> Every Dog Has Her Day
>  by SilverNotes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Her Bark Is Worse Than Her Bite
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Stop yapping!"

"I am not yapping! I am barking! Do you want to hear yapping? This is yapping!"

Not her finest moment, Precious would admit. Rover, Fido, and Spot could be so infuriating, however, and if they wouldn't listen to her carefully thought out ideas on how to make the cave system they all lived in a bit more, well, livable, then she'd figured the next step was to go with something they better understood: relying on volume. It'd almost worked, too, with them about ready to acquiesce to her desires just to make the noise stop, but ultimately Rover's ego had won out over his sore ears and he'd exiled her instead.

Well, perhaps exile was a strong word. She'd be allowed to come home when the sun set, so long as she went back out when it rose again. She was now on scout duty, having the grand dishonour of going out to the surface and watching for ponies who strayed from their little towns, ripe for the snatching and dragging into the tunnels to pull the gem carts. It was a joke of a post, really, since ponies rarely came into the mountains, but still considered to be necessary, along with making an effective punishment for troublemakers.

Precious huffed, her long ears rising slightly and then drooping. Troublemaker. All she'd wanted to do was help. The caves were drab, and harsh, and cold and if they'd just listened to her idea of making some pillows, decorated with some small gem pieces, instead of calling it wasteful, they'd see the sense in it. There were always finds that weren't of use for magic, and while a few became adornments for collars, not all of them did. There were stockpiles of gems that had their colour and shine as their best qualities, and they could finally be put to use for decorations.

But no. To them, Precious was wasteful. Frivolous. Selfish. The last of those was the greatest insult, because she'd suggested it because she'd wanted to do something that everydog would enjoy. She was always thinking of the best interests of the pack. That's why she'd ambushed Rover with some herbs to improve his breath the week before. It would be doing him, and everydog who spoke to him, a massive favour. 

But it seemed that no good deed would go unpunished, and now here she was. Not that Precious really minded. She'd been on the surface before, for shorter tasks--she had a good nose for gems and there were plenty of deposits close to the surface, not to mention there were other resources that could only be found under the sun--and once the initial fear of falling into the sky had passed, she'd learned to see the beauty in it all, not to mention appreciate the fresher air. A sentiment the other dogs didn't share, apparently, as they were always all too eager to go back into those musty old tunnels.

No, being out here beneath the open sky, with the warm summer sun on her fur and a cool breeze, rather than cramped caves full of far too many other dogs who needed to bathe at least five times more often--they took advantage of the fact that grey and brown fur didn't easily show dirt, but she had no such luxuries with her snow white coat, and even if one couldn't see the dirt so easily, she could certainly smell it on them--was alright with her. Perfect, even.

It was just... a bit lonely, that's all.

She'd been out here for hours. Did anydog miss her, down there? Or were they just glad to be rid of her for the day?

A soft sound caught her attention, and Precious's ears perked. It sounded like a voice, surprisingly, and she realized after a few moments that whoever it was, they were humming. The sound was getting closer, she realized, and she scrambled to find a place to hide. While the vegetation in their mountain home was scarce, there was enough for her to hastily pull herself up into the branches of a tree, and huddle among the leaves, hoping that none of her eyecatching fur stuck out through the veil of green.

The humming creature soon revealed itself, coming around the corner of a large, jutting stone and showing itself to be a pony. It was one of the winged ones, which Precious knew meant it would be a difficult catch, though it didn't look like a very big or strong one, and was all soft yellows and pinks for colour. The pony was wearing saddlebags that looked well-made, if also well-worn, and they hung in a way that said they were likely empty or nearly so. Despite all the cheerful humming, the pony also seemed to be searching for something; Precious didn't really know how to read equine facial expressions well, but saw it in the head movements and the way eyes seemed to be sweeping the stones.

The pony turned in a way that allowed Precious a glimpse of the mark, but she didn't quite register what it was, only seeing a bit of pink. She leaned a bit, trying to get a better look at the image--she didn't know much about ponies' strange magic, but you were always supposed to check the icon to see if it reflected something potentially useful, or potentially dangerous--but those saddlebags made it much more difficult to see.

Crack!

It was while she was in her precarious lean that Precious heard the sound from the branch beneath her, and had only enough time to let out a very undignified yelp as she crashed down and tumbled through the dirt. By the time she could tell which way was up again, "up" now included a lot of yellow and pink and a pair of very large eyes. "Oh goodness! Are you okay?"

