s get some stew up in here!” he announced as the whole pack cheered along for celebration. With that said, the rest of the pack gathered to the main atrium where a little party was held. Within only a few minutes, the festivities were in full swing. Everyone in the pack was enjoying a good time, all except for one.
Rover just sat by quietly as he finished up his stew and some more cider. He was lost in thought, today had been far too stressful for him and he needed something to take his mind off of things. Apparently that something was cider, lots and lots of cider.
“Even hypocrites need some anesthetic, for the pain”
* * *
Rover’s eyes wildly shot open as he felt a wave of pain rush throughout his head and towards the rest of his body. He didn’t feel so good, but at least the pain was a more of a nauseating sensation rather than the nagging feeling that he felt yesterday. He struggled to get back onto his feet, all while resisting the urge to vomit. He was back in his own den, someone must’ve dragged him there while he was out cold.
It must’ve have been some party yesterday, all of the cider was gone, mostly because he drank to the point of unconsciousness. He was starting to regret it now, how was he suppose to work when he was suffering from a hangover the size of Canterlot? It was even worst when he realized that he was delirious, he was beginning to see things that weren’t there, like the scroll that was right next to him.
“Huh? What?” Rover picked up the scroll and examined it. From the feel of the parchment in his paw and the smell of fresh ink the paper, it was certainly real. But there was one part about the scroll that bugged him to no end, the seal of Princess Celestia was emblazoned onto the wax that held the scroll together.
“Grr... what now?” he asked himself as he ripped off the wax and unfurled the scroll. While his vision was still hazy, he could read the letter just fine. Although the moment that he finished reading the few lines that were actually present on the paper, he felt an boiling anger rage up from within him as he felt the urge to tear the letter into shreds once he was done with it.
* * *
Dear, K-9
We are in need of the diamond dogs again.
- Princess Celestia
* * *
“Damn it, I haven’t been called K-9 in a decade. Just what the heck does she want with us...”
Rover stared at the letter that he received from out of nowhere for what felt like hours. He must’ve thoroughly examined it at least over a hundred times, trying to make sure that it was fake. But to his dismay, everything about the letter was authentic; from the special type of parchment that can only be found in Canterlot, to the unique ebon ink used to write upon it, to the acrid smell of smoke lingering around his den, it was clear as day that this was the real deal.
He felt angry, he felt cheated, he wanted the tear letter up into a thousand little pieces and just leave it to decompose in the ground. But he couldn’t, the time has come, his pack has once again been called into action after a decade of living a lie.
He steeled himself once he had digested all of the limited information that was given to him in the letter, he needed to sober up if he was going to head over to Canterlot. Only one question remained, however.
“But why now?” Rover thought to himself as he stowed away the letter into his pocket. With the letter in his possession, he attempted shake off his hangover before walking over to the darkest corner of his den where a moderately sized cut diamond laid half buried into the ground. He began to dig around the spot where the diamond was embedded into the ground, he digged for a good couple of minutes until the area around the diamond was unearthed to reveal a rusty chest.
“I can’t believe I get to open this damn thing up again...” Rover whispered to himself before wiping the dirt off the brass plaque that was bolted on top of the chest. The plaque was old, rusty, and looked as if it was about to break off at the slightest touch. Yet as rusty the plaque was, the words on it were far from illegible.
“Dying is no excuse to stop fighting” he whispered to himself. That was the motto of his pack. Once all of the dirt was cleaned off, he used one of his nails to pick the lock that was on the chest until a subtle clicking noise was heard. Once the lock fell off, he opened up the chest.
The chest opened up with a loud and obnoxious creak until the rusty hinges gave in and snapped right off, taking the top with it. The top of the chest unceremoniously dropped to the ground with a low thud, leaving behind the contents of the chest itself.
Rover began to pull out each of the items from within the decrepit box and laid them all out to see if everything was still as it was. Even after ten years, the tools of his trade were still in great condition, considering all that it’s gone through.
Inside of the chest were the following items; a red bandanna, a curved short sword with a sheath, a small brown knapsack, some pants, and a golden medallion. It wasn’t much, but they’ve all gone a long way for Rover in the past. A small smile crept it’s way onto his face as he took in the nostalgia.
The bandanna itself wasn’t anything extraordinary. It was just a tattered bandanna that was made out of some tough fabric with the design of the lower half of a skull in red, while the rest of the negative space was filled in with black. It may not have been much, if anything, the design for the skull imagery looked incredibly terrifying and grotesque when worn on his face. A little bit of intimidation can go a long way in his business.
His knapsack was small, probably only big enough to fit about two or three large textbooks. The inside was empty, but there was some signs of decade old dried blood stained on the lining of the backpack itself. Which raises the question, what the hell did he hold in this thing?
His sword was incredibly impressive for something that hasn’t seen combat in years. What little sunlight that he received in the tunnels bounced off the sheen of blade to reveal quality workmanship as well as several chip marks.
It looked like a small double edged scimitar that was roughly around two feet in length with a third of the sword being the handle. Both the handle and blade are curved with the tip of the blade having a forked point to pry back armor. While small, it was more easier to handle. Count in the natural physiology of the diamond dogs and it could also out maneuver most enemies that are stupid enough to take on Rover in combat.
The pants were, well, just pants. The only thing that was special about them was the fact that they had some pockets, and that they were brown. That way, no one can tell if you crapped yourself when you encounter something horrific. Thankfully that was just a running joke that the diamond dogs loved to use whenever they mention brown pants.
The final item was probably the most important if he was just going to walk into the city of Canterlot to have an audience with Princess Celestia. It was a solid gold medallion that had the mark of the sun one side and the moon on the other. This was the only thing that could let him walk on the surface without getting harassed much.
It felt just like yesterday as he wore back on all of his perfectly preserved clothing. It still smelled just like the day he washed them before he stowed them into the chest, although that also implied that it smelled like dirt and plant roots. His bandanna rested around his neck like that of an outlaw, his knapsack was on his back, his pants were on. He was ready to go except for one little detail.
His sheathed sword rested perfectly behind his back, just below his knapsack but right above his tail where it wouldn’t hinder his movement. He fidgeted around a bit, the pants felt a little loose but that was okay, at least it still fit him. Before he walked out of his den, he pocketed the medallion into the same spot where the letter was, he was going to need it in the long run.
Without looking back at the broken chest, he walked out of his den and into the main atrium where he had to break the news to the rest of the pack.
* * *
“What!?” Spot shouted at the top of the lungs as he stared at Rover with eyes that were as wide as dinner plates. The rest of the members of the pack were also staring at their leader in shock. The moment Rover announced that he was heading to Canterlot to meet Princess Celestia, everyone dropped what they were doing and rushed over to see what all the hubbub was about “When did this happen!?” he shouted.
“Now calm down, Spot. I found this thing right next when I woke up this morning” said Rover as he pulled out the letter “Something big must’ve happened, big enough that it forced the hooves of royalty to call us back into action”
“But boss, what are we suppose to be doing while you’re away? We haven’t done anything like this for years!” said Fido “What if we’re not ready?”
“I’ve seen the progress that you’ve all accomplished in the time that we’ve lived here! We’re ready already, or has a mere decade made all of you forget everything?” Rover asked as he assumed an authoritative tone “From here on out until I return, I want this pack to be on code ruby!” his command brought forth a collective gasp from the pack.
“Sir, we haven’t had a code ruby in te-” Spot couldn’t finish as he was sharply cut of by Rover.
“Yes, ten years, a decade! We’ve already established that, or do I have to repeat myself again for you?” he asked as he eyed Spot.
“No, sir!” Spot responded as he stood at attention “I’ll make sure that by the time you get back this pack will be running at peak efficiency, sir!”
“That’s what I wanted hear” said Rover with a smirk “Spot, you know the drill. I want you to scramble the pack, get the forge up and running again, check all of our armaments and get all of the techies to improve on everything and anything if it’s out of date or if it’s defective, tell them to develop some new arms while they're at it. I want the scouts to be on full alert, we don’t want any wandering pony to nose into our business. Lastly, send a messenger out to contact the other packs, this information is crucial. Is that understood!” Rover bellowed to the pack.
“Sir, yes, sir!” the pack bellowed in response. A look of pride found it’s way onto Rover's face, he won’t let his pack down for they won’t let him down. It was times like these where his efforts as a leader really showed itself. But as he watched the rest of the pack kick themselves into full throttle, the negative feeling of talking to Princess Celestia resurfaced again. Without saying another word, he dismissed himself before going out of the dark and into the light.
He was going topside.
* * *
Rover steadily climbed his way out of the many holes that were dug up for quick escapes and evacuations for his pack. This hole in particular was much closer to Ponyville, dug near a field of flowers beside the town itself to avoid suspicion. As he made his way up onto the solid ground he couldn’t help but shut his eyes instinctively as the glare of the sun assaulted his vision.
It took a few seconds for him to properly adjust to the vibrant setting when compared to his dimly lit home, but when he did, he was greeted with the image of a verdant forest. The leaves and branches of the trees gently swung side to side to the breeze as the grass and flowers around him did the same. Rover took a deep breath and admired the fresh air and beautiful imagery of the surface, only to grimace as he looked at the sun moving across the sky.
“I don’t remember the sun being so flat...” he said to himself before setting off to the nearest train station that Ponyville had to offer. His walk towards the train station was not without it’s awkward moments, however.
