Emmet in Equestria

Chapter 7: First Blood

Edited by: caliban888

Emmet stood above Twilight, helping her with resorting the bookshelves. Twilight had discovered that, with Emmet's height and hands he was very good at reaching the top of the shelves, and immediately put Emmet to work. Emmet complained and resisted at first, but he found it to be a good way of passing the time. Twilight needed the extra help anyway, since Spike was off helping her friend Rarity get some gems for her dress shop. Why a tailor needed precious stones was beyond Emmet, but so was nearly everything about this place. It had been nearly a month and a half since he was hired as Twilight's bodyguard, and so far everything had been peaceful. The more adventurous side of Emmet wanted him to go out and see what this new world had too offer, but he had a job to do. Besides, guarding the god-daughter of a ruler payed excellently, enough that he actually managed to afford to expand the house a little. It wasn't much, just a balcony overlooking the nearby Everfree forest, but it was a good view that reminded him of when he lived in the country with his parents. Emmet sighed as he thought back to his old life. What did his family think? They probably thought he was dead. Devon probably didn't tell them what happened, they wouldn't believe him if he did.

"Hey, is everything alright?" Twilight asked, noticing Emmet's sullen expression. Emmet looked down at her with a sad smile.

"No, nothing, just thinking about home, that's all." he said.

"So, the big bad human is starting to feel homesick." Twilight said, a smile playing at her lips. Emmet punched her lightly in the shoulder.

"Ow! What was that for!" she cried.

"Sorry it's a human thing." Emmet replied

"Human's go around hitting each other for no reason?"

"Yep." Twilight let out a sigh.

"I will never understand you, will I?"

"Nope."

Just then, they heard frantic footsteps outside on the cobblestone road, and the door was suddenly thrown open. Spike ran in, breathing heavily, he must have run all the way from the mountains.

"Spike, Spike, what's wrong!? Why did you run all the way here?" Twilight frantically demanded. Spike heaved a bit more.

"Rarity...creepy dogs...kidnapped...gotta save her." Spike wheezed heavily. Twilight squinted at Spike.

"Spike, did they say why they were kidnapping her?" Twilight asked with worry etched in her voice.

"Gems...they wanted her to find gems for them." Spike replied. Twilight's eyes widened even further

"The Diamond Dogs." she muttered under her breath.

"What are Diamond Dogs?" Emmet asked dumbly.

"A race of canines that live in the mountains. They're renowned for their greed and toughness. But they've never kidnapped someone before. Why would they do this? We have to go and save her!" Twilight was starting to panic, frantically looking around the room as if waiting for a solution.

"Twilight, are we friends?" Emmet asked.

"Well, of course. But that doesn't matter right now! We need to... we need to..."

"Sorry 'bout this Twi." Emmet apologized, and he smacked her viciously across the face. Twilight blinked for a few moments, than jumped up, already forgetting the sting on her cheek.

"I need to go get the other Elements of Harmony. We need to get Rarity." Twilight glanced around impatiently. "Well, come on, we need to go!"

"Listen, Twi, I hate to be the voice of caution, but shouldn't we get, oh I don't know, the police to handle this?" Emmet said. Twi gave him a hard glare.

"Too far away. By the time they get here, who knows what could have happened to Rarity." Twilight stated bluntly. "Besides, I've seen how you've been lately. I can't say I've seen this before or understand it, but you seem eager to fight."

"Well, when you talk about me like I'm a badass, I don't think I can refuse." Emmet replied with a grin. Twilight kicked him in the shin.

"Alright, alright, I get the message. So, where are the Diamond Dogs?"

Emmet walked on a ridge in the mountains, accompanied by the other Elements of Harmony. He was surprised that he recognized some of them from town.

"I never had you pinned as a defender of an entire nation." He had said to Applejack.

"Well, I'm here now, and Rarity needs our help. That's all that matters know." She had replied. Emmet was impressed with her dedication. A brash, arrogant voice snapped him back to the present.

"I'm gonna give those Diamond Dogs a piece of my mind! They'll know not to mess with Rainbow Dash's friends when I'm through with them!" Rainbow Dash said. Emmet rubbed his forehead.

"Yes, yes, you've said this a million times already." he said cynically. Rainbow Dash was about to retort, but was cut of by Spike.

"This was where I last saw her before she got kidnapped." Emmet took some time to look around. They were on a relatively flat piece of land, surrounded by gopher holes. Well, if gophers were the size of humans.