The pony was asking if she was okay?

Precious blinked several times, then started to push herself back up onto her paws. "Don't worry, I'm okay," she said quickly. Now having spoken to the pack's future workhorse, she felt at a loss for what to do, and so fell back on more words. "What are you doing so far from Pony-town, pony?"

"Um..." It was those massive eyes' turn to blink. "It's um... Ponyville..." She glanced at her saddlebags, voice growing softer. "...And I'm here looking for gems. My friend is a dragon and--"

Ears went up, eyes went wide, and Precious was pretty sure her heart stopped beating for a minute's time. "Dragon?"

Ponies were fair game, but a diamond dog scout was to never, ever, touch a dragon.

There were a handful of species who were granted such status, to be treated as equals rather than servants. Griffons were one, and she recalled the pack's storytellers drawing images on the walls to show them what a griffon was, emphasizing beak and talons and speaking of them as honourable warriors. Abyssinians were another, the law laid down that no matter how much the feline nature may rankle, they were worthy rivals who had no place in chains. But dragons were shown even higher respect, to be treated with something very close to reverence, because they, too, needed gems to power their magic, and because of that, understood the nature of the dogs better than any other.

If the pony noticed her distress, she didn't show it, her voice instead growing more excited at her questioning word. "Oh yes! His name is Spike. He's been helping me take care of my animal friends, and I wanted to give him some gems as a thank you snack." She then paused, looking around at the dirt, rocks, and few plants. "Um... what are you doing out here?"

"I'm..." Precious's ears pinned back as she hesitated, and as lies went, the one she settled on had the advantage of being part of the truth. "Watching for travelers." She raised her head slightly, sniffing the air, her body thrumming with subtle magics. "I know where gems are. I can help you, pony."

As she zeroed in on the nearest patch that smelled right, she bounded toward it on all fours, hearing hooves behind her. "Oh! Thank you very much, I wasn't sure how long it would take me to find some all on my own." Then her voice softened again, tone sounding more unsure. "My name is Fluttershy. What's yours? If you... if you don't mind me asking."

The pony was asking for her name.

You didn't give names to ponies. You didn't use names for ponies. Names were for equals.

"...Precious," she responded, her own voice gone quiet as her claws dug into the earth. "My name is Precious." 

She scraped layer after layer of dirt away with care, until the multicoloured sparkles of a cluster of different gemstones came into view. She carefully plucked each from its resting place, using the edges of her vest--it was so drab and grey that the dirt was almost an improvement, as the pack didn't let her try to make fabric dyes out of the gems either--to wipe each off before setting it aside. 

She pulled eight out in total, determined that the patch of earth was hiding no others, and then gathered them up. "Here you go... Fluttershy..." she said haltingly, opening one of the saddlebags with caution not to smear any dirt on the cloth. The whole armful slid in with ease. "Take them to your dragon. He'll like them."

Fluttershy was beaming up at Precious, and as unfamiliar as she was with ponies, there was no mistaking a joyful smile. "Oh, I can't thank you enough. Is there something I can do to repay you?"

Run, was the thought that crossed Precious's mind. Run away and never come back, so nodog ever finds out what I did. Instead, she cautiously reached out to pat the top of Fluttershy's head. "No no, it's alright. You'd better get back to Pony-t--Ponyville. It'll be night soon, and it's not good for a little pony to be out after dark."

Night soon. Night that Precious would be spending in the tunnels, until the sun rose again and it was time to get back to her post. Returning to her post every morning, until she'd caught the pack a new pony.

Fluttershy was still smiling. "Oh, I'm not worried about a little darkness, not after the Summer Sun Celebration." She turned around, opening a wing to move it in a way that Precious realized after a few moments was a wave. "Goodbye Precious, and thank you again."

Precious waved back, silently, and watched until yellow and pink vanished to leave Precious behind in the brown, grey, and hints of green. She then looked around, listened, sniffed the air, and extended her magic senses into the earth, making for absolute certain nodog had been there to see that.

She'd spoken to a pony. Given the pony her name. She had fetched gems for the pony like a common canine and then let the pony go.

But it was okay. She hadn't been caught, and surely it would be alright to let one pony go. Fluttershy wouldn't be good in the tunnels, anyway. The winged ones were supposed to be too delicate to pull heavy loads. Precious was doing the pack a favour, as always, ensuring that she didn't just grab any old pony to end her exile, but one who would be the most useful.