Rover was just casually walking down the road as he was getting close to town hall. Mayor Mare, along with half of the town's populace, remained uneasy and spastically cautious around the diamond dog. A million eyes were practically all upon him, yet Rover ignored all of the fearful looks and glares that they were giving him. He had a set goal and he intended to see it through.
The more time that he spent in town however, the more paranoid that the ponies became. Some even went as far as to yell and throw rocks at him, but that did little to deter him. The crowd slowly began to get rowdy but a low growl emitted by Rover discouraged any foolhardy attempts to stop him.
As he made his way towards the ticket booth at the boarding platform, he noticed that the mare behind the booth saw him approaching and quickly bolted from the scene, but not before she hastily left behind an out to lunch sign in her wake. Thankfully, there was still another booth with a pony brave enough to do their job, even if he looked as though he was about to piss himself.
“W-what do you w-want?” the stallion fearfully asked.
“Get me to Canterlot” Rover flatly replied.
“B-but, why would you want to go t-” the stallion was interrupted by Rover slamming his paw on booth’s counter. He lifted up his paw to show the golden medallion on the counter. The stallion stared at the medallion wide eyed, he looked back and forth from Rover and the medallion over and over again just to make sure that he was seeing things correctly “H-how did y-you get this?” he asked
“Get me to Canterlot...” Rover narrowed his eyes on the terrified stallion “...now” he finished through gritted teeth. Almost immediately after he finished speaking, the stallion quickly pulled out a ticket stub and handed it to Rover before closing his booth for good. Rover ignored that rude stallion and put both the medallion and the ticket stub in his pocket.
He waited alone for half an hour until the train pulled up into the station. The station had deserted itself once Rover made himself known that he was heading to Canterlot, it wasn’t bad though, the silence was nice. It helped him to think and to calm his mind after breaking nearly every rule he had established to preserve the secrecy of his kind. But this was different, the rules didn't matter now.
Eventually the train, aptly named the friendship express, wheeled its way into the boarding platform. He was the only passenger onboard the train, aside from the conductor and the ticket taker. The rest of the ride was uneventful, save for the scenery of the mountains and the roar of the train’s engine. The rest of the ride took about a few hours, by then, the image of the beautiful white city slowly came into his view.
* * *
Canterlot was as gorgeous as it ever was. Built upon the side of a mountain, Canterlot stands as a testament to all the hard work and perseverance of the ponies. The elegant masonry of the walls and the brilliant architecture of each building was breathtaking, it was hard to take your eyes off all of these things once you saw it for more than a few seconds.
As the train pulled into Canterlot station, Rover quickly made his way off of the train and ran towards the direction of the castle. He started running at a good pace first on his two legs, soon afterwards he began sprinting on all fours. He just ran past everyone he came across and kept his pace with a rhythmic cadence. He picked up his speed as his strides doubled with each step he took. Within a matter of minutes, he found himself just a block away from the gate of castle Canterlot.
He slowed his pace back down as he walked towards the gate where several guards stood diligently with their signature stoic expression plastered all over their faces. There was around twelve guards, and they were all looking at Rover suspiciously.
“Halt! Stop right where you are you mutt!” one of the guards by the gate shouted.
“What seems to be the problem?” Rover replied nonchalantly which served to irritate the guard in front of him.
“Turn around and leave now, you have no business here. Go back to your gem digging obsession and never show your face around here ever again unless you’re looking for trouble” the guard threatened as he stared down Rover. But Rover remained unfazed, he just returned the stare without budging an inch. Rover reached into his pocket and pulled out the letter and the medallion to present into to the guard.
“I’m here on official duty, Princess Celestia sent me this letter herself” said Rover as the guards gasped upon seeing the medallion “Now let me through, or am I going to have to report all of you for unlawful harassment of a guest?” he threatened back.
“Y-you don’t scare m-me” said the guard “Why would the princess want to talk with a mutt like you?” he asked. Rover snarled and grabbed the guard by the neck and brought him to his face where he bared all of his sharp teeth for the guard to see.
“That’s for me to know and for you to find out” Rover finished as he let go of the guard. Without saying another word, the guards all reluctantly complied with Rover and opened up the gates for him. Rover passed through without looking back and continued into the castle where his audience with the princess awaited him.
He strode down the large hallways of the castle, looking around and silently marveling all of the decor and pleasantries that the castle provided. From the crimson rug that spanned from one end of the hallway to the other, to the exquisite collection of vases and suits of armor that were all present in the hallway.
“Ten years, eh?” he said to himself as he walked into the court where the thrones were. He looked around to see that there was no one else around, perhaps he was early. He took a seat by the steps of the court, there he was alone with nothing more than his clothes and his thoughts. He began reminiscing about his past exploits, this was not the first time he’s spoken with Princess Celestia but it will probably won’t be the last.
His train of thought however was interrupted when a familiar whiny voice spoke from behind him.
“Oh! Not you again!” Rover audibly groaned as he remembered just who the voice was. He reluctantly turned around only to see that Rarity, along with the rest of her friends, were all glaring at him.
"Blood alone moves the wheels of history" - Martin Luther
* * *
Rover just couldn’t believe his luck right at the moment. Of all the ponies he would meet on his trip here, he just had to run into the elements of harmony themselves. His last run in with them a few years ago left them on shaky grounds, considering that he and everyone else in the pack had to keep up their charade. That, sadly, left the girls with a negative impression about him and his kin.
“You have got to be kidding me...” he thought to himself. It’s not like he could openly speak out about him being here or about when they last met three years ago. Unless some greater power comes in and intervenes, he had no choice but to keep to himself and ignored the glares that he was receiving, hoping that they would leave him alone in turn.
“Hey! Just what the heck are you doing here anyway!” Rainbow Dash shouted from behind as she assumed an aggressive stance “What’s a diamond dog doing in here of all places? Shouldn’t you be back at your hole?”
“Crap...” he knew it was a stretch for them to just up and leave around him anyway. He just shrugged his shoulder, continuing to give the six the silent treatment as he felt his patience wearing down. Celestia better get here fast, otherwise he won't be held responsible for what he’ll do if this situation spirals out of control.
“So, acting quiet, are we?” Rarity piped in “I’ve dealt with ruffians like you before” she said with a sing song voice “All I have to do is speak like this and you diamond dogs will just run away” she complained. For the record, it wasn’t whining, it was complaining.
Rover’s ears wiggled back and forth a bit from hearing all of her complaining, Rarity took notice to this and assumed that she was being successful in annoying the hell out of him. She went on with all of her complaining for the next few minutes, only to be shocked when Rover let out a loud yawn. She stared at him with a dumbfounded look, he wasn’t even paying attention to her.
“Hey! You know it’s rude to just ignore somepony like that!” she yelled, but Rover paid no mind to her. He just sat on the stairwell with his legs crossed and his paws behind his head in a relaxed demeanor. He appeared to enjoy beating Rarity at her own game. If only she knew how skilled he really was “Are you even listening to me! I am talking to you! Look at someone when they are talking to you!”
“Ugly mule” was all that he replied.
“Whuah!? D-did you just call m-me u-ugly? A-and a m-mule!?” Rarity spoke rather shakily. Within the span of only a few seconds, she broke down instantly and began to wildly sob in the corner of the court as Fluttershy did her best to comfort the poor unicorn.
A smirk appeared on Rover’s face, it felt good to put someone so who acts so pompous in their place, even if they were instrumental to defending Equestria from evil deities but that’s not really his department. His talents lie elsewhere.
“Element of generosity my foot, what’’s so generous about giving dogs headaches...” he thought to himself. But just as he was relishing the moment, a cyan blur rushed it’s way up to his face, and it looked very angry.
“Grr... apologize to my friend, right now! Or get ready to have your butt whooped!” Rainbow Dash threatened. Rover wasn’t at all fazed by Rainbow’s threats, he just shrugged his shoulder again and spoke out.
“And why should I apologize to someone who annoys others? What have I done so far to warrant any punishment? Surely it can’t be because I’m a diamond dog, is it? Or was it about what happened all those years ago?” Rover replied while in his relaxed state, his face never once betraying the current emotions that he was feeling.
“Surely you of all ponies, one of her closest friends must know what it’s like to have her go on and on without regards for your nerves” he finished. Rainbow was taken aback by how right Rover sounded, and that annoyed her to no end.
“Grr... don’t dodge the subject! You hurt my friend, apologize!” she shouted “Or els-”
“Or else what!” Rover interjected as he towered over the shocked pegasus “You want to know why I’m here pony!” he began to snarl at Rainbow as he pulled out the letter “I was summoned here by your princess to handle a delicate matter that I assume you and your guards failed to accomplish!’ he threw the letter on the ground and watched as the girls around him traded nervous looks.
“T-that’s preposterous! Nothing of the sort happened!” Twilight objected, although even for a newly coronated princess she did a terrible job at hiding her hesitance “B-but more importantly, why would the princess ever call forth someone like you, a diamond dog!” she shot back, hoping to get the advantage in the argument “What good could a gem digging brigand like you do for us!”
“Obviously what you, the elements of harmony, couldn’t” Rover replied with a subtle smirk behind his face.
“Even so, how do we know that this isn’t just some forged letter!” Applejack cut in “I know your kind, you’re all nothing but thieving scoundrels!” without missing a beat, Rover reached into his pocket and flicked out the golden medallion towards the mane six who were stunned to see it in his possession in the first place.
