Princess Cadance happily trotted through the forest, her horn glowing its usual turquoise color.
She hummed, as she gracefully stepped over a log with a smile.
She suddenly felt a change in the magic energy that came from her horn. She stopped, beginning to look around until she saw a highlighted gem in the ground.
The alicorn stopped the spell, made a shovel appear, and began to dig.
She dug deeper into the ground until she saw a ruby red object, and reached down to pick it up.
Cadance cast her spell again, and continued walking down the forest path, searching for more gems.
A small tree stump that she didn't notice before prompted her to trip and stumble face-first into the dirt.
She groaned and tried to stand up, but quickly came to the conclusion that her back hoof was tangled in some vines.
Using her magic, Cadance summoned a pair of scissors, beginning to snip at the vines in attempt to free herself.
The vines were quite thick and did not cut easily. Given time, she managed to free herself.
She started a steady trot down the path again, recasting her spell until she saw another gem, and dug it up.
She repeated this exact routine until something suspicious caught her eye; it was a diamond, but it wasn't in the ground.
"Who would leave a gem like this just lying around?" she thought to herself, not expecting any reply.
As she bounded over to the gem, she caught a glimpse of something, but dismissed it as her imagination. Even so, she proceeded with caution.
Three hideous creatures jumped out of the bushes, causing Cadance to flinch and jump back in suprise.
"Who we got this time, Rover?" one of the creatures asked, stretching its neck out a little further to get a better look.
"Shush, Fido! We might scare 'er off and not get any gems!" one of them whispered, pushing Fido's head back into the bush.
Princess Cadance considered running, but she then decided that it wouldn't be very kind to do so, and decided that she would stay.
"Hello, I'm Princess Cadance. And you three are...?" she asked, smiling genuinely.
Rover jumped out of the bush and approached her, wide-eyed. "Why, hello there, Cadance." He eyed the saddlebag she was wearing. "Gem hunting, eh?" he asked with an almost sinister grin.
Cadance smiled sheepishly. "Why, yes, I am. I'm looking for gems for the annual Crystal Fair at the Crystal Empire."
Fido then jumped out of the bush, ignoring Spot's protests, "Why's that?" he asked in a snake-like tone.
"I-I, I need them for a gem cake,” Cadance stuttered. “It's one of the most loved sweets at the Crystal Fair," she added. She started to back away from the pursuers.
The three Diamond Dogs were all out of the bush now, moving towards the princess one step at a time.
"I hope that means you wouldn't mind looking for gems for us." Rover grinned. "Because you have no other choice!" he cackled.
Princess Cadance gulped, stuttering more as she replied: "A-actually, I would mind. I need to get these back to h-home before they start to worry that I got lost,"
Fido growled impatiently. "No more small talk! Let's just get the mare and leave!"
Spot and Rover nodded their heads in agreement, then Rover took a sack out of his pocket, and in one swift move covered Cadance's whole body with it.
Ugh.. Where am I?
Cadance opened her eyes slowly, revealing that she was in a dusty cave.
She had a harness wrapped around her back, which was attached to an old wooden cart.
"Huh?" She attempted to stand herself up.
Rover entered the room and started to yell at her. "Pull it, pony! Find gems and pull!"
Cadance's expression grew smug. "Excuse me?!"
"Pull, pony! Are you deaf?!" Fido yelled barked back at her.
"And why do you expect me to take demands from someone as rude and bossy as you three?!"
Rover grinned sheepishly. "Because we told you to?"
The pink alicorn slapped a hoof across the dog's face, "I refuse to serve anyone who is not kind to me!"
"Uh... Boss, what do we do now?" Spot asked, scared.
"Remember what happened last time we let the pony control us!” shouted an infuriated Rover. It obviously was not a question. He then added, “We fight back!"
Cadance's eyes were now fixed back on Rover.
"What other pony?" She asked, starting to become enraged.
"Oh, there was this mare who was hunting for gems, she requested we call her 'Miss Rarity'." Fido said, and Rover covered his mouth with a paw. "Fido! Don't tell the pony everything!"
Cadance's horn began to glow, "Did you say Miss Rarity?! You captured one of my friends?!"
"Uh.. w-well...." Rover stuttered, backing up from the pony.
"First you put me in a sack, taking me to Celestia knows where, then threaten to take away all of my gems, practically disappointing thousands of my ponies at my Empire, and then tell me that you've done this to one of my friends?!"
"I think she's angry, boss." Spot mumbled, eyes wide.
"You don't say?" Rover whispered back sarcastically.
Cadance's glowing horn began to glow brighter, beginning to cast a spell.
"You are the most mean, inconsiderate, beings I have ever met in my whole life!" Cadance shouted. The glow surrounding her horn began to turn purple and her eyes narrowed and turned a bright green.
Purple smoke was streaming out of her used-to-be bright blue eyes. The dogs were obviously terrified.
When her spell was completed, the cave that the Diamond Dogs had brought Cadance into began to implode.
Cadance quickly teleported herself outside of the cave before she got caught in the blast radius. Luckily, even outside the cage she was safe from the blast.
She smiled as she watched the underground cave blow up, along with the Diamond Dogs.
"And that's why you don't mess with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza."
After the show of explosions finished, she began to walk back home.
The End
“Cadance, did you see that fireworks performance down the road?!” asked a crystal pony.
“Nope, I’m sure it was nothing!” said Cadance, smiling.