Yes, everything would be just fine. She'd just wait until the next one.
> Gone To The Dogs
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Summer had turned to fall, and Precious was still on scout duty.

After the incident with the yellow pegasus, there had been the occasional pony that had made their way up into the mountains, and Precious had done the same thing she had before. She'd hidden--her hiding place of choice was the bushes now, lest she again be betrayed by the trees--she'd observed, she'd done her best to spy the mark on the pony's hips, and she'd made the decision whether they were worth capturing. And each time, the ponies clearly didn't measure up. 

The ones with horns, she knew, were no good for pulling either, and she never saw a single mark that looked to involve jewels, so clearly none of them had magic that was useful for assisting in locating gemstones. The ones with neither wings nor horns were ideal for both strength and resonance with the earth, but the ones she saw tended to have marks like vegetables and flowers, which would be no good for any jobs underground.

So she'd kept her distance, let the ponies pass by, and told herself, each time, Wait until the next one.

Besides, she was in no hurry to leave the surface behind. The trees were changing colour, swapping green for oranges and reds, making her think of rubies and fire opals. She'd tried plucking some of the prettiest leaves from the trees to show the other dogs, but coming home at night meant that she usually came back to a pack that was tired, grumpy, and didn't want to indulge what they still saw as her frivolity when they could be sleeping. Some of the pups had taken interest, but they were a bit too rough, wanting to make the colourful, crinkling leaves into toys.

That was another thing that could be done with the excess gems, making some toys for the pups. Surely, if nodog else was allowed a few nice things, they'd make an exception for the little ones.

"Oh there you are, Precious!"

She jumped at the voice, barely catching herself to keep from falling over. She must have been a little too lost in thought, to have a pony sneak up on her. Though, as she saw the wide smile on Fluttershy's face, she told herself that at least it was this pony, who hurried toward her instead of potentially running off screaming.

"Fluttershy?" Precious found herself smiling. "What are you doing out here? More gems for your dragon?"

"Oh, no," Fluttershy said with a shake of her head, one of her wings flipping open a saddlebag. "This time I came out here for you!"

There was a furious blinking. "...For me?" Precious could hardly believe it. Not a single dog had come up to visit her--she didn't count Rover, Fido, and Spot's occasional trips topside to heckle her--and Ponyville wasn't a casual hop, skip, and jump away. Fluttershy didn't seem winded at all from the trek, however. Maybe she was a little stronger than Precious had assumed before.

"Yes. You see... well..." She moved one of her hooves back and forth in front of herself, briefly hiding her face in her mane with bashfulness clear enough to surpass the species barrier. "I noticed that it was starting to get colder, and I'd been thinking about you, out here watching over travelers." She didn't seem to see the way that Precious's ears drooped at the kind interpretation of her words that summer day. "And I thought you might like some help keeping warm. Not that... I mean, not that I don't think you know how to keep warm, but you were so nice to me when I came looking for gems for Spike, so..." 

The nervous babbling was cut off as she dipped her face into the open saddlebag, pulling it back out with something purple in her teeth and a muffled, "Here."

Precious reached out and took the offered item, and once she could hold it up and look at it, she immediately realized what it was. Wool was a rare item to have in the tunnels, but there were a few items, notably a long scarf that was now pulling duty as soft bedding for the pack's pups, and so she recognized the feel in her paws. This was not a scarf, however, but a sweater, primarily purple but with a few black pawprint shapes on both the front and back. "It's..."

"Do you like it? The purple looked like would go well with your white fur. It's my first time making something for a diamond dog, but I do a bit of knitting sometimes, and sewing, for things for my animal friends, so I have some practice." Fluttershy's voice then turned from hopeful to concerned. "Is something wrong? Do diamond dogs not like sweaters?

Fluttershy had made her a sweater.

"No, it's..." Precious wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her paw, then gave a shaky smile. "I love it."

That big, bright smile was back. "You should try it on, just to make sure I got the sizing right. If it's a little off, I can try making you another one."

Precious nodded, and slipped off her vest. As drab as the garment was, she did feel strange without it, as it'd been hers ever since she'd reached adulthood and been given the hand-me-down. Clothes were the only kind of personal belonging a diamond dog had, and even then, when they died, the vests and collars would be passed on to the next generation when they came of age. Pups didn't wear clothing, because they grew too fast for it to be practical, and so gaining the outfit was seen as a rite of passage, the sign that you were an adult now with all of the responsibilities.