“Thieving scoundrels don’t own these medallions” said Rover “Only special individuals who are entrusted by the crown may have the honor of owning these proofs of service. There is no way to copy these and stealing one is hopeless considering all of them are enchanted and are tied to their owners. I’m sure you have one as well, don’t you princess?” he asked Twilight. She was speechless, she didn’t know what to say.
“But I didn’t have to show this to you, did I?” he continued “You can tell almost immediately that the letter you’re looking at was created using Celestia’s personal stationery. She personally wrote and sent this letter to me herself. Quit lying to yourself oh wise and powerful princess, I’m here for a reason and I’m here to stay until further notice”
“NO!” Twilight shouted back “I... I don’t believe you! This... this is all fake! Princess Celestia would never involve someone like you, we’re perfectly capable of handling our own problems. You don’t belong here and we don’t need your help!” she yelled defiantly.
“Oh? So she never told you about the truth about the diamond dogs then?” Rover shot back “You, the newest princess of Equestria, Celestia’s most faithful student, the pony that she had told everyone time and time again about how you were practically like a daughter to her, still doesn’t trust you enough outside of her own sister about the secrets of your nation” he finished.
“W-what?” Twilight reeled back from his response “What on Equestria are you talking about! She’s already told me everything that I need to know now that I’m a princess, what else would she hide from me? From my friends? From Equestria?” she asked, hoping that Rover wouldn’t have the answer. Much to her dismay however, he did.
“How about almost everything you believe in?” he said in a mocking tone “Everything you think you know about the diamond dogs, everything you believe about your pacifist ways and how friendship and harmony have conquered all is all one big lie. Courtesy, of none other than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna themselves”
“Y-you’re wrong!” Rainbow Dash shouted “The only one who’s lying around here is you!”
“Oh, am I?” Rover continued “Did Celestia ever tell you how those elements ended up in that old castle in the Everfree forest? She didn’t say anything did she? The only thing that mattered was that her sister and the elements were back along with you six becoming heroes” he said as his face shifted to a scowl “So long as you were fat and happy, the details didn’t really matter, did it?”
“Have you ever wonder why artifacts of such power were simply abandoned in an old decrepit castle in the middle of the Everfree? Power that was instrumental to the defeat of Nightmare Moon? Power that stopped that incompetent jackass of a villain, Discord? Well? Answer me!” he roared.
“They were left there because... because the elements were inactive!” Twilight answered “They were nothing more than useless orbs of stone until my friends and I awakened their power! There’s your answer you diamond dog!” all of her friends rallied beside her, each one with a victorious look in their face. Even Rarity broke away from her crying long enough just so she could rub it in Rover’s face.
“You didn’t answer my question” Rover replied flatly “I didn’t ask about how or why you six reactivated the power of the elements. I asked you that if the elements were so valuable, then why weren’t they stored inside this castle where it was much safer than the dangerous Everfree where a skilled thief could've made off with them?” he said. Just as Twilight was about to answer again, Rover raised his paw to stop her.
“If you say that it was all a test by Princess Celestia and a method for you to make some friends, then you’re only half right” he said “You had to make that trip, to uncover the powers, true. But it was at the cost of the blood of several diamond dogs that risked their hides to find the elements to begin with!” he roared. The girls just all stared at Rover with a dumbfounded expression, just what the hell was he talking about?
“K-9! That is enough!” a voice bellowed from behind. Everyone’s eyes turned away from the diamond dog and towards the two tall, slender figures that were in the shadow of the doorway. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were standing in the golden archway of the court, around them were several high ranking officials of the royal guards, including Shining Armor himself.
“Well it’s about damn time!” Rover shouted “Do you have any idea what I had to go through while I was waiting?”
“I apologize of any inconveniences that you encountered during you trip here, K-9. We will have the meeting soon enough and I’ll be sure that you won’t receive any more harassment” Celestia calmly replied which brought forth looks of confusion from everyone in the room, save for her sister “Please meet us at the barracks, I have something that I must discuss with the others”
“Fine, but you better not screw me over this time you backstabber! I’m watching you” he snarled. Without so much as another look from him, Rover stormed out of the room. Many guards have attempted to try and convict Rover for speaking so poorly to the princess but was stopped by Luna.
“Don’t, his time will come. For now, make him comfortable” she instructed as all of the guards nodded accordingly.
“Celestia? What’s going on here? Why was that diamond dog here?” Twilight asked “He told us about how you called him, and something about the elements. You didn’t actually call him... did you?”
“I’m sorry, Twilight. But yes, I did” she replied which caused all of the girls to collectively gasp “Ever since Shining Armor reported to me about how we failed on the western border of Equestria, he had requested for some reinforcement. So, after hours of careful thinking and planning, I had come to the conclusion that we are incapable of handling this situation on our own”
“What!” Applejack exclaimed “That’s a load of hooey princess. So we screwed up this one, we’ll get em next time. There’s no need to call in help from these ditch diggers, this is pony business, and we can handle it ourselves!” she announced with fire.
“I second that!” Rainbow Dash joined in “We can handle this on our own! We have the elements, we have the royal guards, and we have the princesses of Equestria on our side! There’s no way we can fail next time!”
“There isn’t a next time for us, Rainbow Dash” said Princess Celestia “We had our chance and we failed. Choosing whether or not to call in K-9 was a hard decision enough as it is. But now that he is here, he and the rest of his pack are going to handle the situation from now on. This is non negotiable, no matter what you do or say I cannot repeal my decision”
“B-but... I refuse to let that mutt be involved with us!” Rainbow shouted back “What makes him so special anyway? We kicked his butt a few years back and we could probably do it again!”
“He’s very special, let’s just leave it at that” Celestia replied “But what I have to say next is important. Whatever he says, don’t believe him. He will try to slander my name, he will try and make you confused, that is his way simply because he and I don’t see eye to eye on certain things. That is why no matter what, I can entrust the six of you to remain faithful and ignore all of his lies. Can you do that?” she asked.
“I knew he was up to no good” Twilight muttered beneath her breath “Don’t worry, I can promise that we won’t fall for any of his lies” she said with utmost diligence. Celestia and Luna smile gently at the girls before they all motioned for them to follow.
“Come now, there is much to discuss” said Celestia as everyone left the room.
* * *
Somewhere far on the opposite end of the castle itself was the barracks of the royal guards itself. Several buildings and facilities pertaining to the guard all dotted the small plateau on the side of the mountainside, each as white and as plain as a block of tofu. However, there was one building that separated itself from the rest.
in the center of the barracks stood a tall and massive building. When you compare it to the rest of of the buildings it was basically like a tiny castle that’s all cooped up in a fort. That was the main headquarters of the royal guards. The HQ was massive, almost double the size of the surrounding building with some of it’s own unique quirks.
The building itself had beautiful gold trimmings on almost every corner, it also had a multitude of flags and banners around the walls of the building. There were several towers around the corners as well, with the largest and the tallest being the one in the center. Normally the HQ would be the place where all of the paperwork was done. However, it also acted as a war room of sorts when the situation becomes dire enough for ponies to use.
Sitting on a big chair inside the bowels of the war room with a depressed look on his face was Rover. He knew his way around the barracks, he had been there before back when he was still active. But now that the diamond dogs have been called back, the burden of his kind had increased upon him tenfold. He only continue to reminisce like he did before until he ran into the elements. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breathe, he then began to envision of a time long since falsified.
* * *
A thousand years ago... why is it such an odd, even number? So round, so simple, so believable when spoken about. Call it a legend, then make it into reality and everyone will believe it. It’s all a lie, a lie that has had a thousand years to grow and to take root in the mind of nearly every pony everywhere. It was propaganda on a massive scale, and Rover was powerless to do anything against it.
One thousand years ago, or so they say, the dogs came into contact with the ponies. It was a question of whether who casted the first stone, but war erupted between the two regardless. Skirmishes among the landscape blistered out of control. It was a constant tug of war, victories and defeat were equal on both sides. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, months eventually became years.
For three years, a shadow war raged on in Equestria. The nobility in Equestria had to keep the entire war a secret from the masses about the barbaric invader, but soon the secret was out, including how desperate the war effort became.
The ponies, while adept in magic, flight, and overall endurance were losing badly. Though the amount of ponies numbered nearly quintuple that of the diamond dogs, there were obvious difference in technology and tactics as well as overall tenacity. The dogs, though limited, were simply the better fighter with the better tools, the better tactics and had the will to fight to last breathe. For each one dog the ponies slayed, they retaliated with the destruction of an entire company.
But as the war dragged on, a young Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stepped up to find a more peaceful solution than war. A notion that should be commonly associated with the regal and altruistic princesses of Equestria. Although, their talents for deception were still as incredible as they were all those centuries ago. They had a hidden agenda, and the dogs were merely another cog in their machine.
K-9, a title that only the leader of the diamond dogs could obtain, was approached by the two princesses a millenia ago and was offered an end to the war, a chance of coexistence to benefit from each other. A compromise was met, and the dogs would fight alongside the ponies as their silent guardian in an effort to live in harmony with each other. But all was not as it seemed.
Celestia and Luna never had any intents of integrating the dogs into their perfect society. To them, the dogs were nothing more than a resource just waiting to be exploited, and they exploited a dog’s most valuable trait, their loyalty. They say that history is written by the victors, and though a compromise was met, the dogs most certainly lost.
For a thousand years, the dogs had been doing all of the wetwork for the princesses so that their clean hooves wouldn’t be stained of the blood of thousands to keep their subjects safe and unaware of the dangers of the outside world.