"These must be their entry tunnels. If we follow them, we should be led directly to Rarity! Come on everypony, let's go save our friend!" The ponies let loose a cheer of agreement, except for a yellow pegasi, who just 'eeped' and tried to hide in her mane. Emmet had never seen her before. The ponies, Spike and Emmet all picked a different hole. Emmet had a bit of a hard time getting down, slipping and sliding the first few meters. He felt like he was getting the hang of it when his foot suddenly hit something soft. He looked down, into the most god-awful face he had ever seen. It had sharp green eyes and a massive jaw, which was turned down in a snarl. Emmet suddenly felt himself forcefully ejected from the tunnel, and when he scrambled back to the edge he saw the last few inches being blocked off. He looked around and saw that the others had suffered a similar fate. There was a large collection of groaning and, in Emmet's case, cursing as they got back up to their hooves, feet, and claws. All the holes had been blocked off, preventing anyone from entering.

"Come on girls, if we can't find a tunnel in, let's dig one!" Applejack said to the ponies. However, whenever they started digging the Diamond Dogs would quickly rise up from the ground, tripping them or throwing them off the piles. Emmet rushed next to Twilight, trying to ward off the Diamond Dogs. He was able to protect Twilight, but was never able to get a swing in. Finally, when the Dogs thought they had had enough, they popped back into their holes, leaving the seven would-be rescuers sitting on the ground, panting.

"We'll never catch Rarity at this rate!" Twilight groaned.

"I got it!" Spike exclaimed suddenly. Everyone looked at him as he pulled a large blue sapphire out of nowhere. He looked around for a bit before finding a single unblocked hole. He tied the sapphire to a fishing pole that-

Wait, where did he get a fishing pole? Emmet thought, very rudely interrupting the devilishly handsome narrator. Spike slowly lowered the gemstone into the tunnel. Emmet could have sworn he heard him say, 'I will save you, Lady Rarity,' but he quickly dashed the thought, as the string began to tug Spike down the hole.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" Spike yelled as he was pulled to the very edge of the tunnel, teetering dangerously.

"I got you Spike!" Twilight said as she grabbed Spike's tail in her teeth. However, when Spike finally fell into the tunnel he dragged Twilight with him. The rest jumped in after her, leaving Emmet alone in the clearing. All was suddenly very quiet. He relished the peace for a few moments.

"What in the world has my life come too?" he asked the universe. The universe didn't answer back, so he jumped into tunnel, swallowed by the darkness.

"Whoa there!" yelled Applejack

"AHHHH!" screamed Twilight

"WHEE!" squealed Pinkie Pie.

"Why the hell did I agree to this!?" Emmet wailed. They had been tumbling down the tunnels for about half a minute, and every inch of Emmet's body was sore and tired. Finally, to his great relief, they fell into a cave, lit up by some unseen light source.

"Uuuugggh. When I find a Diamond Dog, I swear, I'm gonna kick their teeth in." Emmet groaned. The others shakily got to their hooves, except for Pinkie, who was happily jumping up and down. Twilight rubbed her horn, checking for any cracks.

"Well, let's go find Rarity!" Spike proclaimed happily.

"That's all well and good Spike, but, what direction do we go?" Twilight responded. There were dozens of small caves traveling in a multitude of directions. Any one of them could have led to Rarity, and picking the wrong one could mean not getting to Rarity in time. Emmet shuddered. He didn't know how nice, or rather lack of nice, these Diamond Dogs were, but he didn't like thinking what they could be doing to Rarity. He hadn't met her, but she seemed like a nice mare.

"Well, they probably put her in the area with the most gems." Spike said.

"Yeah, but none of us can find gems." said Twilight.

"Uhh, guys, mind if I say something?" Emmet asked. The group motioned for him to go forward. Well, except for Pinkie, she was still jumping like a maniac. "I find gem quantity to be a pretty unsupported way of finding Rarity. I mean, what if she's in a cell or something. They'd probably put that somewhere where there weren't any gems."

"Well, what do you suggest we do, partner?" Applejack asked. Emmet broke out in a devilish grin.

"Everyone, find somewhere to hide, and don't come out. In fact, the more squeamish of you may want to shut your eyes." Emmet answered. Everyone shuffled into various nooks and crannies, still clueless as to Emmet's plan. Emmet stood in the middle of the cave.

"HEY YOU DIRTY MUTTS! WANNA KNOW WHAT WE DO WITH DOGS WHERE I COME FROM?"

Applejack stared in awe at Emmet, as he ranted about neutering, pounds, and dog training.