She set the vest aside, and slipped on the sweater. Wool felt odd against the fur of her torso, but not a bad odd, and the garment was indeed warmer than what she'd been wearing before. She ran her paws along the sleeves, then her front, smoothing it out, as her tail wagged furiously behind her. Fluttershy walked a circle around her, and Precious found herself with an urge to strike a pose, an urge she gleefully indulged.

"It looks like it fits," Fluttershy said with a small nod and a giggle. "Is it too tight anywhere?"

Precious shook her head. "It's perfect." She then lifted her paw, about to pat Fluttershy on the head like she had during their first meeting. A head pat didn't feel like enough of a show of appreciation, however, and so she pulled the paw back, then scooped Fluttershy up and hugged her instead, to the little pegasus's surprised squeak. "Thank you, Fluttershy."

The little pony was stiff for a moment, and Precious worried that what she'd done may have been some kind of cross-species faux pas, until Fluttershy's wings opened to hug her back. "You're welcome, Precious. I'm so glad you like it."

The hug lingered, until Precious found her arms trembling. Then she slowly set Fluttershy down, and wiped her eyes again. "I'll wear it every day," she promised softly.

Fluttershy giggled again. "Just the cold ones, I hope. I wouldn't want you to overheat." She went about making sure the now-empty saddlebag was shut. "I'd better get back to Ponyville, though. They're going to have the Running of the Leaves soon."

Precious's ears drooped at the thought of Fluttershy leaving--it was safer for her not to linger long, she knew that, but she felt an ache in her chest all the same--but then perked at the unfamiliar term. "Running of the Leaves?"

"You don't know?" When Precious shook her head, Fluttershy looked all the more surprised, but if she had a problem with explaining it, she didn't show it in any way Precious could read. "That's when the ponies in Ponyville run a long race, to help the local trees drop their leaves. Some of my friends are going to be racing, so I was going to go watch." She smiled. "Do you want to come?"

There was a moment when every part of Precious, from her nose to her tail, wanted to say yes.

"I... can't..." The words came out slowly, and she gestured a bit at the space around her. "Have to keep watching."

Fluttershy's head drooped. "I guess that is very important. It would be bad if somepony were to come by, need your help, and you not be there to help them." It rose again, as her ears perked and her tone turned hopeful once more. "I'll come by afterward and let you know who won?"

Coming back again was dangerous. Every time this far-too-friendly pony came back would be another time that they could be caught together.

Precious looked down at the sweater again, and tried to remember the last time anydog had done something so thoughtful for her. 

"I think... I'd like that."

As the two waved goodbye, Precious took a deep breath. She would have to be careful about this. If she saw those three coming--though more likely, she'd smell them before she saw them--she would have to hide Fluttershy quickly. She would need to hide the sweater as well; it pained her, but she may have to find an out-of-the-way spot to bury it each night to keep the other dogs from finding it. After all, even if she came up with some kind of excuse for why she had it, it would just end up as more soft things for the pups to sleep in. 

Not that Precious wouldn't normally happily give up something for the sake of the pack, but Fluttershy had given it to her, and it seemed insulting to immediately give such a heartfelt thing away.

Besides, days were starting to get cold. Did anydog even care that she'd be out here, exposed to the chill air all day? Or was that part of the punishment?

Hide the sweater. If need be, when she came back to tell her who won the race, hide Fluttershy. Precious could do that. Things would be okay.
> Barking Up The Wrong Tree
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fall had turned to winter, and no more ponies passed near their territory anymore.  Fall had only had one sighting, that had been a mare with foals, which was entirely unsuitable. Small ponies made high-pitched noises, and if Rover's oh-so-sensitive ears ached from something as inoffensive as her bark, then the sounds young ponies made would surely drive him to tears. 

That was Precious, still looking out for the pack, enough so that she would push her scouting duty into winter just to make sure they got a quality servant. The gifted sweater, of course, helped with the cold, and she'd grown very good at hiding it; she'd stripped bark from a few of the nearby trees to have something to wrap it in to help keep it clean, and after she'd dug a hole for it she'd found stones to line the inside of the hole to help keep curious underground animals from trying to steal it away.

As soon as the snow had come down, however, it'd been nothing, no ponies to hide from and watch, and so Precious had been left to find a way to pass the time. Thankfully, snow was very good as a creative medium. She'd scrawled patterns in it with her claws, flopped down in it to wave her arms and legs to make a lovely imprint, then had gathered up enough to start building a rough facsimile of a diamond dog, which she briefly entertained the thought of leaving at her post in her place. She was fairly certain Rover and his goons wouldn't be able to tell the difference at a glance.