For a thousand years, the ponies have been living blissfully unaware of their lives, while countless dogs died in the background to preserve the mirage of peace and tranquility.
For a thousand years, the dogs had been subjugated to an eternity of service, even when others came to realized the severity of their situation, they realized that it had already been too late.
And to add insult to injury, the dogs were kept in line with gems for centuries. Thus the term diamond dog was coined. Although in Rover’s opinion, blood diamond dogs would have made more sense. The cover story for their people had be used against them as the years flew by. Over fifty generations of K-9’s, fifty generations of loyal soldiers and mighty warriors had been reduced to nothing more than an expendable resource.
In a world like Equestria, what is the death of a few dogs when compared to the safety of the ponies? If anything, the world would be a better place without them, but that is not before they fulfill their role as being obedient meat shields.
But the worst came when he became the next K-9...
* * *
Rover opened his eyes slowly, remembering everything about who he was and what he was capable of made him incredibly groggy. As he came too, he noticed that everyone had started to gather around him. Each took their respective seats as they awaited for the meeting to start.
“Ahem, everyone is here now” said Shining Armor “We can continue with the briefing...”
“Starswirl the Beard’s enchiridion” said Shining Armor as he spoke up at the meeting “A few week ago, a group of insurgents from Canterlot had broken into the royal archives and had stolen over several scrolls and documents that all belonged to Starswirl himself, including his greatest achievement, the enchiridion” he said as he flipped through a series of notes and diagrams “We don’t know how they managed to get inside the walls of the castle, but we assume that it’s an inside job”
“That, or it could be that you’re running an army full of brainless, incompetent asshats that have never seen real danger outside of their own marital troubles...” Rover thought as he rest his annoyed face on his paw “Of all the things that they could’ve stolen, these insurgents only went for a couple old books and scrolls?” he asked “What the hell are they gonna do, read you all to death?”
“For the record, these old books and scroll contain some of the most powerful magic known to ponykind” Twilight interjected “In the wrong hooves, these spells can be cataclysmic!”
“Ponykind, magic, cataclysm... of course. Why am I not surprised that the trouble you all got yourselves into had to involve magic” Rover thought “So just who am I dealing with here? Since there’s magic involved, I assume that I would be hunting down some unicorns”
“You would be correct, K-9” said Celestia “As you can se-”
“Don’t call me K-9” Rover interrupted with a low snarl.
“Why not?” she asked “Is it not respectful to call you by your formal title?”
“You don’t have the right to call me K-9 anymore, not after you left me and Wulfe for dead...” Rover growled “I was given the title of K-9 after he died, I never earned it. That alone is the ultimate shame that I am forced to carry as I lead the diamond dogs” his eyes narrowed on Celestia “From here on out, you’re only able to call me by my name, Rover”
“How dare you rudely demand our princess of such an outlandish request!” an earth pony commander by the name of Heavy Artillery rose up from his seat and confronted Rover.
“Don’t force me to remind you how much of a pathetic mongrel you are when compared to our regal princes-” before he could even finish talking, Heavy Artillery was forcefully struck in the face where he stumbled backwards and fell onto the floor. He was clasping his muzzle with both of his hooves as he writhed about in pain while spitting out blood and several fragments of broken teeth.
The rest of the ponies in the room stared at Rover with a dumbstruck look at how swiftly he floored one of the royal guard commanders. Rover had just unsheathed his blade, and with blinding speed, he smashed the blade’s pommel into the poor guy’s face without discretion. In a single action, he quickly resheathed his blade, yet he kept his stare with Celestia.
“You aren’t relevant to this conversation nor are you relevant to this mission anymore” Rover spoke with a chilling voice that sent shivers down everyone’s spine. The mane six in particular were staring at the dog that crumbled under Rarity’s whining with a slacked jaw expression. He was completely different from the dog that they met before “Now sit down and shut up, the grown ups are talking”
Fearfully, Heavy Artillery did as he was told. He shakily rose up from his little puddle of blood and spittle before he sat back to where he was while Shining Armor and some of the other commanders called for some of the medical staff for assistance.
“Well, do we have an agreement?” Rover calmly asked.
“I agree... Rover” said Celestia as she recovered from the shock of seeing Heavy Artillery struck down “But was it really necessary to harm one of my guards like that?”
“Come now, Celestia. A simple blow to the face like that should be nothing to a royal guard commander...” Rover turned his head to face the other commanders, he stared at each one with cold eyes boring into each of them. He could clearly see that they all gulped nervously as his gaze met them before he turned his head back “Regardless of his well being, you were saying?”
“Ahem, the insurgents happened to all be unicorns” said Celestia and she rummaged through some papers “However, they have both the support of earth ponies and pegasi as well”
“Alright, what are their goals?” Rover asked. Luna pulled out a map of Equestria and pointed to a large chunk of land to the west of Canterlot.
“Over the course of the last few weeks, it appears that the ponies have holed up in this area and have created a fort of sorts. They plan to learn some of Starswirl’s more destructive spells so that they may shift the balance of power in Equestria as well as the rest of the world” said Luna “They are rapidly gaining recruits and power, we fear that within the next few months or so they would have a sizable force that is capable of leveling several key cities around Equestria and the griffon kingdoms”
“For them to gain power so easily in such a short amount of time, you all must’ve screwed up badly then” said Rover with a chuckle which annoyed the element bearers to no end along with Shining Armor and his commanders “So what happened? You thought you would all do something heroic and come home to another party, right?”
“Ahem, simply put, the element bearers and the guards failed to retrieve the documents. Nothing more, nothing less” Luna concluded. Rover chuckled again, more so out of spite than humor.
“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that” Rover thought “So, we have a group of crazy ponies secessionist who want to take over the world through overwhelming power, and you want me and my boys to deal with it” said Rover “Given the insurgents numbers and strengths, you’re asking me to wage war against your enemies, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but we want you to do it discretely, like how you’ve been doing it for the last few centuries” said Celestia “We want this to be kept hidden from the public as to avoid any panic and hysteria. I can assure you that you will all be reward for your efforts once this is all over” Celestia said, sounding quite confident in herself.
“Oh, really? What kind of reward?” Rover said he struggled to hide the anger in his voice. Luna clapped her hooves together and the door behind them swung open to reveal two guards with a large burlap sack on their back. As the guards threw the bags on the table, gems of all shapes, colors and sizes poured out like water from a pitcher. The entire table before them was covered in nothing but gems, there was some much you could’ve practically swam in it.
“Pfft, figures you dogs would be after the gems” said Rainbow “So, are you gonna take care of the problem or what?”
“I can assure you that this is merely one, one hundredth the amount that you’ll receive once the job is done” said Luna “We can pay you with enough gems to last you two lifetimes. What do you say?” Rover simply rose out of his seat, and with his right paw, he slapped Luna across the face. Everyone’s jaw hit the floor from the audacious action that Rover committed, it was practically taboo to do something like that in front of everyone.
“No deal” he simply replied before leaving the room again with plenty of shocked ponies in his wake “If you think that I am going to risk the lives of my men for your cause over some useless rocks then you are sorely mistaken. Equestria can burn for all I care if your offer is so poor”
“W-what!” Luna shouted as she regained her composure “Don’t you dare walk out on us! The diamond dogs have a stake in this too! If you dare walk out that door then you and your kind will also suffer these insurgents wrath! You don’t have any choice!” Rover stopped walking, he turned around and narrowed his eye on Luna
“We always have a choice” he said “The diamond dogs will live on, just as we always have. Given how desperate you all are to call in us, you won’t last long once the insurgents make their move. By then, I’ll be watching from as far away as the southern border with a smile on my face as Canterlot and the rest of you pathetic lot crumble underneath the might of your own subject” he then turned around again and continued walking.
“Hold it right there!” Luna shouted again. Her horn began charge with dark aura “You will be a good dog and you will help us with our problem whether you want to or not! That is why you mutts exist! Now if you take another step I will personally blast you into next week” she threatened. Rover stared at Luna, never once did his resolve falter or even struggled. He only looked at her for a few seconds, and began laughing wildly.
“You won’t do it” said Rover with a grin as he ignored everyone and left without looking back.
“Wait!’ Celestia shouted “Please, Rover! Don’t leave, we’ll give you whatever you want if you help our cause, just name it and it will be yours!” Rover stopped again, he began the ponder his choices. After a few seconds of thinking, he turned around and sat back down again.
“I want two things only. One, I want a new base of operations, somewhere around the west, preferably nearby the ocean” said Rover “My kin and I cannot operate underground all the time you know? I demand the basics when it come to running an army, medical facilities, mess halls, the works” Celestia blinked, and looked at Rover confusedly.
“Just the basics?” she asked.
“Yes, we’ll handle everything else ourselves. The last thing that I want to do is use pony technology to outfit the army” said Rover “The next one is the most important if you want me to work for you. If you deny me this request then I’ll leave for good”
“I understand, what is it that you what?” Celestia asked. Rover took a deep breath and exhaled.
"If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom" - Dwight D. Eisenhower
* * *
A week had past since the meeting had concluded. Princess Celestia peered from high upon the balcony of her home as she oversaw the vast landscape that was laid out before her. The sun was slowly setting itself upon the horizon as Celestia willed it to and the image that she had created was absolutely breathtaking.
However, even as she was marveling her own work from quite possibly the best spot in all of Equestria, she couldn’t help but feel a looming sense of dread as she continued to admire the whole of Equestria; the very nation that she, her sister, and the element bearers themselves have protected from the evils of the world.