"Why, I would never do that ta' my dog! Winona'd be devastated!" Applejack said as Emmet went into a very detailed description of what happened if the dog peed on the floor. "Hit them with newspapers!? What kinda sick pony does that?!"

"Apparently humans." Spike observed, cowering along with Applejack. He looked down at his privates, thanking Celestia he wasn't a dog. Across the room, Rainbow Dash was ducked under a big rock with Flutttershy. Fluttershy's irises were tiny with horror.

"Oh my, do they really... oh my, that's horrible... oh dear." Fluttershy softly muttered. Rainbow Dash was quiet, shocked into silence. Twilight was squeezed into a crack in the stone, listening numbly to Emmet's speech.

"Celestia wasn't kidding when she said humans were crazy." She whispered under her breath. Emmet suddenly cut off his speech, listening closely for any sound of approach. Sure enough, he heard loud baying coming from one of the tunnels, and quickly stealthed over to the entryway and crouched in wait. A small, tannish brown blur barreled out of the tunnel, slobber running down its chin. It had a sickly yellowish tint to its eyes, and it looked a lot like a small bull dog.

"WHO SAID THAT!?" the Diamond Dog said in a scratchy voice, 'I WILL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY BROTHERS!" Unfortunately, it didn't notice Emmet sneak up behind it.

"Not if I beat you to it." Emmet said, and punted the dog across the cave. It hit the opposing wall with a sickening crunch, right next to Twilight's hiding place. She slid back into the cave, horrified that such violence and intensity was even possible. The Diamond Dog whimpered pathetically, and she saw it being dragged back to the center of the cave, and heard Emmet calmly interrogating the dog.

"Where is she?" Twilight heard Emmet say.

"I won't tell you!" was the response. "She will bring us hundreds of gems!"

"Ah, brilliant, now we can get to the fun part." Emmet said, and Twilight heard a thud followed by a pained yelp. After a few moments of the dog whining, she heard a sharp shing, and she know Emmet had drawn that weapon he was so fond of.

"Tell me, do you remember when I was yelling about neutering?" Emmet asked. Twilight gasped.

He wouldn't dare! she thought to herself.

"No, NO! Please, I just got married! I'm so close!" she heard the Diamond Dog say.

"Oh, well that's too bad. Guess you'll have to decide which jewels are more important to you." Emmet replied.

"Mine, I pick mine!" the Diamond Dog said with no hesitation. Twilight heard Emmet chuckle.

"Good dog. Now, I'll ask again. Where's Rarity?" Emmet said with a hard edge creeping into his voice.

"I will show you the way, just please, put the knife back!" the dog pleaded. Twilight heard the same raspy shing as Emmet sheathed his sword.

"Brilliant. Hey, you can all come out now." Emmet called. The ponies, however, were far too terrified to come out.

"No thank you, I really like it right here. That is,if you don't mind..." he heard a soft voice say.

"Oh uh, yeah, about that, I uh, sprained a hoof, I think I won't be able to move partner, it's real bad." Applejack said. Emmet sighed, and rubbed his forehead.

"Uh, listen guys, I'm sorry you had to hear that. But I think we can all agree that Rarity needs our help." Emmet said. The thought of Rarity being in trouble spurred the ponies out of their terror, and the ponies and dragon came out from their hiding places, ready for anything.

"Brilliant," Emmet said. "Now, where exactly is this-"

"EMMET! LOOK OUT!" Applejack screamed. Emmet had failed to notice a large Diamond Dog creep up behind him, and it was poised to crush Emmet in a big bear hug. Emmet whirled around, drawing the wakizashi and stabbing in front of him in one smooth motion.

The Diamond Dog felt a strange tug in its chest

It looked down, seeing a shaft of metal in its torso, with the strangest creature on the other end.

It saw its abdomen slowly turning red.

Its vision began to fade.

It felt pain.

And then it felt nothing.

Emmet stared in shock at the gorilla-sized dog slowly fading in front of him. The Diamond Dog's body slowly slid to the floor, pulling itself free from the knife, and Emmet could see a red flow of magic traveling from the wound to the blade, filling up the enchantment. His hand was drenched in warm blood, and he hastily wiped it off on his pants. He stared in shock at the dog, dead on the floor. He wasn't shocked by his first death. But that was the problem. He should have been feeling remorse, or guilt, or disgust.

Why do I feel happy? Emmet thought to himself. Not some kind of sick pleasure, but happy, like when seeing an old friend or getting out of school early.

"Hey there fella, are...you alright?" Applejack asked. Emmet turned to her.

And rushed to a small cave opening and vomited.