It was as she was snapping small pieces off of a twig to form the dog's claws that she heard something moving through the snow, and turned to look. Beyond the fact that it was pony sized and shaped, Precious struggled to identify the figure through the various fabrics, and almost moved to hide--the question of where finally occurred to her, as the bushes and trees no longer had leaves to obscure her with--until she noticed a familiar long, pink tail that had had no equal among the other ponies venturing up the mountain.

"Fluttershy!" Precious bounded through the snow and scooped up the small pegasus in a hug. "What brings you out here?"

Fluttershy had come up a few more times over the fall, to talk to her. She'd even brought some food and drink, once, and laid out an impromptu picnic. Precious hadn't expected much to be edible for her, and so had been very surprised to find fish among the offerings, which she'd gratefully devoured. After the first snow, however, the visits had dropped off, not that she could blame her. The way up was no doubt more treacherous in winter, and she'd hate to see Fluttershy hurt.

Yet, here she was, giggling as Precious set her back down on her hooves. "I came out to wish you a happy Hearth's Warming." She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a box covered in some of shiny, brightly-coloured paper, and topped with a bow that she held it by in her teeth. "And bring you your present."

Precious blinked, taking the colourful offering. "Hearth's... Warming...?"

"Oh! You don't know about Hearth's Warming?" When Precious shook her head, Fluttershy let out a small gasp. "I'm so sorry, I just assumed... I guess it is more of a pony holiday. That's so insensitive of me not to think that diamond dogs might have different holidays. Spike celebrates it too, but his adoptive family are ponies, so that's different."

His adoptive family were what?

If Fluttershy noticed her shock, she didn't react. "Hearth's Warming is the anniversary of the day that unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies all became friends and built Equestria together." She did that thing with her hoof again, running it through the snow in front of her, as she asked. "Did... you want me to tell you the story? You can tell me about what diamond dogs do in winter too. Like a... my friend Twilight called it a cultural exchange."

Precious smiled. "That'd be lovely."

And so Fluttershy told her. She wasn't like the pack storytellers, who told their tales vividly and used their magic to light the cave walls with images from the stories, but Precious listened intently all the same as she told her of the Founders, the windigos, and the fires of friendship. 

It reminded her of the tales of the Old Kingdoms, the illustrious past of her kind. The storytellers would tell her of the grand, shining cities like Dimondia, Caninia, or Lycosura where the dogs had reigned supreme. A time when they were the masters, species who ruled their own patches of land as equals, and there were servants who worked for their protection and to share in their glory. So much of her puphood had been filled with those stories, and she still remembered when she had been finally told of the Cataclysm, the Discordant One's corruption shattering their great works, weakening their magic, and forcing them underground.

The stories didn't end there, either, as an offhand mention that this was before the Two Sisters had Precious asking what Fluttershy meant, and she grew all the more enraptured as Fluttershy described the Crown Princesses of Equestria, and at her stunned reaction, started to tell her the legend, and reality, of Nightmare Moon.

She barely knew how to process it. The old tales had mentioned the cycle of the sun and moon being thrown into chaos by the Discordant One, but the idea of ponies having restored the cycle... It was the kind of madness that would see a dog truly exiled, to ascribe such power and importance to a mere servant species.

"And just when things looked bleak, Sunset gave us a speech about not giving up... and Twilight got up and said she'd figured it out, that the elements were inside us." As Precious reeled at having her worldview so shattered, Fluttershy had a shining in her eyes and a tone of fond nostalgia. "She said that Applejack was Honesty, I was Kindness, Pinkie was Laughter, Spike was Generosity, Rainbow was Loyalty, Sunset was Empathy, and that the final spark was Magic." Puffing up a little, with just a hint of tentative pride. "And she was right."

"And so the dark pony... became good?" Precious asked slowly.

"Well, it's more that the thing making her act badly was taken away. Princess Luna was always there underneath, she just needed help getting out." Fluttershy drooped a bit. "She doesn't talk about it much. I think it hurts a lot to remember. I was told that after Nightmare Night, Sunset hugged her for a really long time."

Precious felt a chill that had nothing to do with winter air. The most frightening part to her was how familiar the concept was. She remembered the darker tales, not told to inspire the pups with past glories but as a warning. There were old legends of things in the dark, reasons not to dig too deep, and there were supposedly rare few ways to bring the dogs affected by such things back to themselves.