She had a problem at hand, and it’s name was Rover.
* * *
“Excuse me? What did you just say?” Celestia asked as she was stared down by Rover.
“You heard me loud and clear, you all heard me” Rover snarled “I want redemption for my kind!” he shouted.
“Redemption? What in Equestria are you talking about?” Celestia calmly replied.
“Don’t act like you don’t know anything, Celestia!” Rover growled angrily “Once I’m done dealing with your insurgent problem, I want you to come clean about the diamond dogs. No more lies, no more hiding in the dirt. I want you to fulfill the promise that you and your sister gave to us all those years ago”
“Really now? And what did we promise you?” Celestia asked as though his words were of little significance to her.
“Coexistence” Rover answered with unwavering determination.
“And what makes you think that you dirty diamond dogs can coexist with us?” Luna interjected “For all we know, your request would cause an uproar in the nobility! Our subjects will never accept slave driving mongrels like you into our lives!”
“Who is truly the slave driver here, Luna?” Rover asked “The diamond dogs didn’t asked to be your personal footstool when it came to warfare. You tricked us into doing your dirty work all those years ago, and then you continued to abuse us whenever the opportunity arises just to keep us in line. You treat proud soldiers like mere sheets of parchment, we’re disposable to you” he took a deep breath before continuing.
“Regardless of whether you’ll all immediately accept us or not, if you ponies truly value your virtues about friendship and harmony, then I’m sure that the future for both of us is bright” said Rover with a warm smile.
“You... you can’t be serious” Luna said with shock evident in her voice “B-but that might take several generation to achieve! You’re dreams of coexistence will merely be a fruitless endeavor, you’ll just be wasting your time”
“Heh heh, you underestimate the patience of a dog, Luna” said Rover “We have all the time in the world. I’m willing to wait as long as it takes, and so will my kin” he said as he crossed his arms together before relaxing himself.
“Rover, that’s enough” Celestia stepped back in “I’ll... agree to your terms. So long as you hold up your end of the bargain...”
“It might take some time, but rest assure, the insurgents will be taken care. I’m glad that you are willing to take such a big step for Equestria” said Rover as he got out of his seat and began to casually leave the room
“Oh, one more thing” he looked back with fierce eyes “If you even think about betraying my kind again, and covering up your mistakes. I’ll personally make you suffer the pain of every diamond dog that’s ever died to help shape your perfect world. You have my word on that...”
* * *
Even though the current situation that had everyone in the royal guards chain of command in a frenzy was the insurgents and their threat of a new world order, Celestia knew that the real issue was with the latest K-9 of the diamond dogs. Rover was different from the rest; he was indeed a smart dog, perhaps a little too smart for his own good. The way he spoke, the way that he acted in front of her peers, it was like watching a ghost from her past come back to haunt her.
“Wulfe...” she thought to herself with gritted teeth upon remembering such a hated name“He shares that fool’s disposition. How troublesome” she sighed as she walked back into her room
“I thought I had rid the world of petty dog dreamers like him when I sent him to fetch the elements of harmony all those years ago. Although, I never expected him to have a contingency plan” she visually grimaced “He left his legacy behind for someone else to pick it up right where he left off. He thought two steps ahead of me. It’s like he’s still there, laughing at me...”
“But...” she scoffed “What did that idiot hope to accomplish by threatening me before my subjects? He can’t seriously believe that he can rebel against us, how brash. Still... what gave him the courage to make threats against someone who has the power to move the sun and the moon?” this thought alone stilled her heart for something so trivial, however, she quickly brushed it off when she realized how far fetched the idea of simple dogs going up against goddesses were.
“However... it never hurts to be prepared” she whispered to herself just as the doors to her room opened up to reveal the element bearers themselves “Hello everyone. I’m glad you could all make it” she greeted the six with a gentle smile “I assume that you all know the reason as to why I have summoned you here?”
“Yes, you wanted to talk to us about, um... Rover. Correct?” Twilight asked.
“That is correct, Twilight” Celestia replied.
“I just still can’t believe that he had the guts to make threats to you princess!” Rainbow interjected “I still think that it’s a bad idea to ask him for help. If anything, I should’ve kicked him out of there for acting so disrespectful in front of you!”
“And end up losing all of your front teeth? No way, it ain’t worth it, Dash” Applejack grimly added which caused Rainbow to visually winced upon remembering how brutally Heavy Artillery was taken down by Rover.
“O-on second thought. Maybe we should just leave him be” Rainbow shakily replied
“H-he’s t-terrifying” said Fluttershy as she involuntarily shuddered.
“I just don't get it” Rarity joined in “That Rover fellow was so... so different from when we last met him. I still can’t believe that he’s the same dog that I managed to complain to death. I’m still trembling from how easily he sent that one commander flying, doing something like that almost looked second nature to him!”
“Yeah! What’s up with that? He’s all scary and stuff” Pinkie added “What was he talking about anyway princess? He said something about you promising them something a long time ago and tricking the diamond dogs”
“Pinkie, don’t believe him! It’s just like him to spout lies like that, he’s trying to trick us!” Twilight shouted “Just ignore everything that he said yesterday and focus. We have a job to do”
“Your enthusiasm is as vibrant as always, even after you became a princess, Twilight” said Celestia as she motioned for everyone to walk by her desk. With a quick arrangement of her quills and parchment, she pulled forth a large map of Equestria with two areas circled upon it. To the northwest of Canterlot on the map was where the insurgents had holded themselves up in with their fort, and to the southwest was the newly established base of operations to the diamond dogs.
“Huh? CELLULA? What’s that suppose to mean?” Applejack asked as she pointed to the diamond dog’s base “Is it some kind of code?”
“I don’t think so” said Twilight “I don’t think that word’s even in my vocabulary”
“It’s just the name that Rover chose for his new home, that’s all. He told me that it meant something special but regardless of what the word means or why he chose it to begin with is not important right now” said Celestia “It’s what’s going on there that will be problematic for us if we don’t maintain constant surveillance on them”
“Surveillance? What for?” Rarity asked “He already agreed to work for you. Why should we still be worried about him?” just as she aske, Princess Celestia pulled out a small stack of recently developed photos and placed them onto the table “Hmm? What’s this?” Rarity looked through some of the photographs and was stunned by what she was looking at.
“These photos were taken early this morning by a small group of pegasi under Shining Armor’s command” she pointed to the photographs “As you can see, these are the same buildings that I had issued to Rover and his pack just a week ago” everyone’s jaws dropped to the floor as they all stared at the pictures.
“W-what!? I thought you only gave them like three buildings!” Rainbow shouted “What is all of this?”
“CELLULA” Celestia simply stated “In only the short span of one week, they have managed to expand from being a small rag tag band of soldiers into a small army. They are developing weapons and technology at an astounding rate to combat the insurgents and their organization is on par if not more efficient than our own. This is what’s troubling me”
“I want you all to keep an eye on the dogs. I want you to make sure that they’re not planning anything behind our backs as they’re dealing with our little issue. Also, try and procure any of their blueprints, weapon schematics and building plans just so that we have some sort of advantage over them should they rebel against us. Is that clear?” she asked.
“We understand princess, you can count on us!” Twilight exclaimed as all of her friends joined by her side.
“That’s good to hear. Now, I would like for you to join up with your brother, Twilight” said Celestia with her best smile “He is a few miles away from CELLULA but just close enough to where he and his group of guards can watch the base without being detected. There will be a small outpost out there, good luck everypony” she concluded before everyone else was being escorted out of the room and towards the flying chariots.
Celestia was alone once again, she turned around and walked back out on the balcony one last time to admired the beautiful sunset, with a single thought in mind.
“Tsk, coexistence. Never in a million years will I ever walk beside the same dogs that set my nation ablaze all those years ago”
* * *
Somewhere, close to the sunny shores of western Equestria lies a home . A home for those who have been called lower than the dirt that they live in, a home for those who still have the heart of a soldier, a home for soldiers to walk around aboveground without facing discrimination, a home for an army without borders. This is:
CELLULA
Even in it’s infancy, the diamond dogs forward base of operations is an impressive feat on both a technological and economical standpoint. The crude and crummy wooden buildings that they had originally received had been torn down, salvaged, and rebuilt to better fit the need of the war dogs. Everything from the wooden planks, to the iron nails that held the buildings together had been repurposed into something better than anypony could ever hope to create, even with their magic.
What once was a dilapidated central command center, a sub par infirmary, and a few basic living quarters was now a modern and edgy base for Rover and his pack.
The new command center was a masterful mix of wood and metal in such a way that it could easily withstand bombardment from heavy sieging yet was made using only parts that were needed instead of wasting valuable resources. It even looked better than the old one, like a triumphant tower basking in the sunlight.
Standing in front of the command center was none other than Rover, surveying his pack and all the other packs that had joined up with them with a look of pride and confidence on his face. Various diamond dogs were out and about carrying out task and participating in the construction of their new home. There wasn’t a single dog out there that wasn’t pulling their own weight for the benefit of the pack.
“You outdone yourself again, Spot” Rover commended as Spot walked up behind him “We managed to turn this old run down pile of garbage into something great. I’m impressed”
“Knew you would, sir” Spot replied “It feels nice to be back on the surface, I can finally breath properly without coughing all the time now. Although I’m still a little peeved at the bare bones package of a base that we received from the ponies. Heck, I feel safer sleeping next to an angry ursa major than staying in those wooden death traps”
“Bah, I knew they were going to give us shoddy housing and equipment anyway” said Rover as he and Spot began to walk around their new home “Even if I had asked for some kind of deluxe package, we’d just be stuck with more worthless junk than we can use. It’s better for us to expand using the natural resources of the land rather than getting all of these cheap materials from the ponies. By the way, how is the expansion going?” he asked.