These Elements of Harmony were apparently one of those rare ways. And it was in the hooves of ponies.

As Precious's mind roiled with emotions, she found herself latching onto a single detail in search of centering. "Nightmare Night?"

"Oh! Right, I'm sorry, if you didn't know about Nightmare Moon, you wouldn't know about Nightmare Night, either..."

That story helped. It was harder to have an existential crisis when talking about a holiday filled with sweet treats and dressing in disguises, and it led to her feeling a slight ache in her heart for this strange Princess of the Night. After all, as she stood out here in the cold of winter, she felt she could understand some about being shunned.

As the hour came for Fluttershy to leave and they waved goodbye once more, Precious had to admit something to herself. That she was going to be on scout duty for the rest of her life, because there was no way a diamond dog pack could ever keep a pony prisoner for long, not when they had inherited the world as its new masters.

The next thing she admitted was that she didn't mind that, because that meant she'd get keep seeing Fluttershy.
> Call Off The Dogs
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Winter was turning to spring. It was still chill enough for Precious to wear her sweater, but the remaining patches of snow were shrinking by the day, and the bushes and trees were starting to regrow their leaves. There would be traffic through the mountains again soon, however sparse, and as always she would leave the travelers be unless it was Fluttershy coming to call.

There had been a shift in how the other dogs looked at her, over the winter. She'd been permitted to stay in a few times, during the harshest days when there were blizzards, or it grew downright dangerously cold, but she had a feeling that they'd been expecting her to act with more visible relief, perhaps even to beg, once the weather cleared again and she had to return to her post, to be taken off the daily duty and finally be allowed to stay in the tunnels. Instead, she'd continued to go out, and stay all day, and she knew that it was starting to make them talk.

Dogs didn't normally scout in winter. It was already a joke of a duty, a punishment. She'd been told she'd be done when she captured a pony, but she was sure now that nodog had expected her to. Ponies weren't weak, and there hadn't been one working for the pack in Precious's entire life. She was sure any scout who'd tried had been soundly kicked around, and it was more likely that they would hide, like she had, and then eventually apologise for their transgression and grovel their way into the safety of the caves.

Precious had done no such thing, even when Spot had hinted to her one day that Rover would be generous and welcome her back if she did. The three curs hadn't come up topside to bother her all winter, and she wasn't sure if she'd won some strange respect from them, or if they just didn't want to face the cold and snow in order to taunt her.

Fluttershy had come a couple more times since Hearth's Warming--the gift that day had been festive biscuits, which had been thoroughly enjoyed even when she'd had to ask the little pegasus the meaning of each of their shapes--but it'd worried Precious to have her making the trek out. At least now it would no doubt be safer, and she could look forward to seeing her more in the spring.

As if on cue, she heard a familiar voice in the distance and her ears perked, only for them to pin again in concern when she realized she heard multiple voices. Fluttershy had always come alone before, despite having talked so much about her group of friends, and suddenly Precious had the urge to hide. The bushes and trees wouldn't be able to properly hide her, however, and there wasn't enough snow left to bury herself in, and so she simply waited, trying her best not to outright quiver.

"...She's really very nice." That was Fluttershy's voice, finally close enough to pick out words.

"I'm sure she is, Shy," came another voice, deeper in tone and sounding a bit... older? It was hard to tell with ponies. "But it's a little strange, all the same, her being out there alone all the time. I just want to make sure everything's okay."

A third voice piped up, lower than Fluttershy's but higher than the second voice. "Diamond dogs are rarely seen up on the surface, and they're very group-oriented. A single one here on her own is very out of the ordinary."

These ponies knew that about diamond dogs?

Precious found her heart sinking as Fluttershy gasped. "You don't think the other dogs kicked her out, do you? Oh that'd be terrible. Poor Precious."

A forth voice joined the conversation, scratchier and sounding much younger. "It'll be okay, Fluttershy. We'll get to the bottom of it and make sure your friend's safe."

She was going to get caught. These ponies would know what she was really doing out here, and she would never see Fluttershy again. Maybe the pack would be punished as well, all because she was selfish and wanted someone to talk to. 

As the voices got closer, she tried to stuff the panic down and busy herself with sniffing the air, starting to follow a promising  scent when she heard the call of, "Precious, are you out here? I brought some of my friends with me."