“We’re ahead of schedule on the production of the armory, it took us some time but we managed to move almost every forge out from underground and had it transported over to CELLULA” said Spot “We currently have the techies researching and developing better weapons and armor while we work on construction of the intelligence department and the mess hall itself. The barracks for training new recruits is the only new building that is completed at the moment.”
“What about the infirmary?” Rover asked “Last I checked, that place it looked more like a medieval torture chamber rather than a place meant to treat the wounded”
“Some of the boys fixed and the clean the place up. We can now treat multiple patients at once in a sanitary environment with better equipment. Scalpels, sutures, the works. They also stocked the cabinets with less... outdated forms of medication” Spot said.
“Outdated?” Rover asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Um, yes...they found a jar full of leeches and a bottle of... holy water, inside the medicine cabinets” Spot said, trying his best to make it sound less absurd than it should.
“Yikes, that bad huh?” said Rover “I’m just glad to hear that everything is working out for us so far” he looked around himself and smiled at the fruits of their labor “Take a good look around, from here on out, this is our new home now. Not just for the dogs in our pack, but for every diamond dog out there” he took one last look around before his smile faded away “Though we have a true home, that doesn’t mean we’re free. Not yet" he softly whispered to himself.
"The best weapon against an enemy is another enemy" - Friedrich Nietzsche
* * *
Rover and Spot were busy inspecting and improving various elements of CELLULA as the day slowly chugged on by. It was nice, however, to enjoy such a moment of peace and productivity on the surface rather than below the dirt that they formerly lived in. They wished that days like these would last longer than a week, but they know that to enjoy their life like this for any span of time is only but a dream.
“So this is CELLULA huh? It looks better than I could ever imagine” a voice spoke from behind the two. Rover and Spot turned around and was greeted with the presence of another diamond dog. Only this diamond dog had a peculiar look to him.
He was a dingo with tan fur and wore what looked like a heavy vest, possibly made from gluing several pieces of linen together to created a piece of hard material, hard enough to withstand the impact of piercing arrowheads and musket balls alike. His vest also came with a variety of pockets that had a large collar that covered the lower half of his face.
He wore a set of round tinted goggles over his eyes and had a loose hood that obscured the rest of his face. It was difficult to tell what emotion that he was conveying, save for his tone of voice whenever he spoke.
He carried what looked like a prototype of a compound bow. It was unlike anything anyone has ever seen. While a normal crossbow would be made out of a combination of wood and metal, the one he had was made entirely out of metal, and the limbs was backwards rather than forward. Overall, it was a menacing weapon, one that could only be created through diamond dog ingenuity.
“Hunter? Is that you?” Rover asked as he went wided eye at the dingo. The dingo only smiled in return before pulling back his hood to reveal a part of his face.
Hunter
The Eyes of the World
“Well, it’s been years, hasn’t it... K-9, or should I say, Rover?” the dog spoke with a curt chuckle “I’ve never thought that I would get to see you again, ever since that whole incident with the elements” he said as he came up and gave Rover a hug “It has been far too long my friend. When was the last time that we ever talked together? Five years, seven years?” he asked.
“Try ten” Rover replied as he returned the hug “I’m glad that you could make it old friend. War is coming, and I would be honored to fight alongside you once again” Rover pulled away as the two saluted each other for old time sake.
“It’s good to be back, those ponies from Appleloosa were driving me mad” said Hunter as he rubbed his head “Ever since they got all friendly with the buffalos, their nonstop stomping had kept me up for days. My pack and I had to relocate to the caves around the badlands just so we could sleep right”
“I always did wonder what happened to you guys when the buffaloes came” Rover said with a snicker “Say, is your motto still the same?” Scout nodded to Rover.
“Yup, still is” said Hunter “See everything. Hear everything. Know everything” he recited “And it shows. Not a single thing happens around the south without our knowing. If a fly lands on on a pile of crap, or if some poor idiot’s wanking off to some of the passing mare, rest assure, we’re hidden somewhere in the background. Always watching, waiting, unseen, undetectable, untraceable”
“I would guess as much from the leader of the southern pack. Your pack’s specialty is reconnaissance, after all” said Rover as he shifted his gaze to the crossbow in Hunter’s paws “That looks new, did your pack invent that?” he asked.
“Yes, we did actually” Hunter replied “We took that old, archaic crossbow, and improves nearly every aspect about it. For one, it’s made out of metal, titanium to be exact, making it durable in the desert as well as being very light to carry around”
“It looks kind of funny, the limbs are backwards. It looks like a pitchfork or a trident to be honest” said Rover as he further examined the weapon “What are these wheels near the end of the limbs?”
“It a new feature we developed called reverse draw, hence it’s oblong shape. Furthermore, the wheels are there to help increase the tension of the drawstring without the need for longer limbs” said Hunter “With it, my arrows can fly ten times farther than any that are fired from a regular crossbow while maintaining a small silhouette. The monocular that’s attached to it also helps for scouting”
“Sir, I don’t mean to butt into a heartfelt conversation between you two about weapons and whatnot, but there's still the plan of attack to discuss,” said Spot.
“Your boy’s right, Rover. We can chat later, I already sent the schematics of the crossbow to the techies. You should see some of these in development very soon” said Hunter as he pulled his hood back up “You will find that they will come in very handy”
“New weapons and upgrades are always welcome here” said Rover “We’re taking on some crazy pony secessionist, we’re going to need all the firepower we can get” he then turned to Spot “Alright buddy, lead the way” without missing a beat, the three began to set off towards the command center.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot” Hunter spoke as they were walking “A couple of dogs from my recon group spotted a group of ponies stationed a few miles around here. According to the intel, the captain of the royal guard is there, along with the element bearers”
“Oh really now?” said Rover with a raised eyebrow “It seems that Celestia doesn’t trust me. What’s her angle? Hmph, tell your boys to maintain twenty four hour surveillance on those wannabe spies. I want every word, every action, every moment of their life recorded as of today. Something smells fishy, and it ain’t the chum by the beach...”
“Aye, Rover. You can count on us” Hunter said as they all entered into the very heart of the command center.
* * *
The inside of the command center was large, very roomy and had a group of dogs working on the inside, making sure that everything was in tip top shape at all time. As the little group passed through, all of the staff members respectfully saluted their higher ups before returning to their work. The group saluted back as well before the passed through a large set of double doors and into a war room of their own.
The war room at the command center was not as large as the one that was at Canterlot, nor was it as extravagant. It was, however, more functional in respect. There were large maps, chairs, a round table, a fine bottle of brandy near the corner of said table, and a half filled wooden box of cigars right next to it.
“Eh? Spot, where did you find a box of stogies?” Rover asked as he picked up one of the cigars and took a whiff of it “We’re practically in the middle of nowhere”
“We cleaned out our storerooms back at the old burrows and found that peculiar little thing all the way in the back. I thought it just contained some weird knick knacks, but lo and behold there were cigars in it. It’s a little old, but cigars do get better with age” Spot pointed out ”Although, I think you might want to read the plaque that’s on it. You might find it interesting” he suggested.
Rover closed the box and attempted to read the dust plaque upon the box. To his surprise, the name, Wulfe, was inscribed on it. These were the same set of cigars that his mentor always liked, back before the diamond dogs went underground. Rover felt a mixed set of emotion as he prepared to smoke one of them; it was either joy from remembering his time spent training under his mentor, or sorrow of when he died.
Regardless of whether or not what he felt was true, he knew one thing was for certain, he had a box full of incredibly satisfying cigars in his possession. The box also came with a small box of matches which were still useful after all those years. With a quick flick of the match on his thumb, he lit the cigar and braced himself in one of the chairs in the room.
However, as Rover and the rest seated themselves, they noticed a little something off about the room.
“Where is everyone?” Hunter asked as he looked around “Are we the only ones here?”
“You’re the only one who had actually made it here, Hunter” said Spot “Do you know how hard it is to move an entire pack of dogs from the four corners of Equestria in under a week while carrying confidential equipment?”
“Alright, alright, I get it” Hunter conceded “Ugh, let’s just get this little meeting over so that we can get out to the field. Where’s the brandy?” he asked as he poured himself a glass.
* * *
“Alright, Spot. Lay it on me” said Rover “How are things looking as of now?”
“Honestly, as impressive as all of our progress is as of late, we’re far from waging war with an entire enemy faction head on” Spot spoke with uncertainty “Our numbers are still ten to one in comparison with the ponies that stole all of the spells. Even with all of our new tech we still can’t take them properly should magic be involved”
“I take it that you at least have a solution for this?” Rover asked with a grimace as he puffed on his cigar “Come on, Spot. Don’t leave us in the dark, we need all the info we can get if we’re going to take on magic users”
“I’ll start from the top” Spot said with a sigh. He then pulled out a large sheet of parchment that had the important details of CELLULA. All the info that was on the sheet were about the number of dogs on site, level of tech that they were at, and the abysmal amount of information that they had on the insurgents “For now, we can disrupt the flow of these pony’s progress through guerilla tactics”
“According to the information that Luna gave us, there is close to a thousand ponies within the walls of the fortress to the far north” Spot pulled out a map and pointed to the insurgents base “After a brief headcount of everyone in CELLULA, we only number around ninety nine in ready and willing soldiers”
“That’s not good” said Hunter “So until the other pack leaders get here, we don’t have a snowball’s chance in Tartarus of waging war against these crazy ponies”
“We aren’t entirely limited in this matter, however” said Spot as he pulled out an envelope containing photos of the insurgents fort. According to the picture, the base was a massive structure of metal and stone. There were guard towers everywhere with twenty four hour surveillance around the clock. The only entrance to the fort was a massive iron gate that was reinforced with magic. To make matters worse, there were constant patrols scouring the outer walls of the fort for any threats to their cause.
“These are the only picture that the princess could provide for us on the insurgent’s base” said Spot “As you can see, If we were to attack head on we would get shredded to bits from their weapons and magic. However, there is another way”
“Wait, you’re not seriously suggesting...” Rover asked as he trailed off.
“Yes, that is exactly what I am suggesting, sir. A solo op” said Spot “An army might not be able to make it through, but one dog, one soldier in the right spot can crack the base wide open from the inside out. Metaphorically speaking of course” he looked over to Rover “You were trained under Wulfe, Rover. You know better than any of us, heck, any single being on this planet how to pull off a successful operation like this”
“Spot, you’re talking about a suicide run here” said Hunter “If Rover gets caught, we’ll have to abandon him at the mercy of these ponies. We can’t do this, it’s too risky”
“I disagree” said Rover, smoke leaving the sides of his jaw “For now, we’re tight on resources and soldiers as it is. If I can somehow sneak in, steal some information, and possibly murder the guy who’s behind everything, we might be able to settle this quicker than we originally surmised. But even if I don’t get the puppet master, I can still give us a leg up on everything until everyone else arrives”
“Bah, if you’re so intent to die so quickly... then allow me and my pack to assist you, Rover” said Hunter with a smile behind his collar “We could keep watch on the outer walls of the fort. We’ll keep watch to make sure if anything else happens while you’re sneaking about. The only problem is that we have no way of communicating with you once you’re inside”
“Actually, I was just about to get to that” said Spot as he pulled out folder full of schematics as well as the actual devices themselves and splayed them all over the table “We have several new gadget and tools, specifically made just for us”
“Hmm, interesting. How are these toys going to help us?” Hunter asked, eliciting an annoyed growl from Spot for calling his gadget’s toys.
“Well, these toys are what’s gonna keep K-9 from being captured and tortured till the end of his days” Spot sharply retort with a stink eye for Hunter. Spot pointed to a device that looked like a metal box with a grate on it “To solve the whole communication’s issue, we invented this neat little device”
“What is that? It looks like those speaker thingy that I saw that one white unicorn use for her obnoxious wubbing sounds” Rover snarled “Thank goodness she only plays in Canterlot now. She was a scourge on our sensitive ears back when she played in Ponyville”
“This little beauty here is a long range, two way radio. Exclusively designed by the lab boys themselves” said Spot “Unlike regular speakers, which can only relay sound out, we can relay sound through both ends of two or even ten of these radios all at once, all with a simple push of a button. We’ll be able to talk to each other covertly without alerting the ponies of our position”
“Ha! Chalk one up for the dogs” Hunter clapped “So how exactly do these things work?” he asked.
“It’s some technical stuff, do you really want to hear it?” Spot asked with a raise of his eyebrows.
“Alright, just give the short version” said Hunter, not wanting to go through a whole lecture of how a little metal box would work.
“Okay, pay quick attention to me. I’m gonna lead you through this nice and slow” Spot held up the device “This big button lets you talk when you push it. This little button makes a small signal noise to notify the user that someone else is calling. This knob changes the frequency of the radio, allowing you to speak with other dogs on their own frequency. Got it”
“Spot, you don’t have to speak to us like we’re pups” Rover deadpanned “We get it, just move on with the rest”
Spot pulled out various firearms from under the table and neatly arranged them on the table, each weapon as unique as the next. There were various kinds of weapons ranging from lever action rifles, prototype shotguns, and more bizarre implements of subterfuge than you can shake a stick at.
“Whoa, that’s a lot of firepower” said Hunter as he lifted his goggles up in disbelief “Where are the techies who made these things, I wanna shake their paws”
“I knew you would like them” said Spot with a smug look on his face “Rover, I’d take it that you managed to observe some of the guards weapons while you were enjoying your trip at Canterlot?” he asked.
“Yeah” Rover cracked a grin “They best weapon is a long range flintlock musket that only has an effective range of about twenty feet, give or take. Heh, black powder and musket balls are their most technologically advanced weapon’ he puffed on his cigar “When it comes to the more practical stuff, we’ll always be a mile ahead of them in technology. Cartridge based ammunition is the stuff of dreams, let me tell ya...”
“Exactly, we’ll be outfitting our boys with these when we’re about to proceed with our guerilla raids” said Spot “Well, for the time being of course. Other packs with better expertise in firearms will share some of their plans with us once they arrive. But it’s not the guns that we should bother with, I just wanted to show you guys what we had at the moment” he pushed the weapons aside and placed on the table what looked like a dark, uncut ruby chunk that was the size of a grapefruit.
“This is what I really wanted to show you two. This is our secret weapon against the unicorns” said Spot with a stern look in his eyes.
“Whoa, slow down there, Spot” said Rover as he sat upright “I thought you told us that we had nothing that could defeat magic users”
“I did, I never said anything about us getting some sort of advantage over them” said Spot “We’re not magicians, Rover. We’re soldiers. We’re dogs” he tapped on the large stone “This is what I like to call a bloodstone, or as the ponies call it, a tricky ruby”
“What makes this bloodstone so special?” Hunter asked “How is it gonna help us against magic?”
“When I asked the dogs from the intelligence division to start gathering dirt on unicorns, and even the princesses, we learned of a unique mineral that is immune to all forms of magic” said Spot as he lifted up the bloodstone to have it shine in the sunlight “The reason why the ponies call this a tricky ruby is because they can’t hold it with magic. The ponies just suspect that it’s nothing more than a normal rock, unaware of it’s magic nulling potentials”
“For whatever reason, the bloodstone can render all types of magic null and void. Which is how I came up with an upgrade to our collars” said Spot as he pulled out some perfectly cut pieces of bloodstones “Here, switch out the current gems on your collar and place this on it instead”
Hunter and Rover did as they were told and outfitted their collars with the bloodstone fragment. Rover stared at his collar for a bit, the new gem looked bolder than the ruby that was previously on it before. He fidgeted around with it for a while, trying to make sure that it fit just right.
“Alright, it’s on” said Hunter “Although, I don’t exactly feel any different”
“You’re not suppose to feel anything, it’s just a unique gem, that’s all” said Rover “Theoretically speaking, they’re suppose to stop you from getting caught in the unicorn’s magical grip”
“Theoretically?” Rover raised an eyebrow “So you’re telling me that there is a chance that these things are nothing more than just some random rocks around our necks”
“I didn’t say that” Spot replied “If unicorns can’t pick this thing up, then they can't pick you up either if you wear it. That’s the idea. You’ll thank me later once these things save your life”
“Why do I get the feeling that I should take your words with a grain of salt?” said Rover “By the way, do you think that the techies can do anything else with that bloodstone?”
“You mean like weaponizing it?” Spot inquired “I was thinking about the possible applications that the bloodstone is capable of when it came to warfare, such as tipping our ammunition with it to get past those pesky shields of their”
“We established a good mining operation by an abandon mine near here. But trying to find bloodstones is difficult enough as it is, having to distinguish it from a regular ruby. This chunk is really all that we have now, those pieces around your neck are the only ones that I had commissioned to be made, until we find more of these minerals that is”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something” said Hunter “And when you do, I want to personally be the first dog to shoot a bloodstone tipped arrow through the head of a unicorn” a cruel grin formed from behind his collar “They’ll never see me coming”
“Alright, I’ll leave the technical stuff with you, Spot” said Rover before he noticed that one of the schematics had several red marks on it. Out of all of the schematics that he was shown, this specific schematic looked like something that Spot didn't want to show ”Hey, Spot. That thing looks interesting, what the heck is it?”
“Oh that, it’s nothing. Just a crazy idea that I had” said Spot with a dismissing wave The techies and I were thinking about making it, but... we thought it would be impractical”
Rover waked over and picked up the plans to thoroughly examined it. It looked like a rough sketch of some sort of two legged mechanical monster with a jaw dropping amount of weapons attached to it. Judging from the notes and marks on the sketch, Spot understood the science and mathematics behind whatever it was that he was trying to conceive. Though Spot and the rest of the lab boys dismissed this as a mere flight of fancy, but Rover could see the practicality in the design.
“I think you and the techies are undermining yourselves” said Rover “I like what I see in this. I want you to divert some of our resource towards the development of this... this... well, I’m sure that you can come up with a catchier name for this thing than I can”
“How about, metal gear?” Spot joked. Before he knew,everyone in the room broke out in a bout of jovial laughter. Falling to the floor as the thought of calling this bipedal war machine metal gear. Eventually, they all managed to pick themselves up and settle themselves back into their chairs as they still clutched their chest in exasperation.