Precious turned, and looked, and realized that she'd brought more than just ponies. The two mares were unicorns, one all vibrant oranges and the other softer purples, reminding her of the colours that painted themselves across the sky every time she returned to the caves as day turned to night. A glance at the marks showed a sun and stars, respectively, neither of which told her anything about what they could do.

It was the third newcomer that truly made her want to stare, however. She hadn't known dragons were ever so small.

"Over here!" she managed, and drew four sets of eyes to where she had followed the smell to a patch of snow. She then tried to put on her best smile. "Hello, friends of Fluttershy. What brings you here?"

"That's what we wanted to ask--Ow!"

The orange unicorn hastily rammed her shoulder into the purple one, cutting off whatever she'd begun to say. "What we mean is, I'm Sunset Shimmer, this is my study-buddy, Twilight Sparkle, and this is Twilight's little brother, Spike. It's nice to meet you."

"Yes!" Twilight agreed hastily, even as she winced at her sore shoulder. "Like she said, it's nice to meet you, Precious. Fluttershy's been telling us a lot about you."

"It's all good things, don't worry," Spike added from where he sat on Twilight's back, though she saw his facial features scrunch up into something she had no hope of reading. "Uh, something wrong?"

Realizing she'd been caught staring, she let out some nervous, yipping giggles. "No no. It's just... I've never met a dragon before."

"Oh! Well--" He soon stood up on his sister's back and started to flex his stubby arms. "--Feel free to take it all in. I know I'm impressive. Wanna see my fire breath?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Don't mind him. When we first met Fluttershy, he told her his entire life story."

"Hey, she asked!"

"I did ask."

Sunset cleared her throat, and Precious looked to her. "Fluttershy told us you keep watch out here over travelers. Do you get a lot of them?"

Her ears drooped. So here it was, the beginning of the end. "Not... many," she admitted. "Not a lot of ponies come this way. Too far from any pony towns." She smiled a little, despite herself, as she reached down to her collar, holding the small, blue diamond between two digits. "It means I have extra time to look for gems. I found this one last week. What do you think?"

"It looks very pretty on you," Fluttershy told her with a kind smile.

"And delicious," Spike chimed in, with a gleam in his eyes and a very different sort of smile, until Twilight shook a bit to jostle him. "I-I mean, it's a very nice colour. It looks good with your sweater."

Her smile grew that bit bigger as she smoothed out the purple wool. "Thank you. Fluttershy made it. I wanted to make sure they fit together." Her ears then perked up, and recalling what she'd smelled, she started brushing away one of the clumps of lingering spring snow. "I could find you some gems like it to bring back to Ponyville? Snack for the road?"

"Oh you don't have to--" But Sunset's voice was unheeded as Precious started to dig through snow and soil alike, in search of the prize she knew was beneath. And in time, she unearthed it, the much larger blue diamond shimmering in her paws. She could tell immediately from holding it that it was perfect, its resonance cool and clear as soon as it touched her, sending a tingling sensation through her fur. Enough of them could power truly massive spells, and if the pack had spotted her with it, they'd be clammouring over each other to be the one to present it and place it in the stockpile.

"Here!" Precious held out the gemstone to Spike, with a proud smile. "A big gem for a growing dragon."

"Thank you!" She watched him lick his lips, and she wondered if he could sense the potential in it too, in his own way. "These are one of my favourites."

"Actually, Precious, we were wondering..." Sunset had stepped in again, and Precious paused in the process of refilling the hole she'd dug. "Did you want to come visit Ponyville yourself? The rest of our friend group would love to meet you too, and our friend Pinkie has been talking about wanting to throw you a party to thank you for being a good friend to Fluttershy."

Friend? Fluttershy considered her a friend?

"I..."

She could picture it, then and there. Walking into the town in her purple sweater, meeting more ponies than she had ever seen before. The ones who would approach her, and ask her about her gemstone collar, about her clothing, possibly tell her stories like Fluttershy had. Maybe even getting to meet the alicorns, and learn how they'd taken control of the sun and moon.

"I... can't."

Twilight looked at her, eying her with open curiosity. "Why can't you?"

She didn't know how to answer. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to think of something. "Look at this!" came a painfully familiar voice, and she turned to see Rover pulling himself out of a newly-dug hole, cursing the realization that he'd been able to scrape together enough cleverness to do so downwind of her. As usual, Fido and Spot were right behind him, Fido needing to widen the opening for his greater bulk. "Good work, Precious. Now get them."