“Phew, that was good. Heh heh, metal gear” said Rover “Meh, regardless of what you call it, I’m sure you can pull this off” he looked over his shoulder and looked out at the bright sky. It was not sunset yet, and there was still the rest of the day to go “I think it’s time that we call it a day now” he suggested “For now, let’s just get comfy until we can strike”
“Heck, I’ll drink to that” said Hunter as he downed another glass of brandy “In the next few days, we’re going to infiltrate perhaps the most impenetrable fortress in all of Equestria, save for castle Canterlot, in one afternoon. Those ponies won’t know what’ll hit them”
“But that’s not all we’re going to do” said Rover as he put out his cigar “Spot, I got a mission for you and Fido to pull off in the meantime”
“Sir? What will you have us do?” said Spot as he took a seat by the table.
“You overheard me talking to Hunter about the ponies that are spying on us, correct?” Rover asked as Spot nodded in return “I want you and Fido to accompany Hunter’s scouts as they counterspy the ponies. Keep tabs on them, and if possible, dissuade them from doing anything stupid while Hunter and I are away for the mission. Is that clear?”
“Sir, yes sir” said Spot.
“Good, because the days of peace will soon come to an end” said Rover as he took in a deep breathe.
"Life in a box is better than no life at all... I expect" - Tom Stoppard
* * *
An average, run of the mill cardboard box rustled from within the confines of an armored carriage as it rumbled its way through the vast, bumpy woodland expanse that is western Equestria. It bounced and jostled side to side, up and down, to and fro as the carriage traveled for several miles without stopping until it reached its predetermined destination. Eventually, the rumbling and the shaking stopped as the carriage itself grinded to a screeching halt.
The sound of a massive drawbridge could be heard opening before muffled shouting caused the carriage to move again. Even with the shift from pothole laden dirt trails to cobblestone roads, the armored carriage rode about as smooth as a sheet of twenty grit sandpaper covered with a layer of broken glass and rusty nails.
Conversations could be heard on the outside, whether it was idle chit chat or strained arguments, the fact that there plenty of ponies talking was a sign that this place was a highly crowded area considering that the carriage had literally been heading towards the middle of nowhere. Then, for what felt like an eternity, the carriage finally stopped for good.
On the outside, a group of heavily armored stallions began to unload all of the cargo off of the carriage. They were wearing a set of royal guard armor that had it’s palette swapped for something more suiting of their allegiance. Instead of the average white and gold of the average guards or even the dark navy blue of Luna’s night guards, the insurgents all had beige colored armor with red neckerchiefs.
The new colors were suppose to represent their revolutionary ideals, even if it did mean leveling a city or twelve to get their point across. But whether their motives were justified or not was entirely up for debate. All that truly mattered at that point was preparing for what has to be perhaps the largest military conquest in the history of the world. But that day won’t come unless every box got unloaded and stored in the warehouses, especially the one was that heavier than normal.
“Geez, these ration supplies are getting heavier and heavier by the day” a guard complained.
“Well isn’t that a good thing?” another guard replied “That means that we won’t starve to death when the winter months roll along”
“Pfft, that’s if we even make it till winter” the other guard retorted.
“Please. Like that weakling Celestia and her deranged sister can do anything about us. We have the spells, we have the numbers, and we have the will to carry out what is necessary. Something that those two can never understand even with their years of experience”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I’m saying that these rations taste like the hind side of a smelly mule who just finished his business in the loo after eating a days worth of broccoli and beans. There is no way you are going to get me to eat this stuff, even if you bribe me”
“Oh, come on now. These rations aren’t all bad”
“Have you tried any?”
“...”
“I thought so. Now, come on, let’s get going...”
The two guards ceased their squabble and decided to focus on the task at hand, which was moving all of their supplies into storage. It took them a good half hour to unload most of the packages and boxes of food, all that was left was one final box that was just a tad bit bigger than the rest. It must’ve contained a lot of food if it was that big. Without wasting another minute, the two guards grabbed the box and hauled it over to food storage as fast as they could.
“Phew, finally. That’s the last of them” said the guard.
“Hey, what’s up with this box?” the other guard asked.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
The two thoroughly examined the box that they had been carrying. All it had was a broad line running through the middle of the box with the words FOOD and HANDLE WITH CARE written onto the side with what looked like a black marker. The font and overall design looked normal enough to pass off as a regular old box, yet there was something off about it that made the two guards scratch their head in confusion.
“Uh, should we open it?”
“What! No! What are you crazy? We can’t just go opening around boxes just because you think they’re suspicious looking!”
“He’s right you know. It’s rude to go opening things without the permission of your superiors...” a new third voice joined in.
The two guards froze at the sudden introduction of a mysterious new voice. But before they could even have a chance to reached for their sheathed weapons, both of their heads were gripped within a vice like paw and were slammed together like a pair of brass cymbals. During that very instant, the two unsuspecting guards were out like a light, falling to the floor as consciousness slipped away from them.
“Heh heh, nighty night fellas...”
* * *
It didn’t take very long for the two unconscious guard to be tied up, gagged with their own neckerchiefs and hidden away inside the box that they inspected not five minutes ago. Before long, their aggressor stepped out into the light and revealed himself.
K-9
The Dog of Legend
Rover
He Who Holds the Reins of the Future
Rover quickly inspected his surroundings the moment he appeared onto the scene. He made a break for the door, peering through the crack to see if he had anyone else had been alerted of his presence. He checked both sides, and saw that he was still in the clear. No one else had even the slightest clue of what went down in the storage room. This was good, Rover didn’t need anyone else to know that he was there at all.
“So far, so good...” Rover whispered to himself. He pulled out his small knapsack and rummaged through its contents. Inside was a small collapsible hand crossbow, a set of tranquilizing darts, a coil of rope that had been attached to a grappling hook, a binocular and his two way radio. It was the bare bones essentials, but it was all that was needed.
After double checking to make sure he had everything, he walked over to an isolated corner of the room and crouched down as he reached for his two way radio. He fiddled with it for a bit, tweaking with the knobs until he found the proper frequency for his comrades in arm.
“This is Rover, come in. Is anyone there?” he asked through the radio. He received static for a good few seconds. Soon, some feedback from the radio signaled him of his incoming message.
*BZZT!*
“Hello? Hello? Is this thing working right?” Hunter asked from the other end.
“Hunter? Is that you” Rover asked “Tell me, where are you at right now?”
“Me and two others have set up shop at least a kilometer away from the fort, we got a small camp and everything. Not only that, we’re prepared to get you out of there the moment everything goes to Tartarus”
“That’s good to hear. How are things looking on your end?”
“Not bad, not bad. I can’t say the same for you though. Spot was right, it’d be suicide to try a head on assault on that massive thing. On one side alone, I counted at least fifty, maybe even sixty guard all on patrol at once. I mostly see unicorns around the wall, but pegasi are patrolling the air space, and earth ponies are blocking every possible entryway into the fort”
“But even with all of their defences and patrols, their security was anything but infallible. I’m inside, and none are the wiser”
“The false hijacking was a success. Although, I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like to be stuck inside of a cardboard box for hours on end inside of a carriage on a bumpy dirt trail”
“I didn’t mind. In fact, I found it to be quite comfortable. Natural, almost. It’s a shame that I had to abandon the box though...”
“We all have to make sacrifices, Rover. That’s how our lives work. We can’t get something for nothing. Boxes aside. I can’t see through walls, Rover. What’s the inside look like? I need details so that we can crack it wide open later”
Rover got up and walk over the door again and peered through the crack once more. He scanned the area, making sure to take mental notes of the various key point and structures that will be instrumental in taking down this fort. He did a quick sweep of the area, but found nothing of great importance that would help his cause. He crouched down and pulled out his radio again.
“I can’t see anything from this angle. The only thing that I can tell you is that this place looks incredibly medieval from the inside”
“Hmm... try to find a better vantage point. I don’t know where you are, but from where I am, there is a tower to the north that has a blind spot. If you can make it there in one piece, you’ll get a better view of the fort’s interior. But remember, this is a sneaking mission, try not to get caught, and don’t go starting fights that you can’t win”
“I trained under Wulfe since I was pup, Hunter. I know the rules of stealth. Rover, out”
*BZZT!*
With that said, he pocketed his radio and pulled his bandanna over the lower half of his face. He quickly left the storage room and headed out in what looked to be the eastern courtyard of the complex. He could see plenty of carriages lined up in neat rows just nearby, he also saw the same carriage that he hid in before he got here.
Up by the corners of his eyes was the tower that Hunter mentioned. Rover reached for his binoculars and surveyed the tower. He could spot only one guard up there. But not only that, he looked incredibly lazy, as evident by his slouched posture and weary face. Putting his binoculars away, he set off to make his way to the tower all while sticking as close to the shadows as to avoid any and all detection.
As he skulk his way past the courtyard, using anything that he could hide behind, shrubs, large crates, and ornamental statues, Rover could easily see how outnumbered he and the pack truly were.
There were hundreds of armored stallions and mares in one courtyard alone, possibly hundreds more within the inner confines of the central towers and walls itself. All were equipped with the same beige colored armor and red neckerchiefs and some sort of weapon to their choosing.
There was surprisingly, an equal mix of all pony subspecies, and they were all either honing their skills or were simply relaxing and chatting amongst themselves. But regardless of their demeanor, if Rover were to get caught now, it would take a miracle for Hunter to bust him out with only his crossbow and two other dogs.
“I sure hope the other packs get here fast...” Rover whispered to himself before sneaking off towards the direction of the tower. After passing three other living quarters and what he assumed was the latrines, Rover let out a relieved sigh when he finally reached the other wall of the fort. All he had to do now was find the ladder so that he cou-