Sunset and Twilight both tensed, eyes boring into the three interlopers. Spike puffed out his chest, trying to look as big as could. Fluttershy, however, just kept looking between Precious and the three, seeming worried and confused.

"Rover, it's not..." She didn't know what she was going to say, until she looked at Spike, her stance steadying. "The ponies are with the dragon. They're not ours to get."

Rover sneered. "Then get the dragon too."

"That's..." She didn't believe what she was hearing. "That's against the Code of Canis. Dragons aren't supposed--"

Rover crossed his arms across his chest, looking from Spot to Fido. "This dragon is tiny. We can put it to work just like the ponies. Who's going to stop us?"

"We are." The words were from Sunset, voice low and dangerous, and both unicorns had their horns lit. The air turned heavy with an unnatural heat, giving Precious the urge to start panting.

Rover, however, didn't look impressed. "Silly pony lightshows," he said with a dismissive wave of a paw. "Go get them, Precious. You haven't caught a single pony all year. Now there's three. That'll be enough to take you off scout duty." His face split with a cruel smile. "You'll be back underground with the rest of us. Won't that be nice? You can even keep that..." He gestured at her sweater. "Thing you're wearing."

Back underground. With the rest of them. She could picture that, too, with the clarity of not just imagination, but memory. And as those memories weighed on her like water soaking into her fur, she knew the choice she had to make.

Precious took a step toward the ponies, but did so while staring her longtime nemesis in the eye. "No, Rover," she said, with a growl in her voice. "These ponies, and this dragon, are my friends."

"Friends?" He radiated disgust as he growled the word. "Dogs don't make friends with ponies. What kind of diamond dog are you?"

"A better one than you." She took a step toward him, baring her teeth, feeling her hackles raise even with the sweater covering them. "Now leave, Rover. You can't boss me around anymore."

"You... you little... whelp..." he snarled, his cronies starting to growl as he bared his teeth right back at her. Then he looked behind her, and she glanced at the ponies and dragon herself in turn. The 'lightshows' he'd dismissed grew brighter and the air shimmered with heat, Fluttershy was now pawing the ground and flaring her wings open, and thick, black smoke curled from Spike's nostrils. Slowly, his posture withdrew. "Fine! Leave with the ponies. Be a lapdog." He pointed a crooked claw at her wool-clad chest. "But you can never come back."

Precious huffed. "Gladly." She turned to the others, who were easing out of their own battle stances. "Ponyville, then?"

She could still hear him hurling insults after her as she walked away, but there was no sign him of following them. He wouldn't pursue beyond certain limits even if he'd tried to chase them, anyway. Diamond dogs didn't ever venture far from home, even to chase something of value.

Home.

She didn't have a home anymore, did she? After visiting Ponyville, where was she going to go? She'd imagined the ponies as welcoming, but Fluttershy had shown in her stories that she and her friends were exceptional ponies, alongside an exceptional dragon. She'd been afraid of approaching the others she spotted from her post, she could admit that now. Afraid that they would not be so friendly.

Her head sank from where she'd been holding it high, and when they were far away from Rover's jeers, she started to tremble, trembling that only grew when she heard Fluttershy's soft, questioning, "Precious? Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry... that I never told you," she managed, softly. "I..." Tears welled in her eyes, and rolled down her cheeks, leaving tracks in her white fur. "I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore."

Something warm brushed against her paw, and she looked down to see Fluttershy nuzzling it. "Don't be silly. We'll always be friends, Precious." She opened a wing, patting her on the arm. "What the other dogs tried to make you do doesn't change anything. You're still you."

"He said you hadn't caught a pony all year," Twilight noted, as she and Spike moved a bit closer. "You've been letting everypony go?"

Precious sighed. Even if Fluttershy was still her friend, the secret was out, and there wasn't much point in lying. "I kept my distance, with the others. Fluttershy is the only one I talked to." Her ears twitched. "I just... couldn't do it. Kept thinking of excuses not to. You ponies are too... nice."

"You're pretty nice too," Sunset said with a smile as she came up on Precious's other side, opposite Fluttershy. She gave her arm a friendly nudge with her shoulder. "I think you'll fit right in, in Ponyville."

Fit right in. She had never fit in anywhere. There was a first time for everything, though, wasn't there? Precious looked around at her friends, looked out at the path ahead, and felt a weight lift off of her shoulders as she smiled.

Everything would be okay. She wasn't alone anymore.